Biography

Mentioned in 18510526FMS_WHS1, as suitable location for Frederick William Seward to clerk in Albany

Excerpt from entry provided by Historical Society of New York Courts: "Nicholas Hill, Jr. was born in Florida, Montgomery County, New York, in 1805, the ninth child in a family of 18 children. As a young man, he supported himself by teaching school while he studied law, first in Montgomery County and later in Schoharie County. Following his admission to the Bar in 1829, he practiced for a time in Amsterdam, New York, before moving to Saratoga Springs where he joined Judge Esek Cowen in writing a commentary on Phillips on Evidence. This work was published under the title of Cowen & Hill's Notes in 1839, and was very well received by the Bar. Hill was appointed District Attorney of Saratoga County in September, 1836, but left office after a short time. He was appointed State Reporter in 1840, the fifth in the history of the State to hold that office, and in the years between 1840 and 1845, he issued seven volumes of reports of the decisions of the Court of Errors and the Supreme Court.

In 1844, Nicholas Hill formed a law partnership with Peter Cagger and John K. Porter (later a Judge of the Court of Appeals) known as Hill, Cagger & Porter, and confined his practice to the argument of cases on appeal, many of which resulted in important decisions."