W. W. Hill, Adirondack butterfly man

In my view, most accounts of early Adirondack tourism get three significant things wrong. The greatest mistake is the assumption that there were no women outdoor tourists in the early years. I will address this error in a future post. The second mistaken assumption is that there was almost no Adirondack tourism until after 1869 when Murray’s Adventures in the Wilderness was published. While tourism did significantly increase after 1870, other posts on this blog demonstrate that there was a substantial outdoor tourist trade in the Beaver River country as early as 1845. The third mistaken assumption is that early tourists were only interested in fishing and hunting. While most visitors did come for sporting activities, we know artists were drawn to the Beaver River as early as 1851 when McEntee and Tubby visited. This post tells the story of how the Beaver River became the site of a remarkable early investigation of Adirondack butterflies.

Admittedly, it started with a passion for fly-fishing.

Fly-fishing for sport only became popular in America around the middle of the nineteenth century after commercial rods and reels became available. Shortly after the Civil War, fly-fishing clubs sprang up in many eastern cities. The Albany Fly Casters Association counted among its members a prosperous businessman named W. W. Hill.

 

William Washington Hill was born in 1833. By 1853 he was working as a clerk for Nathaniel Wright, owner of an Albany business that manufactured and sold carriage and saddlery hardware. When Wright died in 1860 Hill and his cousin, John Woodward, Jr., bought the company and renamed it Woodward and Hill. Their hardware business prospered and by the time the Civil War broke out Hill was financially well off. In 1860 Hill joined a group of other young Albany men to create a private militia called the Albany Zouave Cadets. They fought for nine months as part of the 177^th New York Volunteers.

 

Hill began to visit the Beaver River on extended fishing trips in the early 1870s. We know from articles he published in Forest and Stream magazine that Hill, his wife, Jane Woodward Hill, and their three children stayed at the Fenton House for several weeks during July and August 1873. Hill kept meticulous records of his daily catch. In 13 days of fishing, he caught a total of 592 trout. His largest catches were 150 on one day, 88 another. He returned in late May / early June of 1874 with three friends for a shorter fishing trip primarily to Smith’s Lake.

 

Hill must have been naturally scientifically inclined. Like many other Albany professionals of the time this interest led him in 1874 to join the Albany Institute where members could hear and give lectures on scientific work. Hill was in the audience on October 20, 1874 when Joseph A. Lintner, the newly appointed head of entomology at the New York State Museum, gave a lecture on butterfly collecting. As Lintner displayed a few cases of mounted beauties collected by one of his associates he made a point of contrasting the absolute joy of butterfly collecting with dull success in the business world: “What is making money compared to this?”

 

Hill was hooked. As an experienced fly-fisherman Hill would have necessarily been attuned to the local insect population. He was undoubtedly aware there was a significant butterfly population inhabiting the Beaver River valley. During the winter of 1874 – 75 Hill assembled the simple equipment he needed: a butterfly net, a killing jar, pins, and a supply of glassine envelopes to protect his specimens. He learned how to identify, prepare and label specimens from Lintner.

 

For the next four summers (1875 – 1878) Hill made extended trips to the Beaver River to collect butterflies and probably also do some fly-fishing. From his headquarters at the Fenton House, he ranged up and down the Beaver River valley collecting butterflies by day and moths by lamplight at night. His enthusiasm was so great that he won the willing assistance of his host, the guide Charles Fenton, and of his fellow guests. 

 

Until Hill created his collection no one had any idea of exactly what butterflies and moths inhabited the Adirondacks. Indeed, there was little understanding of the butterfly population of any location in New York. This changed dramatically with the publication in 1879 of the catalog of Hill’s collection consisting of 2,625 specimens from 42 different species of butterflies and 373 species of moths. It was considered so important to the understanding of the Adirondack region that it was published as an appendix to Verplanck Colvin’s 7^thAnnual Report to the Legislature on the progress of the Adirondack survey.

 

W. W. Hill made annual trips to the Adirondacks with his wife for the rest of his life. They often stayed at the Fenton House but also explored other areas including the High Peaks. Hill’s love of fly-fishing and butterfly collecting never abated. When not in the Adirondacks, he added to his butterfly collection by frequenting the nearby Albany Pine Bush, easily reached by trolley from downtown. He also purchased specimens from other collectors. Eventually his display cases held over 10,000 specimens.

 

W. W. Hill died of tuberculosis on January 28, 1888. He was 54 years old. Five of his eight pallbearers were members of the Albany Institute including the state entomologist J. A. Lintner and the director of the Adirondack survey Verplanck Colvin. After W. W. Hill died his heirs donated his butterfly collection to the State Museum. His specimens were a major contribution at the time. Amazingly, the butterflies he collected so long ago still can be found in the State Museum. A new species Hill discovered in the Number Four area in 1876 was named Eremoblia hilli in his honor.

Portrait of WW Hill courtesy of the parish archive, St. Paul's Church, Albany, NY

 

A version of this article appeared in Adirondack Life, May/June 2020 with the title “Butterfly Effect.”