Person:Sarah McPhillomy (1)

John McAllhill and his wife Sarah McPhillomy had at least three children who emigrated from Ireland to Vermont in the mid-1800s. No direct record has yet been found for John or Sarah and it's not yet known whether they also emigrated to the United States or remained in Ireland. In the decades after the children moved to the United States the family's name changed from McAlhill or McElhill to Hill.

Sarah was likely born around 1805 in County Tyrone, Ireland. The evidence for this location comes from their son Hugh's naturalisation record which states that Hugh was born in County Tyrone. According to their son Thomas' death record, Sarah's maiden name was McPhillomy. There were a couple of other McPhillomy's who lived near John and Sarah's children in the mid-1800s:

• John McPhillomy who was born about 1833 in Lisleen Townland, Ardstraw Parish, County Tyrone. He married Anna McDevitt, sister of John McDevitt who married John and Sarah's daughter Jane Hill.
• Rebecca McPhillomy whose headstone states she was born in "Ardstra County Tyrone Ireland" in 1841. She married a different John McDevitt, who has not yet been directly linked to the other McDevitt families in the area but who was probably part of the same extended family that emigrated from Ardstraw to Vermont.

John and Sarah's eldest known child was Jane, who according to her headstone was born in 1826 (although other records give dates ranging from 1823-1831). The second known child was Thomas, born Jan 1830, followed by Hugh born about 1836 (his naturalisation record states 1837 and other records gives dates between 1825-1839).

Many people from County Tyrone emigrated to the Dorset and Rutland areas of Vermont in the 1840s-1860s. The Great Famine in Ireland was 1845-1852, but life had been tough for some time before that with high unemployment and appalling housing and living conditions. "Their decision to go to America was less a choice than an imperative. Stay and starve, or leave and survive. They were more refugee than immigrant."^S3 According to their 1900 census record the first of the Hill siblings to emigrate was Jane in 1853, followed by Hugh in 1855 and Thomas in 1857. No immigration records have been located yet however there is a possible matching record for a Hugh McElhill arriving in New York on the Excelsior on 18 Jun 1855. Also listed on the same page is a Jas McDevitt who was born about 1838, who could possibly be this person.

Jane married marble worker John McDevitt around 1857, although no marriage record has yet been found. Their first child, a son, was stillborn in December 1858 in Rutland. By 1860 Jane had moved to Dorset, where she and John had three children who lived to adulthood, and where Jane remained until her death in 1901.

Jane's brother Thomas Hill must have married around the same time as Jane, to Bridget Devlin, as their first child Bridget was born in West Rutland in 1859. The family has not yet been located in the 1860 census but they had more children born in Rutland in 1861, 1863 and 1865. By 1868 Thomas and his family had moved to Dorset, where three more children were born before Bridget died in childbirth in 1876. Thomas and his seven children aged 6-21 years old were in Dorset during the 1880 census. Thomas appears in the 1900 census in the household of his daughter Bridget in Colorado but he returned to Dorset by the time he died in 1908. Thomas worked in the marble quarries and as a labourer.

Jane and Thomas were buried in St. Jerome's Church Cemetery in East Dorset.

Hugh Hill was living in Dorset in 1860 in the household of Robert Carney. Also living in the same household was John McDavet who would soon marry Rebecca McPhillomy. Perhaps Hugh Hill and Rebecca McPhillomy were first cousins? In any case, it seems possible that the McAlhill, McPhillomy, and McDevitt families already knew each other in Ireland.

Hugh married Sarah Nugent in 1861 in Middlebury, Addison County. They had 5 children born in Rutland before 1867, then the family lived in Middlebury between 1869 and 1880 where 7 more children were born. The records indicate Hugh worked in the marble quarries until the 1900 census which indicates he was working as a railroad yardman back in Rutland. He died in Rutland in 1909 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Rutland.

There was a possible fourth sibling living in Rutland from 1860-1863. William McAllhill was a quarryhand living at a boarding house during the 1860 census, which states he was born about 1839 in Ireland. His name appears on the 1863 draft registration just under Hugh, and on the same page as Thomas. All three of the men's surnames were spelled McAlhill or McAllhill. It is hoped that further records can be found for William to determine whether and how he was related to the three known Hill siblings.

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Vermont, United States. Vital Records, 1720-1908
   Dorset, death index cards, Vol. 1, pg. 168, Thomas Hill d. 17 Apr 1908.
2. ↑ Vermont, United States. Vital Records, 1720-1908
   Dorset, death index cards, 183, Jane (McAlhill) McDevitt d. 18 Jan 1901.