Allow us to introduce you to Caroline Warne Hill, who became a part of the Big Woods community at the tender age of two when she arrived with her parents, John and Sarah Warne. She was the youngest of seven siblings, comprising three brothers and four sisters. They were early pioneers in this area, making their way from Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1834. Mr. Warne received 320 acres of land from the government, and they settled on a farm near what we now know as Bilter Road. As they built their log cabin, they called a covered wagon home. Their neighbors were the Potawatomi Indians, who were already settled in the area.
Caroline’s father, John Warne, held a significant role in the community. Alongside other local men, he co-founded the Big Woods Claim Protecting Society and served as its secretary. He was an Overseer of the poor, a surveyor, farmer, and even the Big Woods Postmaster. Unfortunately, Caroline’s parents passed away a year apart, her mother in 1887 and her father in 1888.
At the age of 21, on September 25, 1853, Caroline married Stephen B. Hill, who hailed from Maine and descended from Mayflower passengers Francis Cooke and Richard Warren. Together, they embarked on farming in the northern range of Naperville Township. Over two decades, they welcomed six children into their family. Tragically, they lost three of these young ones before they reached the age of four, a common occurrence in those times. Their son Howard eventually moved to Miami, while son Lorin and daughter Anna stayed in Aurora. Anna married into the Paxton family, another prominent name in the Big Woods.
Caroline’s sister, Mary Warne Gates, made her home in Turner Junction, now known as West Chicago, where she lived and passed away. She was the mother of John Warne Gates, famous as “Bet-A-Million Gates,” an early promoter of barbed wire and an industrialist who became President of Republic Steel and the Texas Company, which later became Texaco.
Caroline bore witness to the transformation of the area into one of the state’s most productive farming regions. In 1842, lumber from the Big Woods was used to construct the Big Woods Congregational Church.
In the fall of 1892, they decided to leave the farm and relocate to Batavia. After her husband Stephen’s passing in 1898, she spent some of her winters in Miami.
Caroline remained an active member of the local temperance union and the church until her passing. Fondly known as “Grandma Hill,” she was the last surviving member of her pioneer family. Legend has it that no church reunion or homecoming was complete without her presence. In 1921, she peacefully passed away in Miami, Florida, at the home of her son Howard Hill. Friends and neighbors traveled from Wheaton, Aurora, Naperville, and Batavia to attend her funeral service. She was laid to rest alongside her parents and all but one of her siblings at the Big Woods Cemetery.
Caroline is survived by her children, nine grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.