The
name stamp "A. HILL" along with the date 1828
has been reported on at least twelve woodworking
planes. "A. HILL" is Allen Hill, a lifelong
resident of Foster, R.I. He was born in Foster
in 1804 and he died there in 1881. Allen Hill is
called a "Yeoman" in land deeds of 1835 and
1856. His homestead farm was 65 acres "with a
dwelling house, barn, and other buildings and
improvements thereon." The land deed evidence
suggests that he was a hard working family man
who farmed his land and met with some success in
life, in short a solid citizen of the town of
Foster.1 While living
and farming at Foster, Allen Hill was also a
woodworker, probably a shop joiner. His father,
Jonathan Hill, was a wheelwright and housewright
in Foster. Jonathan's woodworking skills would
have been passed on to his son Allen, just as
Allen would in turn teach his two sons the
joiners trade. Allen Hill owned and stamped with
his name at least twelve Jo, Fuller planes. Most
of these have simple molding shapes, small in
scale, the kind of plane that would have been
used by a shop joiner. Another indication that
woodworking was an important part of his life's
work is that Allen singled out his "Carpenters
tools" in an 1881 deed transferring his property
to his son Albert F. Hill. 2
Allen Hill was also a
toolmaker. At the age of twenty four he made the
wooden molding planes that carry his name and
the date 1828. His name stamp is also on a
wooden measuring gage that he probably made. My
guess is that Allen made these tools for his own
use. The evidence of the tools marked "A. HILL"
is that Allen Hill was a skilled woodworker who
was capable of making finely crafted joiners
tools that worked well. During his lifetime he
undoubtedly made other joiners tools to sell to
or swap wlth his neighbors in Foster, but these
tools were probably not marked by Allen. A shop
Joiner in a country town like Foster would have
made many different things: windows, doors, and
flooring for houses; simple furniture; wooden
farm implements; and tools to work wood. The
fact that Allen tried his hand at toolmaking is
not surprising. What is remarkable is that Allen
Hill has left us with some tools that reflect a
studied determination on his part to make his
tools the equal of those that could be purchased
from full time toolmakers. In this I think he
succeeded.3
Link
to Article Images: plane,
flute and wedge profiles.
FOOTNOTES
1. Barry Weaver of Barrington,R.I.
researched the birth and death dates for Allen
Hill of Foster, R.I. Allen Hill land deeds are
at Foster Town Hall, Foster, R.I., Land Deed Bk
9-p265, Bk 12-p274
2. Jonathan Hill was a prosperous Foster
yeoman as well as a wheelwright and housewright.
His land deeds are at Foster, Bk 1-p485, Bk
1-p791, Bk 8-p526, et al.
Some biographical information on the three
generations of the Allen Hill family of Foster
can be found in Thomas Williams Bicknell, The
History Of The State Of Rhode Island And
Providence Plantations, 5 Vols., (New York, 1920
, Vol. IV, p200. Most of the information is on
Albert F. Hill, one of Allen's two sons, who was
an important builder in the Warwlck, R.I. area.
William A. Hill, Allen's oldest son, was
married in Foster in 1863 and is called a
"Joiner, age 23 of Hartford, Ct." (the source
for this information is an early Foster Book of
Marriages at the R.I. State Archives). Land deed
evidence at Warwick, R.L shows that William A.
Hill in 1878 was living in the Phenix Village
section of Warwick. Phenix Village is now part
of West Warwick, R.I. In 1990 I had a chance to
buy out of a house in West Warwick a woodworkers
tool chest filled with wonderful Joiners tools.
I did not know it at the time but these tools
were the personal tools of William A. Hill,
Allen Hill's son. I passed on the tool box and
most of the tools but I did buy four Jo. Fuller
planes. Three of the Fuller planes were stamped
with the ~A. HILL stamp and two of these had a
"W. A. HILL" incuse stamp. Undoubtedly there
were in the toolbox many other tools that had
descended from Allen Hill to his son William.
It is a mystery why Allen Hill owned so many
Jo. Fuller planes all of which were made at
least ten years before Allen was born. They are
the Fuller planes that have flat chamfering,
well defined gouge cuts, and a strong "arrow"
after the Fuller name.(see attached sheet) They
are beautiful Jo. Fuller planes, in almost
unused condition. There are no additional
imprints, only "A. HILL" stamped carefully in
the same place on every plane. Perhaps Allen's
father, Jonathan, purchased the planes for his
own use and they descended from father to son
Allen. Jonathan Hill was twenty years old in
1793 and he would have been assembling his tool
kit around the time these Fuller planes were
made. The 1881 deed for Allen Hill is at Foster,
Land Deed Bk 14-p648.
3. The planes found to date that Allen
Hill made with the double struck name stamp and
the 1828 date are twelve hollows and rounds.
There is also a birch bead plane with the name
struck once and the 1828 date. Also reported is
a birch joiner plane with the name struck once
but no date. The hollow and round planes are
made of apple wood, this choice of wood not
surprising in that there were many apple
orchards in rural Foster in the early 1800s.
These planes have simple bottom shapes that a
skilled shop joiner living in the country might
try to make. Although the hollows and rounds are
well made, they are not made with the precision
and crispness that might be expected from a
full-time toolmaker. The A. Hill relieved wedge
suggests a Jo. Fuller influence. And the A. Hill
chamfer stops and gouge cuts are similar to what
is seen on the planes made by Olney. But I think
it is wrong to think of Allen Hill as
intentionally copying the work of others. He
developed his own unique style, reflective of
who he was, where he lived, and the kinds of
work he did.