Hill was born in New Jersey in 1800 and migrated to Cincinnati, Ohio, at age 20. He then came to New Salem in 1829 where he started a store in partnership with John McNamar. Hill was a small slender man with an irascible temperament but usually gallant to the ladies. After the dissolution of his partnership in 1832, Hill expanded his investments by erecting a carding mill in the spring of 1835. That July, Hill married Parthena Nance from nearby Farmer's Point. They had one child, John, born at New Salem in September 1839. In 1837 Hill sold his carding mill to Hardin Bale and by 1840 had moved his family and store to Petersburg.