Son of Jeremiah and Mary Ann Hilyard
Descendants of Noah Hilyard on the mailing list:
Noah Hilyard Links:
Noah Hilyard was born 15 Oct 1851, probably in Fairfield County, Ohio. His first wife was Lorena Stucky, who had first married a Leffingwell. From her first marriage she had two children, Clem and Minta, whom Noah helped raise. Noah and Lorena had three sons of their own. The youngest, Ezra, died at birth. along with Lorena.
About 1890, Noah brought his family to Wells County, Indiana, east of
Nothingham, where he found work in the nearby oil fields. Noah died 16
Aug 1931. The following contributions tell of Noah's descendants:
From Bronson Hilliard:
"I have constructed a narrative for you that takes the Hilyards out West. It comprises stories handed down to me (which may or may not be accurate), but I think the dates are mostly correct.
NOAH HILYARD (1851 -- 1931) and sons A.F. "JACK" HILLIARD (1877-1950) and ADAM HILLIARD (1880-1955)
Noah Hilyard was the second youngest child of Jeremiah Hilyard and Mary Ann Valentine. His father died when he was just four years old, and no family lore about him exists in our family.Noah, the story in our family goes, was a hard-tempered, industrious man who never found great success at anything, but who did what he had to to make a living. Unable to care for his two surviving sons Alfred Francis "Jack" (1877-1950) and Adam (1880-1955), he farmed the boys out to relatives (we were always told hat they were Brennemans -- a prosperous Mennonite family in Allen County, Ohio) for a time. The boys were raised in the Mennonite faith. Eventually, as a teenager, Jack Hilyard went to work in the oil fields of Indiana, where he learned the basics of laying pipe and setting up a drilling operation. He also, it seems, changed his name from "Hilyard" to "Hilliard," for reasons that we still aren't sure of until Vonda offered that it might have been because of the need to disassociate himself from his Hilyard cousin Jesse John Hilyard due to his, if I recall correctly, drinking and carousing? (I hope this is right. No slur to the late Jesse John's memory is intended here**). For a time, it is my understanding that Adam Hilyard also went to work in the fields and also changed the spelling of his name. Later, he became a blacksmith and a hog farmer, and settled near Montpelier, IN. More information about him can be obtained from his grandson, Jim Winters.
**Note from Vonda: The story I heard was that there were two sets of brothers that went to work in the oil fields in northern Indiana. The brothers were first cousins. Now I know one set of brothers was my great-grandfather Jesse John Hilyard and his brother Curt, and the other set must have been Bronson's relatives, Jack and Adam. The story goes that there was some trouble, and two of the cousins changed the spelling of their name so people wouldn't think they were related to the troublemakers. I questioned my father about this, and he said he remembers that his grandfather Jesse John had a little pistol. Jesse John told him that gun had killed a man in a card game once. So, make of all that what you will! Wish we could look into it more.
At length, Jack met and married Minnie Mae Luhrs of Gas City, Indiana. She was a large, ungainly woman, but very kind and congenial, a wonderful wife and mother. I cannot pin down much about their early lives, as only one of their children -- Jesse Dolores Hilliard Heit (1915--), survives, and she doesn't remember much. Eventually, Jack learned the business of drilling for oil and running a field operation, work that took him West into Montana. His first child, Dorothy, was born (I believe around 1910). At length, having tired of the business and desiring to homestead, he bought some land near Forsyth, Montana (around Miles City, east of Billings) to homestead. See a portrait of Jack and Minnie's family.
The land was hard and dry and unproductive, and homesteading was a tough life. In the midst of trying to make it, Jack and Minnie were greeted with twin sons Walter Carl Hilliard (later called "Tuff" 1914-1987) and Austin Earl "Sandy" Hilliard (1914-1983). The boys were fraternal twins -- Carl was the older by a few minutes. Soon, Jack had to go back to work, and went back to the oil business. That work took him to Drumright, Oklahoma., where Jesse Dolores Hilliard was born in October, 1915 (I'm not sure of the date). Around this time, Noah Hilyard came out West to live with Jack and his family.
For the next two decades, Jack worked in the oil fields of Wyoming as a field superintendent for Ohio Oil company and also for Sinclair. He was a field boss -- a foreman who supervised work crews in nearly all aspects of production: field construction, drilling, laying pipe, etc. For a time, he worked in Salt Creek, Wyoming, near Casper (and near the famed "Teapot Dome"). Also around him was his father, Noah. My grandfather (Tuff) told me that his grandfather was a spry old man with a large white mustache who could fix anything, and who did wood work and shoe repair. He told a lot of stories of growing up in Ohio, and of his brothers, "Tom" who he always said "Marched with Sherman to the Sea" (not exactly; he mustered out of the 81st Ohio Vol. Infantry in Sept., 1864 having served three years and just prior to Sherman's march, though he was in Sherman's army). The legend also has it that Noah, who loved the State of Indiana, said of the Confederacy "They shoulda known they were gonna get it when they jumped on to Indiana."
All their young lives, Tuff and Sandy's grandad Noah lived with them, and they thought he was great. But the story also had it that Noah had an awful temper. At one time, he and the boys were off working on a fence in some rural part of the homestead, when a stranger rode up and began asking too many questions. Noah threatened the man with an ax, and he left. In the summer of 1926, Noah decided to head back east to Ohio for a Hilyard family reunion, and he convinced Jack to take the kids along. The story of the journey to Ohio from Wyoming was told to me by both my grandfather, Tuff, and my great aunt Dolores. From their combined lore I know that the trip took about four days; that they drove an old sedan with buckets turned upside down for the kids to sit on, and that they camped by the side of the road by attaching an awning to the car itself and sleeping beneath it. They also stayed with Brenneman cousins in Iowa and Indiana before reaching Elida, Ohio, site of the reunion.
