Elias Hill
| Elias Hill | |
|---|---|
| Born | c 1819 |
| Died | March 28, 1872 (aged 52–53) Arthington, Liberia |
| Occupation | Preacher, civil rights activist |
| Political party | Republican |
Elias Hill (c1819 - March 28, 1872) was a Baptist minister and leader of the York County, South Carolina congregation that emigrated to Arthington, Liberia. In 1871 he was one of the victims of a series of attacks in York County against local blacks by members of the Ku Klux Klan. His situation received wide attention on account of his condition, as Hill had been stricken by an illness while a child which had left him crippled with his arms and legs in a withered state. He was known for preaching about rights and equality and taught local children how to read and write.
Elias Hill was born in 1819 to Dorcas and Elias in York County, South Carolina. The elder Elias was possibly born in Africa. He was stricken with a disease at age seven in 1826 which left him crippled. His disease left him described by some as a dwarf, and he described it as rheumatism, but it was probably polio. His disease may also have been muscular dystrophy, and crippled one arm and leg. As an adult, his legs remained extremely skinny, his arms were withered, and his jaw was deformed. While still young, Hill's father purchased the freedom of his wife, Hill's mother, for $150. Hill's master included the crippled boy in the transaction.
The Hills were owned by a famous Hill family, which included future Confederate general Daniel Harvey Hill. As a boy, the white school children in York County taught Elias to read and write. No one objected to having such a deformed child hanging around the school, and Hill's privileges were in part due to his condition, for which he was also ridiculed by the children. Daniel Harvey Hill was among those who taught Elias to read. Elias was very intelligent and driven, and his intellectual possibilities were not noticed by the white community around him due to his condition.
After the Civil War ended in 1865, Hill worked as an ordained Baptist preacher moving from congregation to congregation in the South Carolina Piedmont. He also taught reading and writing. By 1871 at the age of 50 he was president of the local Union League. He regularly held political meetings at his cabin and was a popular and powerful preacher, serving a congregation in Clay Hill, near Rock Hill, South Carolina.
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