The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: CT
Qualifying Service: Lieutenant Colonel
Author: Donald L. Hills
Medad Hills was born April 27, 1729 in Durham, Connecticut. He is the son of Benoni Hills and Hannah (Strong) Hills. Medad was the fourth born of eleven children. He had six sisters and four brothers. His father was a gunsmith, learning the trade as an apprentice of Ebenezor Pomeroy of Northampton, Massachusetts. The Hills family moved to Goshen, Ct. in 1740 where Medad and his brother John learned gunsmithing from their father. The Hills guns have a similar appearance with curly maple stocks and many of the locks and barrels appear to be hand forged.
Medad married Sarah Smith on December 5, 1751 in Goshen. They had five children. Their names were Seth, Lucy, Hewitt, Reuben and Miles. Hewitt was a member of the Connecticut General Assembly in 1799 and 1800.
Medad was a citizen of importance in Goshen, including a military career that started in 1769 when he was elected an ensign in the Goshen militia. On December 23, 1776 he was appointed a Captain and raised a company from Goshen, Litchfield and Winchester Ct. He was promoted to Major and then Lt. Colonel of the 17th Regiment in May 1777. He served in 1779 in and around Peekskill, New York. He resigned his commission due to arthritis (known at that time as rheumatism) toward the end of that year. Medad, being a man of means, refused his pension.
In 1776 Medad had a contract to supply muskets to the local Committee of Safety. The Connecticut archives contain records dated February 24, 1776 acknowledging the delivery of forty guns, forty bayonets and forty belts from Medad’s establishment in Goshen.
Medad continued to make guns in Goshen while his brother John moved to the New Hampshire grants in 1784. John settled in Charlotte township where he opened a gunsmithing business. John also served in the Revolutionary War in Captain John Hodge’s company from Winchester, Ct.
Medad’s wife Sarah died in Goshen on February 18, 1802 (her 70th birthday). Medad died on April 9, 1808 just eighteen days shy of his 80th birthday. He and his wife are buried in the East Street Cemetery in Goshen. Hills family guns are on display in the Litchfield, Ct. Historical Society Museum and in many private collections.
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Additional Information:
DAR NOTE: (there are potential issues) regarding this person's lineage-ANN BUTTRICK WAS THE MOTHER OF LEVI, NOT ABIGAIL WILCOX - Feb 2014