William E. Hill (1835-1897)

Kalamazoo-based Manufacturer and Community Leader

An industrious inventor with deep roots in the lumber and mining industries, William E. Hill began as a small manufacturer of sawmill machinery and grew to become a widely recognized industry leader. Over the course of his career, Hill developed and patented the better part of 20 labor-saving machines for the lumber milling industry. Later in life, Hill’s political aspirations and love for his community led him to become the fifth mayor of Kalamazoo.

William E. Hill & Co.

William Ely Hill was born on 31 January 1835 in Owego, Tioga County, New York. The son of a highly skilled millwright, Hill was building and operating sawmills with his father by the time he was 14 years of age. During the 1850s he worked for the Erie Railroad for a time and in 1862, he married Miss Sarah Saltsman of Farrandsville, Pennsylvania. The marriage produced two children, a son Anthony and daughter Eva.

By the mid-1860s, Hill was operating a manufacturing business in Whetham, Pennsylvania. When a branch of the Susquehanna River flooded in 1865 and destroyed his business, the Hills followed the river north to Renovo, Pennsylvania. After the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad line opened its coal transfer terminal on Lake Erie, Hill developed a mechanism for transporting coal cars up and down the mountains, which was seen as a marvel in mechanical engineering at the time.

Hill spent the next few years selling sawmill machinery for Stearns, Clark & Co. in Erie, Pennsylvania, and soon became a partner in the firm Stearns, Hill & Co. His first major invention, patented in 1870, was a steam-powered device for loading and turning logs on the sawmill carriage. He devised the mechanism during the Civil War while logs were being sawn for the government to use as decking on gun boats. Hill’s device revolutionized the lumber milling industry.

“W.E. Hill & Co., extensive manufacturers of Big Rapids, are thinking of locating in Kalamazoo. The senior member of the firm was here yesterday, looking the ground over and prospecting in that direction. The firm should be encouraged to locate.”

– Kalamazoo Gazette, 3 June 1881

In 1875, Hill sold his interest in Stearns, Clark & Co. and moved to Michigan where he could better capitalize on the state’s great lumber boom. After establishing the Wm. E. Hill & Co. sawmill and shingle mill machinery manufacturing business in Big Rapids and operating there for several years, Hill found transportation and the availability of labor to be better in Kalamazoo, so in June 1881, he moved his operation to a factory building on the northwest corner of Rose and Eleanor streets.

As a specialized manufacturer of “steam contrivances – patent steam log turners, loaders and dumpers, rotary steam engines, (and) steam drag saws” (Gazette), Hill’s business grew rapidly. In December 1883, Hill moved the company two blocks west to a larger building on the northeast corner of Park and Eleanor streets. During the years that followed, Hill developed and patented the better part of 20 labor-saving machines for the lumber milling industry.

Kalamazoo Mayor

With his business success firmly established, William Hill began to pursue a career in local politics. In 1888, Hill was elected to the city council as alderman from the second ward, and later served two terms as Kalamazoo’s mayor in 1890 and 1892 after being elected “by an overwhelming majority” (Telegraph). “Our manufacturers are getting to be numerous,” Hill declared in his inaugural address, “many new ones are coming every year. They should be encouraged.”

By then, the Hills were enjoying their stately new home on West Kalamazoo Avenue while their son, Anthony S. Hill, took over the reins of the family business as general manager. After several years of ill health, William Hill passed away on 18 October 1897 at the age of 62.

“William E. Hill has been one of the most prominent business men in Kalamazoo. His enterprise, his ability and his perseverance have all added greatly to Kalamazoo as a manufacturing city.”

—Kalamazoo Telegraph, 18 October 1897

After her husband’s death, Sarah Hill retained ownership of Wm. E. Hill & Co. and served as its president for a time, with her son-in-law Dumont A. Shepardson as secretary, and her son Anthony as general manager. Eventually, the company was taken over by William C. Hammond and it later became Hammond Machinery Builders, Inc.

Today, the 150-year-old firm continues as a family-owned company known as Hammond Roto-Finish. Within its 150,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility on Douglas Avenue, the company designs and manufactures high tech cutting and forming tools, buffing and polishing equipment, and specialty machines for the aerospace, automotive, medical, and other industries.

Written by Keith Howard, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, October 2024