At the reunion, Tuff always said that he and his brother Sandy acted up pretty badly, and got sent off with a man named Noah Brenneman, who they said had a fluffy white beard and appeared to "be a fine old gentleman." He said that, in his presence, "we were afraid to raise hell. He inspired good behavior." At length, a family portrait was taken. Jack posed with his wife and children at the left end of the photo, his hands crossed. Tuff and Sandy are squatting down at the far left-hand side of the photo, with all the twins. My aunt Dolores said she remembered there were a lot of twins in the family, and that Tuff and Sandy posed near two girls, Beulah and Eulah. It was the first time that Tuff had anything to do with his cousins from the east, and he remembered the reunion for the rest of life. He spoke with particular vividness about Noah Brenneman, a distinguished old man who made a huge impression on his 12-year-old mind.
Sometime later, perhaps a year or two, Adam Hilliard came out West to live at his brother Jack's invitation. He brought his daughter, Ruth and son, Bill, with him. Adam planned to work again in the oil fields, as work was slow in Indiana. The family came and stayed a year, but found the conditions very harsh: stove-heated tarpaper shacks to live in; an endless wind, and generally harsh and arid conditions. After about a year, the family left, although my cousin Ruth Hilliard Winters told me "it was quite a fun time, being around our cousins and our grandfather and living way out West."
By 1931, when Tuff and Sandy were in high school, Noah was about to turn 80 and was getting sick. He died in that year, and was buried in Casper cemetery in Casper, WY, sometimes also called "Oddfellows Cemetery." It is on the south end of town, across the street from the hospital.
I'll end the narrative here, but what you've read constitutes most of what I know about Noah and his sons."
From Jim Winters, written by his mother, Ruth Hilliard Winters:
ADAM HILLIARD (1880-1955)
"My Father was born July 27, 1880 near Elida, Allen Co. Ohio to Lorene (Stucky) (Leffingwell) & Noah Hilliard. This was his mothers 2nd marriage.Here the narrative ends; however, cousin Jim Winters supplied me with the story as written by his uncle, Bill Hilliard, to his sister Ruth:He had a 1/2 brother Clem Leffingwell & a 1/2 sister Minta Leffingwell, who died young, about 18, I think. He told me she was a hunchback. He also had a full brother Alfred Francis "Jack" Hilliard. He was about 7 when his mother had another baby boy EZRA who died at birth & also Lorene died at that time.
His Father remarried a short time later. That lady died before too long also. Somewhere near that time he brought his family to Wells Co. Indiana, about 1890, east of Nottingham where my Grandfather worked in the oil field & my Father attended Nottingham School.
He didn't get much education, about 2 grades, I think.
He had sandy red hair & lots of freckles & blue eyes. (I think this is a Swiss heritage). He was a small built man perhaps 5'10" - 5'11" as an adult & weighed about 155 & he was wirey & moved quick and easy. He had big hands of his Grandfather Adam Stucky & muscular arms. Of course he had always done hard work which built big muscles. I remember when I was young I thought his muscles were really great & he would flex his arms & the muscles would be like hard rock. He had good sight--distance especially--& didn't wear glasses until he was near 50 years old. He often told me about his mother's twin sisters.
My father & Uncle Jack changed the spelling of the family name after they became adult from HILYARD to HILLIARD.
He was about 21 when he met my Mother and he told me "She was my guiding light". And when they married it was his first real home.
As he didn't get much formal education my mother helped him to study & better educate himself. He was good in math & you would see him going about his chores & other work--doing figures in his head and was able to read quite well.
He always put himself into his work to do it the very best he could, no matter what kind of work he was doing.
He was always interested in his animals. In his young days it was his horses and he had some fast & high class horses. When he had his blacksmith shop in Landess, it was a "hangout" for the young men of the community when they brought in their horses for shoes or brought other work to him. Often times there was talk of whose horse was best & they would decide on a race--to the interburan trakcs about 1/4 mile away. And Father occasionally had to show-off his horse Ikey also. He was a pacer & fast.
Later his pride was in his hogs and then his cows and chickens. He never had many registered animals, they were just grade animals, but he read and studied about them--learning about proper feed & proper amounts, and proper care to improve production & he liked to brag about his animals, for they always had high production records, which he kept. For his cows he weighed his milk & knew how much feed each cow should get--according to her # production. That was so "he didn't keep any boarders".
He culled his chickens just as close also--so he kept "laying" hens. So we always ate a lot of chicken.
About the only animal I ever heard he bought registered was a Duroc gilt which he bought from his cousin at a family reunion. She was to be bred & shipped to him. He was so proud of his pig & so.."
"We attended the Stucky Family Reunion at Van Wert, Ohio. From a Mr. Breman, (a distant cousin) who raised register Durco hogs,and won prizes at the Ohio State Fair, my father bought a young gilt. (This is a female pig
which has not had a litter.) The register Durco pig was shipped by rail from the Ohio State Fair to Landnessville, Indiana. She was bred, and due to farrow at a given time. She did farrow, and only one pig. Count them again, just one female piglet. I can still see my father laughing about it. I think he paid $25.00 for the gilt,and $5.00 for the freight charges. That one gilt did later pay off. A lot of decendants came from that first pig, which were prime pork. After the first surprise, it was a good investment. At that time a 200 pound, well-formed hog at 180 days was top price. Adam and Delilah had lived at the same home all their lives, except for the trip to Wyoming. This farm had been in Grandmother's family over a hundred years."
