Flora May (27 Aug 1865-10 Sep 1899) — m. Levi Vilas Brown on 25 Mar 1897
Annie Elizabeth “Lizzie” (2 Sep 1868-12 Jan 1923) — m. Andrew J. Tash on 12 Nov 1905
Rosetta B. “Rose” (13 Oct 1870-28 Sep 1878)
Chester A., Jr. (27 Apr 1878-1912) — m. Grace E. Brown on 7 Dec 1902; m. Ida M. Wyman on 30 Dec 1908
Evelyn Rose “Eva” (Feb 1880-1953) — m. Fred J. Knight on 5 Jun 1902
Chester was born in Exeter, Penobscot County, Maine to Nathaniel S. Hill III from Rockingham County, New Hampshire and Eliza Stevens from Exeter.
Mary Jane was also born in Exeter, to William A. Tash from New Hampshire and Betsy G. Berry from Maine. Note Mary Jane had a younger cousin also named Mary Jane Tash born about 1851; and there was a Mariah L. Tash born in Exeter six months after Mary, relationship to Mary undetermined.
The 1850 and 1860 censuses showed both Chester and Mary Jane living in Exeter, Penobscot County with their respective parents.
Chester and Mary married on 15 Jun 1863 in Exeter. They settled in Chester, up in the very rural northern part of Penobscot County. Chester was a farmer. In the 1870 census, Chester (32) and Mary (29) had children Flora M. (4) and Anna L. (1).
Their son Chester, Jr. was born in 1878, and their daughter Rose, age 7, died later the same year. Evelyn, born in 1880, presumably received the middle name Rose in memory of her sister.
In 1880, Chester (43) and Mary J. (38) had children Flora M. (14), Lizzie A. (11), Chester A. (2), and Rosa E. (1 month).
In 1900, Chester (63) and Mary J. (59) still had children Chester A. (22), Annie L. (32), and Evelyn R. (20) at home, plus a boarder named Maud McAlpine and... Flora H. Brown, grand-daughter, age 9 months! Flora’s caretaker was Evelyn, recalled as Aunt Eva. Flora went back to her father’s house in Vermont when she was 2 or 3, possibly because Eva was getting married (June 1902), or possibly because Flora’s father remarried and had a wife around (October 1902).
In 1910, Chester (72) and Mary J. (68) were living with son Chester, Jr. and his wife and daughter, still in Chester. Mary Jane died in 1910 shortly after the census, cause listed as old age. Chester, Sr. died in 1916. The cause was “senile debility” according to the attending physician, one H. W. Ball. They are both buried in Chester. The death records don’t specify the cemetery, but the burials of at least two of their children and Mary Jane’s parents in South Chester Cemetery (on Route 116 about a mile south of Chester, just north of the intersection with Gray Road) make that a good bet.
Flora has her own entry in the family tree.
Lizzie married her mother’s first cousin Andrew James Tash (22 Jul 1848-19xx), carpenter, from Lincoln, Maine on 12 Nov 1905 in Lincoln Center. He was the son of clergyman James M. Tash (1812-1880) from Wolfeboro, New Hampshire and Ruth Ann Lombard (1822-1858) from Exeter, Maine. It was her first marriage (she was 37), his fourth; his previous wives were Mary Marks (1872), Anna Rogers (1878), and Emma Lombard (1889).
The 1910 and 1920 censuses showed the couple in Chester with no children, which, given their ages, isn’t a surprise. Lizzie died in 1923. She is buried in West Broadway Cemetery, Lincoln, Penobscot County. The stone has Andrew’s name and date of birth along with hers, but leaves his date of death blank, so I doubt he’s buried there. He could be buried with one of his previous wives, although he appears to have had no surviving children.
Rose died in 1878, age 7. She’s buried in South Chester Cemetery.
Chester, Jr. married Grace E. Brown (1883-1963) in 1902. No relation to the Vermont Browns – her parents were Elisha T. Brown and Laura Wheelden of Lee, Penobscot County, Maine. They had one child:
Leola June (25 Feb 1905-Feb 1985) — m. William H. Noyes on 20 Nov 1921
Grace apparently left, taking Leola June with her. In 1909 she married Thomas Corbett (1879-1963) in Lee. Chester married again to Ida M. Wyman (1884-1966) in 1908. They had two children:
Mary J. (9 Oct 1909-13 Nov 1994) — m. Lloyd Kimball on 28 Oct 1925
Chester E. (29 Apr 1911-28 Feb 1922)
In the 1910 census, Chester’s parents were living with them. Chester died in 1912, cause undetermined, and is buried in the South Chester Cemetery. His second wife Ida married Preston Fisher Tash (21 Mar 1858-1943), another son of James Tash and Ruth Lombard who grew up in the house of Chester’s maternal grandparents. When she died in 1966, though, she was buried with Chester.
