American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Small archive consisting of approx. 14 letters and several additional documents spanning approx. 1800-1807. Includes 7 letters written by Captain Hills from ports at Havana, Lisbon, and Portland, as well as letters written to him from his wife and others. Contents include, in part, the following:

Stampless cover addressed to "Capt. Saml. Hills / New England Coffe [sic] house / London" from fellow captain, Thomas Seward, Jr.. in which Seward describes the status of several other vessels and mutual acquaintances. Handstamped "Mar 27 1800." -- Cover addressed to "Capt. Robert Hinkley of ship Galen" from Hilts, ship Heluvet, 13 February 1805. Hills describes a difficult journey, particularly in the North Sea. -- Cover addressed to Captain Hills's wife "Mrs. P. Hills" (Martha "Patty" Pierce Hills) of Boston, Massachusetts, from her brother Erasmus J. Pierce, Baltimore, 10 March 1809. Pierce describes difficulties in a business he is overseeing, and mentions that he plans to "sell my Schooner Hamilton if Possible." -- Cover addressed to "Mrs. Martha Hills" of Boston, with three authors conveying messages on interior pages, one from Mrs. Hills's young daughter also named Martha writing of her time with her Aunt and Uncle Pierce, and dated Baltimore, 3 June 1810, another short note from Betsy Pierce related to young Martha's stay, and a final page unsigned, but likely written by Erasmus J. Pierce describing his anticipation of his sister's visit. 

[Also with:] Indenture signed by Samuel C. Hills, Benjamin Ingersoll, Benjamin Ingersoll, and Oliver C. Greenleaf, 14 October 1801; receipt for a "Corbean moulskin Fur Coat" purchased by Captain Samuel Hills from John Brooks & Co. of Boston, 30 September 1805; receipt for payment for a "Staind Coffin," purchased from Willett & Bullard by Mrs. Hill, 27 August 1805.

Captain Samuel C. Hills (ca 1777-1807) may have been a captain for the New England Coffee Company, a mercantile coffee house. He made his home, at least for some period of years, in Boston, the birthplace of his wife Martha Pierce Hills Simonds (1779-1863) who he married in November 1801. The 29 July 1807 issue of the Columbian Centinel newspaper of Massachusetts indicates that a Captain Samuel C. Hills "late commander of the schr. Farmer of Boston" died in Havana on 5 July 1807.