effects of the war; Josiah (Jhapiu Trask, wliu
at the age of twenty-six was killed in Quan-
trell's raid in Lawrence, Kan.; Ruth (^uincy
Trask, the widow of Lewis Bellows Powell, of
Scranton, Pa.; Eliza Trask Hill; and William
Dodge Trask, who died in infancy.
Mrs. Hill has vivid remembrances of the stir- ring words of 'illiam Lloyd Garrison, Wenilell Phillips, Lucy Stone, and other noble souls among the early reformers, who were freciuent visitors at her father's house in her childhood. The accjuaintance thus formed with Lucy Stone lasted until Mrs. Stone's death, and is a precious memory.
She received her education in the public schools of Fitchburg, and immediately after her graduation from the high school, in 1856, she be- gan to teach school in Franklin, Mass. A mem- ber of the school board imiuired if she had brought a certificate of moral character, to which she replied, "All the moral character I have, sir, I have with nie." A year later she was asked to take a school in one of the outlying dis- tricts of Fitchburg. The school was a hard one to discipline, and the first great test of her courage came at this point in her career. The war of the Rebellion was in progress, and in her district were a number of people who had been greatly opposed to her appointment be- cause of her father's abolitionist views, with which she was known to sympathize, (^n this account she was refused board in the neighbor- hood, hut was not thus deterred from taking the school. For three months she walked daily six miles to teach the school, and not only were the unruly children brought into subjection, but all the parents, including her l)itterest op- ponent, became her firm friends.
Going to Indianapolis to teach in 18G4, she went about with Superintendent Shortridge to grade the schools of that city. Later she taught for a year in Terre Haute, Ind. Two of her pupils while teacher of an intermediate grade in Fitchliurg were Maurice Richardson and Edward Pierce, the former now the well-known surgeon of Boston, and the latter recently a])- pointed Justice of the Superior Court of Massa- chusetts.
The R(n'. George Tiask was a man of very liberal ideas; and, when his daughter was asked to become a memix>r of a company of her town's people to give amateur theatricals for the ben- efit of the Sanitary Connnission, he readily gave his consent. With Mrs. Vincent of the Boston Museum as teacher, plays were given throughout the winter, which netted a large sum. Mr. Trask always attended, by his pres- ence giving sanction to the entertainments. The benefit of Mrs. Vincent's teaching has been felt by Mrs. Hill in after life. During the Rebellion Mrs. Hill (then Miss Trask) collectetl money to give a flag to the Washington Guards of Fitchburg, presenting it the night previous to their tleparture for the battle-field, urging the soldiers to fight cou- rageously for the freedom of the slave. At these woj-ds the colonel of the regiment took offence, and in a cruel way denietl that that was the issue. Brave men defended the young woman, and a victory for righteousness was scored that night.
AVhen the Soldiers' Monument in Fitchburg was dedicated, some years after the close of the war, Mrs. Hill with her two children was at her father's home. The company, much de- pleted, passetl by, bearing the tattered flag, which had been through many battles. The two children, one representing a soldier, the other the Goddess of Liberty, were stand- ing upon the porch of the old home- steatl. As the company reached the house, they halted, antl saluted the children; and Mrs. Hill, from behind the little ones, responded to the graceful tribute. The colonel before his death acknowledged his mistake, and apolo- gized for his rudeness at the time of the flag presentation.
At the age of twenty-six Eliza Trask became the wife of John Lange Hill, of Boston. Their children are: George Sumner Hill, a graduate of Harvard Medical School: Julia Annie Hill, a gratluate of Wellesley College, now the wife of Dr. Frank J. Geib, of A.shtabula, Ohio, a gratluate of Harvard; and Lewis Powell Hill, w'ho is in commercial life.
When the Woman's Christian Temperance Union was organized, over a quarter of a century ago, Mrs. Hill, who was then residing in Braintree, was chosen the first president for Norfolk County. Some official position in that
