The Story of Our Roots
David Hill was a Scotsman commissioned by the (Royal?) Botanic garden in England to come to the United States in search of new and useful plant material in the “New Country.”
On his quest he came to Dundee in search of William Hill a farmer with an Orchard in Dundee, Illinois.
David arrived in town on horseback and was witness to young lady in a runaway horse and carriage. Being a gentleman he helped out, reining in the runaway. The young lady, being grateful, invited him to her father’s house for lunch. Her father turned out to be William Hill. They took to talking of trees, however, during his several day visit David received word from the Botanic Garden that they had run out of money, that he was on his own and “Good Luck”.
William and David got along very well, however, David got along even better with the daughter and wound up marrying her. William allowed David the use of some of his land for growing evergreens and thus was born “D. Hill Nursery”.
The main market for the evergreens was the plains states Farm and ranch lands that planted the evergreens for windbreak and livestock protection. There was also a small but growing market in the Chicago area for evergreens for residential and commercial ornamental use.
David Hill was Platt’s great grandfather and created the legacy of what is now Platt Hill Nursery.
