Tuhia he haere tonu mo tenei whitianga - I whanau a DH Hill i Hill's Iron Works, i York District, South Carolina ki a Solomon raua ko Nancy Cabeen Hill. Ko tana tupuna matua, ko Col. William "Billy" Hill, he tangata whenua no Ireland, he whakarewa rino i te Takiwa o York i hangaia ai e ia nga pu mo te ope whenua. Ko tana tupuna whaea he tangata whenua no Scotland. I puta a Hill mai i te United States Military Academy i te 1842, i te 28 o nga 56 cadets, a ka tohua ki te 1st United States Artillery. I te mea he kaitohutohu hiko ia i wehewehe i a ia ano i te Pakanga o Mexico-Amerika, i whakawhiwhia ki te rangatira mo te maia i te Pakanga o Contreras me Churubusco
, ā, i whakawhiwhia ki te tūranga rangatira mō tōna toa i te Pakanga o Chapultepec. I roto i nga pononga o te whanau Hill i te wa o te tamarikitanga o Daniel Harvey ko Elias Hill, i awhinahia e Daniel Harvey ki te ako ki te panui me te tuhi, a, i muri mai ka noho hei kaikauwhau ka arahi i tana whakaminenga ki te heke ki Liberia.