The name stamp "A. HILL" along with the date 1828 has been reported on at least twelve woodworking planes. "A. HILL" is Allen Hill, a lifelong resident of Foster, R.I. He was born in Foster in 1804 and he died there in 1881. Allen Hill is called a "Yeoman" in land deeds of 1835 and 1856. His homestead farm was 65 acres "with a dwelling house, barn, and other buildings and improvements thereon." The land deed evidence suggests that he was a hard working family man who farmed his land and met with some success in life, in short a solid citizen of the town of Foster.1

    While living and farming at Foster, Allen Hill was also a woodworker, probably a shop joiner. His father, Jonathan Hill, was a wheelwright and housewright in Foster. Jonathan's woodworking skills would have been passed on to his son Allen, just as Allen would in turn teach his two sons the joiners trade. Allen Hill owned and stamped with his name at least twelve Jo, Fuller planes. Most of these have simple molding shapes, small in scale, the kind of plane that would have been used by a shop joiner. Another indication that woodworking was an important part of his life's work is that Allen singled out his "Carpenters tools" in an 1881 deed transferring his property to his son Albert F. Hill. 2

    Allen Hill was also a toolmaker. At the age of twenty four he made the wooden molding planes that carry his name and the date 1828. His name stamp is also on a wooden measuring gage that he probably made. My guess is that Allen made these tools for his own use. The evidence of the tools marked "A. HILL" is that Allen Hill was a skilled woodworker who was capable of making finely crafted joiners tools that worked well. During his lifetime he undoubtedly made other joiners tools to sell to or swap wlth his neighbors in Foster, but these tools were probably not marked by Allen. A shop Joiner in a country town like Foster would have made many different things: windows, doors, and flooring for houses; simple furniture; wooden farm implements; and tools to work wood. The fact that Allen tried his hand at toolmaking is not surprising. What is remarkable is that Allen Hill has left us with some tools that reflect a studied determination on his part to make his tools the equal of those that could be purchased from full time toolmakers. In this I think he succeeded.3
 
 

Link to Article Images: plane, flute and wedge profiles.
 
 
 

FOOTNOTES

1. Barry Weaver of Barrington,R.I. researched the birth and death dates for Allen Hill of Foster, R.I.

Allen Hill land deeds are at Foster Town Hall, Foster, R.I., Land Deed Bk 9-p265, Bk 12-p274

2. Jonathan Hill was a prosperous Foster yeoman as well as a wheelwright and housewright. His land deeds are at Foster, Bk 1-p485, Bk 1-p791, Bk 8-p526, et al.

Some biographical information on the three generations of the Allen Hill family of Foster can be found in Thomas Williams Bicknell, The History Of The State Of Rhode Island And Providence Plantations, 5 Vols., (New York, 1920 , Vol. IV, p200. Most of the information is on Albert F. Hill, one of Allen's two sons, who was an important builder in the Warwlck, R.I. area.

William A. Hill, Allen's oldest son, was married in Foster in 1863 and is called a "Joiner, age 23 of Hartford, Ct." (the source for this information is an early Foster Book of Marriages at the R.I. State Archives). Land deed evidence at Warwick, R.L shows that William A. Hill in 1878 was living in the Phenix Village section of Warwick. Phenix Village is now part of West Warwick, R.I. In 1990 I had a chance to buy out of a house in West Warwick a woodworkers tool chest filled with wonderful Joiners tools. I did not know it at the time but these tools were the personal tools of William A. Hill, Allen Hill's son. I passed on the tool box and most of the tools but I did buy four Jo. Fuller planes. Three of the Fuller planes were stamped with the ~A. HILL stamp and two of these had a "W. A. HILL" incuse stamp. Undoubtedly there were in the toolbox many other tools that had descended from Allen Hill to his son William.

It is a mystery why Allen Hill owned so many Jo. Fuller planes all of which were made at least ten years before Allen was born. They are the Fuller planes that have flat chamfering, well defined gouge cuts, and a strong "arrow" after the Fuller name.(see attached sheet) They are beautiful Jo. Fuller planes, in almost unused condition. There are no additional imprints, only "A. HILL" stamped carefully in the same place on every plane. Perhaps Allen's father, Jonathan, purchased the planes for his own use and they descended from father to son Allen. Jonathan Hill was twenty years old in 1793 and he would have been assembling his tool kit around the time these Fuller planes were made. The 1881 deed for Allen Hill is at Foster, Land Deed Bk 14-p648.

3. The planes found to date that Allen Hill made with the double struck name stamp and the 1828 date are twelve hollows and rounds. There is also a birch bead plane with the name struck once and the 1828 date. Also reported is a birch joiner plane with the name struck once but no date. The hollow and round planes are made of apple wood, this choice of wood not surprising in that there were many apple orchards in rural Foster in the early 1800s. These planes have simple bottom shapes that a skilled shop joiner living in the country might try to make. Although the hollows and rounds are well made, they are not made with the precision and crispness that might be expected from a full-time toolmaker. The A. Hill relieved wedge suggests a Jo. Fuller influence. And the A. Hill chamfer stops and gouge cuts are similar to what is seen on the planes made by Olney. But I think it is wrong to think of Allen Hill as intentionally copying the work of others. He developed his own unique style, reflective of who he was, where he lived, and the kinds of work he did.
 

By Richard Slaney : June 19, 2000