John Hillman

  General Notes:

Family tradition says he was "shanghaied" from a fishing boat in the Thames and brought to America when 16 years old. He was then sold as a servant or apprentice. He came to Martha's Vineyard between 1674 and 1679 and settled in Tisbury. In 1679 he moved to Nantucket, and finally settled in Chilmark

  Research Notes:

John Hillman (i). In the history of Farmington, Me., by Butler, page 494, is the following:
"A tradition among the Hillmans states that from John Hillman, who was the emigrant ancestor of the Farmington families, are sprung all persons by that name, who reside in this country. He came to the Island of Martha's Vineyard in the latter part of the 17th century, having been stolen when a lad of 16, from a fishing boat on the River Thames, England. He followed the trade of a worsted comber, and after his marriage, settled in Chilmark. His wife was Hannah Cottle of Tisbury. Their grandson, Benjamin, was the father of Robert Hillman, who settled upon the homestead in Chilmark."

John married Hannah Cottle, daughter of Edward Cottle and Unknown, in 1681 in Nantucket, Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA. (Hannah Cottle was born on 5 Mar 1661 in Amesbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA and died on 16 Apr 1728 in Chilmark, Dukes, Massachusetts, USA.)