Using the Social Security number found on Hall of Famer Pete Hill’s death certificate, I’ve obtained his Form SS-5, his application for a Social Security number.
This confirms that the possible family described in this post was in fact Pete Hill’s family: Elizabeth Seals, born in Culpeper, Virginia (and whose married names included Hill, Reynolds, and Kelly), was Pete Hill’s mother, and Jerome Bryant Hill and Walter Vaughan Hill were his older brothers. And for the first time we have his father’s name: Ike Hill. Unfortunately, “Ike” is one of those nicknames (like Pete, or Frank, or Harry) that may or may not bear any relation to his real name, so I have had no luck in establishing anything else about Pete Hill’s father.
Here, rather than Buena Vista, Virginia, as Hill’s birthplace, we have Rapidan, Virginia, the same town where Pete Hill’s grandmother, Mary Francis Seals, died in 1912, and also where his brother Walter was born, according to his World War II draft card. There are actually at least two Rapidans in Virginia: one in Culpeper County (where Hill’s mother was born), and another in Madison County, just to the southwest. The one in Culpeper County, as it happens, was actually called Rapid Ann Station until 1886, whereas the Rapidan in Madison County appears as Rapidan in the 1880 census.
We also have a slightly different birthdate—October 12, 1884, which would make Hill even younger than we have supposed. For now, though, I would stick with the 1882 birthdate, which is attested in three different records—the 1900 census, Hill’s World War I draft card, and his death certificate.
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