In my search for Samuel Mateer's(b 1826 in PA., d 1918 in Ohio) ancestors I proved that George Mater of East Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County, PA., was his father. In searching for George Mater's ancestors I found in William Henry Egle's Notes and Queries, page 48, Jacob Mater, in 1762, Baptizing his son John at Hill Church in Derry Township, Dauphin County. And John Mater and wife were witnesses. Egle's Notes were first published in the Harrisburg Daily Telegraph between 1879 and 1895. Since Dauphin County was formed in 1785 Egle could properly refer to this Hill Church in Derry Township as being in Dauphin County. I have searched and asked others if this Hill church or cemetery is extant today but the only clue I found was on a present day map which shows a Derry Church. Since no one seems to know anything about this Hill church of Derry Township, Dauphin County, it could be that the church and burying ground are gone, but this seems unlikely. (There is also a church in Dauphin County between Elizabethville and Berrysburg that was referred to as THE HILL CHURCH, sit's on a small hill. It is the St. John Lutheran Church (aka Buffington church). The Buffington's donated the land and Levi Buffington (1761) was the designer of the Church...But it was not built till about 1790. Posted by Joe Buffington - and this is not in Derry Township.) In my efforts to identify this Mater family I was confused by Egle's other references to a Hill church on page 270ff, RECORDS OF THE HILL CHURCH - VII. Baptisms by Rev. Dr. Lochman.-II But several listers have clearly identified a Hill Church off of Hill Church Road NW of Lebanon and from text nearby in Egle's notes it appears this Hill church is the one near Lebanon. It is one of the purposes of this note to state that the Lebanon Hill church is not be confused with the Hill church in what is now Dauphin County. My thanks to the many who helped me understand that Egle was referring to two different Hill churches. ( Vince invested a lot of time in answering my query.) Perhaps others will confirm or deny this tentative conclusion. Recently there has been considerable interest in Egle's notes and I thought this lengthy post might be justified. Regards Hal

> I have searched and asked others if this Hill church or cemetery is > extant today but the only clue I found was on a present day map which > shows a Derry Church. Since no one seems to know anything about this > Hill church of Derry Township, Dauphin County, it could be that the > church and burying ground are gone, but this seems unlikely. The place known in much earlier days as Hill Church in Derry Twp is alive and well, both church and cemetery, as: St. Paul Lutheran Church (717) 533-3218 850 Hill Church Road HUMMELSTOWN PA 17036