Chester’s first daughter, Leola J. Hill Noyes, died in 1985 in Cumberland County. His second daughter, Mary J. Hill Kimball, died in 1994 in West Gardiner, Kennebec County.
Eva was counted twice in the 1900 census: Once at her parents’s farm in Chester, and once as a servant to the Ayer household in Lincoln Village. She was also primary caretaker during this time for her infant niece Flora Hill Brown. In 1902, she married Fred J. Knight (1861-1940) of Chester. They lived at first in Chester, but by 1920 had settled in Carmel, a few miles west of Bangor. They had one child:
Eleanor Sereau (5 Mar 1911-Sep 1991) — m. Harold Edward Brown in 193x
In 1940, probably just after Fred’s death, Eva was living in Damascus, Carmel, Penobscot County with Eleanor, her husband Harold, and four children aged 10, 8, 6, and 1. At least some of the children were from Harold’s previous marriage.
Eva died in 1953. She and Fred are buried in Ruggles Cemetery, Carmel, Penobscot County.
Eleanor and Harold (1900-1953) are also buried in Ruggles Cemetery. However, there’s a separate grave for Harold and his brother Percy in Greenbush, Penobscot County, so it’s unclear in which location he was actually buried.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4X4-56D -- Mary Jane’s parents marry, 1834
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4SG-BFX -- Chester’s birth, 1837
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHYS-DH3 -- 1840 census, William Tash
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F44R-LQ7 -- Mary Jane’s birth, 1843
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6V3-LBY -- 1850 census, Chester
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6V7-XBV -- 1850 census, Mary Jane
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDCH-3BG -- 1860 census, Chester
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDCH-QYV -- 1860 census, Mary Jane (as “Task”)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4X4-P83 -- Chester and Mary’s wedding, 1863
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4QG-MML -- Flora’s birth, 1865
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4QG-W8R -- Lizzie’s birth, 1868
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F43R-BB6 -- Rosetta’s birth, 1870
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6DT-JL7 -- 1870 census
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD3M-7Z9 -- 1870 census, says James but I think this is Andrew
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52085533/rose-b-hill -- Rosetta’s grave
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F43R-B13 -- Chester, Jr.’s birth, 1878
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF31-3XR -- 1880 census
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF31-3X8 -- 1880 census, William Tash
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJ5-MBPW -- William Tash’s death, 1884
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMLT-847 -- 1900 census
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMLY-V8B -- 1900 census, Evelyn
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KCJ8-RZD -- Evelyn’s 1902 wedding
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4X4-159 -- Chester, Jr.’s 1902 wedding to Grace Brown
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KCDT-R6B -- Chester, Jr.’s 1905 wedding to Mary Jane Tash
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KCDT-RXM -- Lizzie’s 1905 wedding
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZQX-NX9 -- 1905 birth of Leola June Hill
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KCN5-MF6 -- Chester, Jr.’s 1908 wedding
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MR3D-GNT -- 1910 census
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MR3D-NNL -- 1910 census, Evelyn
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q24N-3ZMC -- 1910 death of Mary Jane
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVJ5-4C3Y -- 1912 burial record for Chester, Jr.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/58236294/chester-a-hill -- 1912 grave of Chester, Jr.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q24N-Q9R8 -- 1916 death of Chester, Sr.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hill-26355 -- ditto
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFZ5-6C1 -- 1920 census, Evelyn
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KCNX-WZ2 -- Leola’s 1921 wedding
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/146889142/annie-l-tash -- 1923 grave of Lizzie
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KCJ6-SRB -- 1925 wedding of Chester, Jr.’s daughter Mary
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMDW-N5G -- 1930 census, Evelyn
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMML-B93 -- 1940 census, Evelyn
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMMG-ZJ6 -- 1940 census, Chester Jr.’s daughter Mary
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42784202/evelyn-r-knight -- 1953 grave of Evelyn
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54272688 -- 1963 grave of Chester, Jr.’s first wife
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JPSW-1NT -- Leola’s death, 1985
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/180012981/leola-j.-noyes -- 1985 grave of Chester, Jr.’s daughter Leola
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VSZ6-5XQ -- 1991 death of Evelyn’s daughter Eleanor
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/77445650 -- 1994 grave of Chester, Jr.’s daughter Mary