Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - D. H. Hill an haife shi ne a Hill's Iron Works, a Gundumar York, South Carolina ga Solomon da Nancy Cabeen Hill. Kakansa na mahaifinsa, Col. William "Billy" Hill, dan asalin Ireland ne wanda ke da ginin ƙarfe a Gundumar York inda ya yi bindigogi ga Sojojin Nahiyar. Kakan mahaifiyarsa dan asalin Scotland ne. Hill ya kammala karatunsa daga Jami'ar Sojojin Amurka a 1842, yana matsayi na 28 daga cikin 'yan makaranta 56, kuma an nada shi zuwa 1st Artillery na Amurka. A matsayin jami'in soja ya bambanta kansa a cikin yakin Mexican-American, wanda aka ba da izini ga kyaftin din don jaruntaka a yakin Contreras da Churubusco.
, kuma an ba shi izini ga manyan mutane don ƙarfin hali a yakin Chapultepec. Daga cikin bayin da dangin Hill ke da su a lokacin ƙuruciyar Daniel Harvey akwai Elias Hill, wanda Daniel Harvey ya taimaka ya koya masa karatu da rubutu kuma wanda daga baya ya zama mai wa'azi kuma ya jagoranci ikilisiyarsa zuwa ƙaura zuwa Liberia.