It was significant to me that Albert acknowledged, and maybe even welcomed, my interest in Hilltop. Moreover, he offered me a tour of the estate and mansion without being asked. I accepted instantly. We agreed to talk again in two days to decide on a date.
I always had the impression, like many in Middle Valley, that the owners and the people who lived and worked in Hilltop didn’t exactly mix with everyone else. They always seemed secretive, guarded … dare I say stand-offish. They did not frequent the town’s businesses and were not in touch with Middle Valley residents.
My position is full time in that I am responsible for overseeing the operation of the museum as well as acting as a central collection point for historical artifacts. Such information has been relatively easy to come by, but Hilltop has always been a mystery. The recently discovered time capsule was a windfall of historical information about Middle Valley, including Hilltop, so it seems that its time has come.
I know Bernie intended to author a piece about Hilltop and I would like to talk to him about his research, if indeed he had gotten to that point yet. If he has not, perhaps we could work together and share our findings.
In the meantime, I have to prepare for touring Hilltop. I’ll start with the newspapers from local archives and in the time capsule, and then will try to interview descendants of longtime resident families. Also, the time capsule provided two hardbound books about slavery in Middle Valley. They contain a wealth of information, not only about slavery but also about life in Middle Valley during the slavery and post emancipation periods. The books describe in detail how Hilltop was an instrumental stopover for runaway slaves as they moved north in the Underground Railroad.
The land that makes up the Hilltop estate is quite extensive. The approach roads that enter the estate from different directions can all be monitored from the house, as can distant visibility in all directions and river views upstream and downstream.
The land was selected and purchased by Jacob J. Whitehead, a wealthy entrepreneur. Whitehead designed and built the mansion and planned the estate to be entirely self-sufficient and private, with multiple access points. Hilltop provided a perfect spot for Whitehead’s businesses, some legal and some, it seems, illegal. The mansion design included living quarters for several dozen people, employees and slaves, who operated his businesses and rarely needed to leave the premises.
The Nutwell family has never been fully transparent about Hilltop, reluctant to provide free public access, but I sense that Albert may like to change this, but I can’t tell.
A tour of the mansion and the estate will reveal a lot, such as how Hilltop’s permanent slaves lived, how the runaways were treated, how they were hidden, where they slept, how they were fed, and how they were transported there in the dark of night. We have some idea of this, but experiencing it will speak volumes.
I know ownership of Hilltop passed from Whiteside to the Nutwells as the result of a gambling debt. Under Whiteside, Hilltop was used during prohibition to smuggle liquor from Canada. The liquor shipments were subdivided at Hilltop for local distribution to stores, individuals, and restaurants such as the Golden Pillar. Bootleg liquor was also secretly shipped further South both by truck and by riverboat; the basement of the Riverside bar was in fact used to store the contraband liquor until it could be loaded and shipped via boat.
Before taking ownership of Hilltop, Albert’s father worked for Whitehead as a smuggler and therefore was not a squeaky, clean founder, as the town history would indicate. Liquor smuggling is no longer as issue, of course, but lesser amounts of goods are still quietly smuggled through Hilltop to avoid taxes and government regulation.
Much to his credit, Whiteside was responsible for operation of the Underground Railroad stopover at Hilltop. At this point, the Underground Railroad is only a matter of history, as there is no longer any slave migration northward. Most of the few who lived permanently at Hilltop have long departed, but a few blacks whose families have lived there permanently, still remain; it’s not a bad lifestyle. I’d like the opportunity to interview them; if their history were documented, it might be of interest to today’s Middle Valley residents. This has not been possible in the past because townsfolk were not welcome at Hilltop.
Among the names of a number of black families who lived at Hilltop, I’ve run across the name “Hughes”. I’m wondering if Miss Comportment, Marjorie Hughes, is descended from blacks who lived and worked at Hilltop. Since Marjorie Hughes is well known in Middle Valley, this is something that bears further attention.
I’d like to see Middle Valley pursue naming Hilltop an historical landmark. That would be brilliant! So much historical significance – from the design of the estate to be headquarters for a crime organization in support of several forms of smuggling to helping rid our country of slavery. I might bring this up to Albert when I tour the estate, though this probably could not happen as long as Albert is living there.
So much to prepare …
Jenny Page