Biography

HORACE HILLS was born in East Hartford, Conn., October 31st, 1787. His youth was 
passed in the family of his uncle, Dr. William Porter, of Hadley, Mass. 
In May, 1809, he came to Auburn, and began the mercantile business, in which he was 
successfully engaged for thirty years. From earliest manhood he was an earnest supporter 
of the public services of Christian worship, And always gave liberally of his time and 
means for religious purposes. In 1810, he encouraged and aided the building of St. Peter's 
Church, the first house of worship in the village. He was one of the founders of the First 
Presbyterian Society, in 1815, and one of the Second Presbyterian Society, in 1828, in 
both of which churches he held the office of ruling elder for many years. He was also one 
of the founders of the Theological Seminary, of which he was trustee. He was at one time 
president of the village, and was long one of the inspectors of the Auburn State prison, 
under appointment from the Governors of the State. He was one of the first to introduce 
the cultivation of choice fruits and flowers, and to give the village its rural adornments of 
trees and shrubbery. Shortly after his removal to Auburn, he married Miss Almira 
Wilcox, of East Guilford, Conn., whose domestic and social virtues graced his home for 
nearly half a century. Their united influence was always felt in the cause of refined and 
Christian education. Their surviving children are two sons, the Rev. Horace Hills, Jr., and 
the Rev. George Morgan Hills, clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and three 
daughters, the founders of the church school for young ladies in Buffalo, N.Y. For the 
last twenty-two years. Mr. Hills has resided in Buffalo, where he still enjoys a “green old 
age.”