Having graduated from a well-known business college in Connecticut after he had completed his education in the public schools, Mr. Hill taught commercial branches in that college and in the Woonsocket High School for some sixteen years and then purchased the School of Commercial Sciences in Woonsocket, of which he has been owner and principal for almost twenty years. Under his direction this school enjoys a high reputation and each year is attended by large numbers of young people, not only from Woonsocket, but also from the surrounding towns. Mr. Hill is active also in the affairs of several financial institutions, as well as in connection with the administration of the public schools of Woonsocket.
Edwin B. Hill was born in Torrington, Connecticut, on December 9, 1876, a son of Henry W, and Sarah M. (Gibbs) Hill. Both his parents were born in Connecticut, and his father was engaged in agricultural pursuits there. Mr. Hill received his early education in the schools of Torrington, including the high school, after which he became a student at Burdett College, Boston, from which he was graduated. He then taught there for eight years, after which he came to Woonsocket and became a teacher of commercial branches in the Woonsocket High School. This position he occupied for eight years. In 1913 he bought the School of Commercial Sciences, at No. 77 Federal Street, Woonsocket. This well-known educational institution was established in 1897 by Charles W. Jones. It now has an average annual attendance of some two hundred students, many of whom come from various towns within a radius of fifteen miles from Woonsocket. Mr. Hill’s business school has been very successful under his able direction, many of its graduates holding important positions today in the business world. He has taken an active part in business life ever since he became a resident of Woonsocket, and he was a director of the Woonsocket Building & Loan Association, treasurer of the National Equity Company, a member of the board of managers of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, as well as a member of the board of appraisers of the Rhode Island Bond & Mortgage Company. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Nightingale Home, and formerly was a director of the Woonsocket Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Woonsocket Kiwanis Club, of which at one time he was the president. He is also a member of the local school board. His religious affiliation is with St. James’ Protestant Episcopal Church, in which he is a lay reader and junior warden. In politics he is a supporter of the Republican party.
Mr. Hill married Maud B. Church, a native of Gill, Massachusetts, and a daughter of James C. and Lucy (Button) Church. Mrs. Hill, a graduate of the Emerson College of Oratory of Boston, is a direct descendant of Captain Benjamin Church, a well-known officer during the Revolutionary War. Mr. Hill’s family also was represented in the Revolutionary War. Mr. and Mrs. Hill are the parents of two children: Allen T., and Catherine Hill. The family residence is located at No. 64 Maple Street, Woonsocket.
Source: Carroll, Charles. Rhode Island: Three Centuries of Democracy, vol 3 of 4. New York: Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1932.