Sylvia J. Hill / Zilpha Hill — documented facts only
Identity and names
The records use the following names:
Jane Hill — Holy Apostles Episcopal Church birth-record transcription.[1]
Sylvia Hill — Oneida Indian census records.[2]
Sylvia J. Hill — later Oneida Indian census rolls.[7–12]
Zilpha Hill — Carlisle Indian Industrial School records.[3]
Zilpha Jane Hill — appears in compiled genealogical material, but the records currently available do not independently establish this as her complete legal name.[13]
The Carlisle file identifies Zilpha Hill as the daughter of Aaron Hill and as Oneida. These details correspond with Sylvia Hill in the Oneida census records, supporting that Zilpha Hill and Sylvia Hill were the same person.[2][3]
Birth
A transcription of the Holy Apostles Episcopal Church records states:
Name: Jane Hill
Birth: 26 February 1901
Father: Aaron Hill
Mother: Esther Antone.[1]
An early Oneida Indian census records Sylvia in the household of Aaron and Esther Hill. The census image records her as born in April 1901.[2]
Therefore, the records agree on the year 1901 but differ concerning the exact month:
Church transcription: 26 February 1901
Oneida census: April 1901.[1][2]
The original church register should be consulted before treating 26 February as conclusively established.
Parents and siblings
Sylvia’s documented parents were:
Aaron Hill
Esther Antone Hill.[1][2][3]
An early Oneida census records the household as:
Aaron Hill
Esther Hill
James Hill
Andrew Hill
Elizabeth Hill
Mary Hill
Sylvia Hill.[2]
These records establish the following siblings in Aaron and Esther’s household:
James Hill
Andrew Hill
Elizabeth Hill
Mary Hill.[2]
Oneida affiliation
Sylvia was recorded as Oneida in federal Indian records and in her Carlisle school file.[3][7–12]
Her later Oneida census entries use annuity or identification number 1185.[10–12]
Carlisle Indian Industrial School
Carlisle Indian Industrial School records document:
Name: Zilpha Hill
Student number: 3101
Nation: Oneida
Father: Aaron Hill
Admission date: 9 September 1916
Age at admission: 15
Departure date: 28 August 1918
Disposition: transferred to Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kansas.[3]
Her Carlisle file also documents an outing placement with Agnes K. Fox of Greenville, Pennsylvania, beginning 8 June 1918.[3]
Haskell Institute
The Carlisle record states that Sylvia/Zilpha was transferred to Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, on 28 August 1918.[3]
The National Archives identifies surviving Haskell record groups that may contain her individual student information:
Student Case Files, 1884–1980, NAID 592971
Cards of Inactive Students, 1915–1925, NAID 2173266.[4]
The presently reviewed Carlisle record proves the transfer. A complete individual Haskell student file has not yet been reviewed.
1920s Oneida records
The Oneida Indian census dated 30 June 1920 records Sylvia Hill with:
Aaron Hill
Mary Hill
James Hill.[5]
The supplied research also identifies Sylvia in the Oneida rolls for 1921–1926. The directly reviewed later rolls establish:
1925
The 1925 Oneida Indian census records:
Sylvia J. Hill
Born 1901
Female
Single
She appears immediately after Aaron Hill, recorded as a widower, and before James Hill, recorded as single.[7]
1926
The 1926 Oneida Indian census again records:
Sylvia J. Hill
Born 1901
Female
Single
Aaron Hill appears immediately above her.[8]
1930 Oneida Indian census
The 1930 Oneida Indian census records:
Sylvia J. Hill
Age 29
Oneida
Female
Single
Relationship to Aaron Hill: daughter.[9]
The roll indicates that she was living outside the Oneida jurisdiction, but her outside address was recorded as unknown.[9]
Chicago residence
1933
The 1933 Oneida Indian census records:
Sylvia J. Hill
Born 1901
Age 32
Oneida
Single
Relationship/status: head of her entry
Residence: Chicago, Illinois
Occupation: cook
Annuity identification number: 1185.[10]
1934
The 1934 Oneida Indian census records:
Sylvia J. Hill
Born 1901
Age 33
Oneida
Single
Residence: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Identification number: 1185.[11]
1937
The Oneida Indian census dated 1 January 1937 records:
Sylvia J. Hill
Born 1901
Age 35
Oneida
Single
Residence: Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Identification number: 1185.[12]
This is the latest presently verified record of Sylvia.
Marital status
The reviewed Oneida Indian census rolls record Sylvia as single in:
1925
1926
1930
1933
1934
1937.[7–12]
These records establish that she was recorded as single through 1 January 1937. They do not establish whether she married after that date.
Documented residences
Sylvia is documented in connection with:
Oneida Reservation, Wisconsin — childhood and Oneida census records.[2][5][7–9]
Carlisle, Pennsylvania — Carlisle Indian Industrial School, beginning in 1916.[3]
Greenville, Pennsylvania — outing placement in 1918.[3]
Lawrence, Kansas — transferred to Haskell Institute in 1918.[3]
Chicago, Cook County, Illinois — documented from 1933 through 1 January 1937.[10–12]
Death and burial
No verified death certificate, obituary, cemetery record or burial record for Sylvia has been located.
Compiled genealogical material reports:
Death in 1937
Possible burial in Brookings, South Dakota.[13]
Neither claim is presently supported by an identified primary or contemporary record. Consequently, 1937 cannot currently be stated as Sylvia’s proven death year.
The 1 January 1937 Oneida census proves only that she was recorded as living in Chicago at the beginning of that year.[12]
Relationship to Dorothea Muriel Hiles
No currently held record identifies Sylvia as the mother of Dorothea Muriel Hiles.
Specifically:
Dorothea does not appear with Sylvia in the reviewed Oneida census records.[2][5][7–12]
The Carlisle record does not mention Dorothea.[3]
No Haskell record currently reviewed mentions Dorothea.
No birth certificate, adoption record, guardianship record or court file naming Sylvia as Dorothea’s mother has been located.
No record currently held names Sylvia Hill and Joseph Howard Touchette together.
Therefore, Sylvia’s maternity of Dorothea and any relationship between Sylvia and Howard Touchette are not documented facts and are excluded from this fact-only profile.
Sources
Holy Apostles Episcopal Church records, Oneida, Wisconsin; transcription by Barb Skenandore, entry for Jane Hill, daughter of Aaron Hill and Esther Antone, born 26 February 1901. The original register has not yet been reviewed.
Oneida Indian census image, Aaron and Esther Hill household, image/frame 007141515_00093.
Carlisle Indian Industrial School records, Zilpha Hill, student no. 3101; National Archives, Record Group 75, Series 1328, box 2, file NARA_1328_b002_c00h_0164.pdf.
National Archives, Haskell Indian School records series list.
Oneida Indian census dated 30 June 1920, Aaron Hill household, image/frame 007141516_00723.
Oneida Indian census rolls for 1921–1924, entries for Sylvia Hill in the Aaron Hill family group; supplied research extracts. Exact page citations remain to be attached.
1925 Oneida Indian census.
1926 Oneida Indian census.
1930 Oneida Indian census.
1933 Oneida Indian census.
1934 Oneida Indian census.
1937 Oneida Indian census.
Compiled family-tree material concerning Sylvia Jane/Zilpha Hill. Used only as a research lead; not independent proof.
