Page News & Courier
Heritage and Heraldry
The early Hillyard/Hilliard/Hilliards family lines
Article of February 19, 1998
The earliest patriarch traceable for the Hilliard/Hilliards families of Page County is Amos Hilyard. Born April 3, 1760, Amos' state or country of origin is uncertain. His first appearance in record in Virginia was in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1784 with the birth of his son, Jacob. Though his first wife's name remains a mystery, children from that first union other than Jacob included Amos Jr., John, and Mathias. By 1788, now a resident of Rockingham County, Amos, Sr. was shown as enlisting in Captain Josiah Harrison's Militia Company #9. Within another nine years, Amos would be a widower and married for a second time in 1797 to Susan McFarland.
From Amos' second marriage there were at least two additional children including James and Jesse. After residing for a long time in Rockingham County, Amos and son Mathias relocated to Barbour County, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1843. Amos died on April 26, 1850, at the age of 90. He is buried on the land that the family settled in 1843 at the Hillyard Cemetery in Weaver, West Virginia.
The one son of Amos, Sr. who is of concern to most of the Page County lines today was Jacob Hilliard. Like his father, Jacob was nomadic for several years prior to finally settling in Page County. Married first to Elizabeth Taylor on September 29, 1803 in Frederick County, Jacob had at least seven children including Jacob Taylor, Grafton, John T., Mathias, Nancy Ann, and two other daughters.
Drafted in Captain Price McCormick's and Richardson's Company at Winchester during the War of 1812, Jacob served as a private in the 4th Virginia Militia in the defenses at Point Comfort in Norfolk for at least three months of a six month term before the war ended. Honorably discharged in either Pocohantas or Norfolk, Jacob's final records described him as about 5'10", with black hair, blue eyes, and light complexion.
Like his father before him, Jacob was left a widower in the middle of his life in 1835. From many of these Hilliards, the family lines of Winchester and Frederick County sprang forth.
By 1840, Jacob had relocated to Rockingham County, near his brother Mathias. However, the stay in Rockingham was only brief, for on May 30, 1842, he had returned to Frederick County once again and married Phoebe Elliott. Here the growing family remained temporarily with the new union producing sons Jacob (Jake) Theodore and Charles Robert. By 1847, the family again returned to Rockingham County where Jacob applied for bounty land and received 40 acres for his service in the War of 1812.
Residing near the Rockingham-Page county line, Phoebe bore Jacob's last son, William Christopher, in 1852. With the family growing still, Jacob disposed of his land in 1855 and reapplied for another section of bounty land in Page County. Whether he received a grant from his second application is unclear, however, in 1860 Jacob, Phoebe and the three remaining sons were residing in Warren County near the Bentonville Post Office.
Occupied as a shoemaker and farmer since 1850, Jacob and his family finally settled in Page County by 1864. In the early part of spring 1864, Jacob's health began to fail horribly. Jacob passed away sometime between April 9 - May 21, 1864. Though the exact site is uncertain, he is believed buried somewhere in the Sam Comer Cemetery in Stanley.
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