True Life Tuesday: Samuel Worth Hill

 
This is the man behind the famous saying "what in the Sam Hill?". Samuel Worth Hill was born on November 9, 1815 in Starksboro, Vermont. His parents were Richard and Betsey Hill. He was educated as a civil engineer and surveyor. His first job was to survey the town of Albion, New York. In 1840 he moved to Wisconsin and became a school teacher in Racine. In 1841 he joined the United States Topographic Survey to mark the boundary between Wisconsin and Michigan. After this is was assigned to survey the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan including the Keweenaw Peninsula. There he worked with Douglass Houghton un Houghton dies in 1845. After Houghton's death he worked with Foster and Whitney to conduct a geological survey of the area. It was during this survey that the area's copper resources were discovered. 

Hill assisted in the creation of the Central and Phoenix mines and was also the first president of the Copper Falls mine. He also came up with the idea to create a 3 mile canal between Portage Lake and Lake Superior. In 1859 he also platted the villages of Hancock and Portage Township. He was also twice elected to the Michigan legislature and eventually retired in 1875.

On July 16, 1851 he married Susan A. Warren. She was a school teach and started the first school in the Keweenaw. After Hill retired from the legislature he and his wife would winter in Marshall, Michigan and summer in the Keweenaw. He passed away on August 29, 1889 in Marshall. His home is listed as a Michigan Historic Site. 

Hill had a propensity to tell colorful stories and loved to swear. When his family and friends would retell his tales they would replace the cuss words with Sam Hill. Eventually this spread across the Keweenaw and eventually made its way into the American lexicon.