Person:George Hill (11)

Family legend indicates that George Handel Hill was the *son* of Ureli Corelli Hill, but SYMPHONY Magazine and other sources indicate that George and Ureli were BROTHERS. See http://www.symphony.org/news/room/02ndhaws.shtml.

a.k.a. "Yankee Hill the Actor," a contemporary and colleague of John Wilkes Booth. (See photo of the two of them together, in the posession of Judith Dick Plumley.)

From chapters 12 and 13 of _Reminiscences of New York by an Octogenarian (1816 - 1860)_, by Charles Haskell, published and copyrighted 1896 by Harper & Brothers (http://216.202.17.223/jm970121.htm and http://216.202.17.223/octo/octo-13.htm or http://www.earlyrepublic.net/jm970121.htm): "The summer of 1831 witnessed the success at the Chatham Garden Theatre of George Handel Hill ("Yankee Hill"), who, in his Yankee delineations, made for himself a wide reputation. He was at the Park Theatre in 1832, and travelled extensively in this country afterward; then in 1838 and 1833 he was highly successful in London, and even in Paris. He died in 1849."

See also: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/rourke.html http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/rourke/ch01.html http://www.cardinalbook.com/leach/cushman/iso8859/chap6.htm

From http://www.cardinalbook.com/leach/cushman/iso8859/chap6.htm: "a comic whose slapstick set off gales of laughter because he had calculated every effect. As Sy Saco, or Solon Shingle, or Sam Slick, or Solomon Swap, Hill's shrewd, wily stereotype of the Yankee peddler was internationally famous, suggesting in the bargain that Yankee character epitomized American character in general."

From Watercolor portrait of him as "Hiram Dodge" in "The Yankee Peddler," by Barnard, first played in London at the Drury Lane Theatre in the Fall of 1836. Son of Urelli Corelli Hill. An actor of no little fame in London, Paris, Edinburge, Glasgow and New York.

From _A History of the City of Brooklyn_ by Henry Styles, Volume III, p. 905? (1870) http://www.panix.com/~cassidy/stilesv3/v3part11/905.html: Probably the first theatrical entertainment ever afforded to the people of Brooklyn, was that given by George Frederick Handel (George Handel Hill) about 1824-1825, at Mrs. Chester’s hotel, or coffee-house, on the easterly side of Front, near James street.' Hill, afterwards famous as Yankee Hill, wag at this time barely fifteen years of age. Having graduated from the Park theatre of New York, with success, as a “supe, he undertook on his own account, a series of entertainments, in imitation of the great Mathews, in which were blended songs, recitations, and dances, among which the new and popular Indian war dance figured conspicuously. Whatever the pecuniary results of his enterprise here, it probably possessed more than ordi. nary merit, as it secured him an offer from the manager of a traveling company, which he accepted. Hill was always a favorite in, Brooklyn, ever attracting the best people of the place.

Sabin 55757. George Handel Hill was born in Massachusetts in 1809 and leapt to stardom almost overnight when he first performed in the role of a "Yankee" humorist. He became, perhaps, the most popular comedian in the country. See DAB.

http://www.msrarebooks.com/4DCGI/w_BookDetailS/12101 An American Clown

From http://famousamericans.net/uriahchill/ (Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889 & edited Stanley L. Klos, 1999):

--[Ureli Coreli Hill's] brother, George Handel, born in Boston, Massachusetts, 9 October, 1809; died in Saratoga, New York, 27 September, 1849, was educated in Taunton, Massachusetts, and at the age of sixteen found employment with a watchmaker and jeweller in New York city. He occasionally volunteered as a supernumerary in the Chatham street theatre, joined a travelling company of comedians, gave entertainments as a flute-player, comic singer, and story-teller, and subsequently as a lecturer. His earliest engagement as a stock actor was at the Arch street theatre, Philadelphia. In 1828 Hill married, and for a year or two kept a country store in Leroy, New York But being unsuccessful he joined the company in the Albany theatre, and then lectured in the middle and southern states. The small Yankee part in Samuel Woodworth's drama of "The Forest Rose" arrested his attention, and determined him to make that specialty his particular study. He appeared in this play for the first time at the Arch street theatre. The character of Jonathan was by him amplified and enlivened with comic stories to make it prominent. Hill's debut at the Park theatre, New York, raised him at once to the dignity of a star performer, and secured him engagements throughout the Union. Among his dramas were "Caspar Hauser," "The Green Mountain Boys," "A Wife for a Day," "The Yankee Pedler," and "The Knight of the Golden Fleece," all ephemeral, but skilfully measured to the artist's capability. In 1836 "Yankee " Hill, as he was called, performed at Drury Lane and the Olympic theatres, London, and in other large cities of England, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, returning home in the year following. His second visit to Europe was in 1838, when he appeared at the Adelphi theatre, London, and gave entertainments in Paris. In 1839 he returned to the United States, and soon found that his attraction was on the wane, the old plays worn out, and he had nothing new to offer. In this manner Hill was retired to second-class play-houses and less profitable engagements. He began the study of dentistry, but lacked the nerve and endurance, and abandoned the effort to make that his profession. In 1847 Hill retired to Batavia, New York, playing only occasionally in monologue entertainments. Hill's down-east stories were exceedingly droll, and were recited in a manner highly original. In the delineation of the typical, artificial stage-Yankee, who talks through his nose, drives sharp bargains, and slyly outwits his fellow-man, this actor was unequalled. His range was narrow, but the ease, quaintness, and finish of his manner disarmed criticism.

1. ↑ Northall, Dr. W.K. (Editor). American Clown.

   On description of book (for sale) at: http://www.msrarebooks.com/4DCGI/w_BookDetailS/12101

2. ↑ Northall, Dr. W.K. (Editor). Life and Recollections of Yankee Hill. (1850)
   p. 9; p. 78.

   "Well," said Mr. Hill, " I was born in Boston, in the year 1809, on the 8th day of October, at six o'clock in the morning." "At six o'clock, eh?" "At six o'clock precisely, down in Water street."

3. ↑ Fiske, John, and James Grant Wilson. Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography. (New York, NY: D. Appleton, 1898-99).