| Valentine Hill (Valentyne) emigrated to Boston in 1636. Likely working with his brother John in London, he launched into what became a successful career as a merchant and trader. In 1638 Valentine was made a member of the Artillery Company, In 1640 he took the Freeman's Oath, and in that same year ordained as a Deacon in the Boston Church. In 1641 he was elected a Selectman serving until 1647.
Valentine's allotment of land on Pullen point is recorded as:
"Valentyne Hill, 60 Acrs of Upland: bounded towards the north by the said Allottment of Elias Mavericke, towards the East by the said high way, towards the South by the Allottment of Raph Hudson, and towards the West and southwest by the Common shore." 1
Valentine married Frances Freestone, cousin of William Hutchinson, before 1638. They had five children; Hannah (1639), Elizabeth (1641), twins Benjamin and Joseph (1644), and Joseph (1646). All except Hannah died in infancy. Frances also died in 1646.
Despite his connection to Hutchinson family based on his marriage, Valentine appears to avoided the Antinomian Controversy, and went on to become a very successful Boston merchant, trader and real estate investor.
In 1641 Valentine and his associates received license to build a wharf at Bendall's Cove in Boston. Profits came from fees charged for its use. Aspinwall Notarial Records show Valentine trading in fish, wheat, peas, pork, corn, cattle, ships, pipestaves, clapboards, tobacco, indigo and sugar.
In 1644 Valentine was one of the petitioners, along with fellow Pullen Point land owner William Aspinwall, to the General Court for a monopoly of trade in pelts. The company organized an expedition to the mouth of the Delaware River. Unfortunately, Dutch and Swedish settlers already there blocked their passage. A later expedition successfully collected pelts, but was attacked by Native Americans who killed half the crew. The company collapsed.
In 1643 Valentine received a grant of land at the falls of the Oyster River in what is now Durham, N.H. In 1649, Valentine and an associate got permission to build a saw mill on the river. Additional grants of land included 500 acres for farming, and permission for another saw mill on the nearby Lamprey River. To make up for a lack of running water in the summer months, in 1655 he received permission to build what would have been the first canal between the rivers. It is not known if it was ever completed.
Some of men working at Valentine’s farm and mills were Scottish prisoners captured by the British after the Battle of Dunbar in 1650. The men that were brought to New England were sold as indentured servants. They earned their freedom after working 5 to 7 years.
Valentine's second marrage, in 1646, was to Mary Eaton, the daughter of the Governor of New Hampshire, Theophilus Eaton. They had five children: John (1649), Samuel (1648), Mary (1649), Elizabeth (1651), and Nathaniel (1660).
Valentine served as a Selectman in Durham from 1651 to 1657, and a Judge from 1652. In 1655 he built a meetinghouse for the town. He died in 1661. About 1680, Mary married Ezekiel Knight. She died in 1708.
Valentine's allotment on Pullen Point was purchased first by Samuel Bennett in 1649, then Edward Hutchinson, and by 1690 it was owned by the descendants of James Bill.
Selected Valentine Hill descendants, locations, and objects of note:
- Bendall's Dock - In 1641 Valentine and his associates received license to build a wharf at Bendall's Cove in Boston. Profits came from fees charged for its use. - Winthrop's Boston: A Portrait of a Puritan Town, 1630-1649, Darrett B. Rutman, pg 193, ebook preview
- Durham, N.H. - Valentine Hill was one of the earliest settlers in what then part of the town of Dover, N.H.. - Lamprey River Advisory Committee
- Three Chimneys Inn, Durham, N.H.. - In 1649, he built a one story house on the on the banks of the Oyster River. It is the oldest structure in town, and one of the oldest in New Hampshire. In 1699, Valentine's son Nathaniel (b. 1658) expanded the building and added a second floor. - Three Chimneys Inn, ffrost Sawyer Tavern
- Frances Willard (b. 1839) -"was a radical social progressive who stood out against gender inequality and fought to give a voice to society’s disenfranchised". She was the daughter of Josiah Willard and "Polly" Thompson Hill - Frances Willard Historical Association
| Selected Valentine Hill Descendants |
| Valentine (b. c. 1603); m2 Mary Eaton |
| Nathaniel (b. 1658); m. Sarah Nutter |
| Samuel (b. 1695); m. Sarah Thompson |
| Samuel (b. 1721); m. Abigail Huckins |
| John (b. 1772); m, Mary "Polly" Thompson |
| Mary Thompson Hill (b. 1805); m. Josiah Millard |
| Francis Willard (b.1839). |
Links
- Valentine Hill - History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. 1637-1888, Roberts, Oliver Ayer, 1895, pg 64, Internet Archive
- New Hampshire’s First Valentine: Valentine Hill of Oyster River (c1603-c1661) - Cow Hampshire
- Landmarks in Ancient Dover, New Hampshire - Mary P. Thompson, 1892, Internet Archive
- Historical Memoranda Concerning Persons and Places in Old Dover, New Hampshire - Alonzo Hall Quint, 1900, pg 389, Internet Archive
- Winthrop's Boston: A Portrait of a Puritan Town, 1630-1649 - Darrett B. Rutman, ebook preview
- Valentine Hill - WikiTree
- Valentine Hill - Geni.com
- 1 A Documentary History of Chelsea: including the Boston Precincts of Winnisimmet, Rumney Marsh, and Pullen Point, 1624-1824, Vol. 1, pg. 118 - Mellen Chamberlain, 1908, Internet Archive
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