Last rites for Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Hill, 88, known to Beaumonters of several generations as "Mother Hill" and pioneer boarding house operator, will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Broussard funeral home chapel. Mrs. Hill died at 3:40 p.m. Tuesday in the Schlesinger Home for the Aged. The Rev. Walter Shine, assistant pastor of the First Methodist church, will officiate. Burial will be in Magnolia cemetery. Named as pallbearers are W.A. Allen, Carl Locke, Harry B. Mason, A.W. Schlesinger, H.B. Williams and Ted York. Mrs. Hill was famous for her meals, which not only attracted Beaumonters but visitors from as far away as New York. Many famous or well-known persons who came to Beaumont frequented Mrs. Hill's boarding house and for each one she would prepare his special dishes. It was during the first world war that Mother Hill opened her boarding house on Liberty, on the spot next to the present post office where later Willow street was cut through. At the end of the war, as more and more people came for meals, she and her husband, the late A.A. Hill, bought a home on Hazel, but they were soon forced to rent it and move into a larger place, at 632 Magnolia, where she operated her boarding house and served meals for many years. About 1926, the Hills moved to their Live Oak home and she discontinued her boarding house. Mr. Hill died in 1931. Guests of Mrs. Hill's boarding house could live there and have all three meals for only $40 a month in the early days. Meals were served family style at 35 cents "for all you can eat" and only during inflation following the first world war did she raise her price to 50 cents. As many as 200 persons have been served at one meal by Mrs. Hill, among whose guests were the men who helped build Beaumont, both local men and those who came here on large building projects. She maintained a high standard of ethics at her boarding house. A man was once evicted because she disapproved of his action in striking for more wages. No boarder was allowed to argue at her table. About three years ago Mrs. Hill fell and broke her hip and she had been bedridden since that time. A year ago she entered the Schlesinger Home for the Aged. A native of Moss Bluff, Mrs. Hill came to Beaumont about 69 years ago. She was a longtime member of the First Methodist church. Survivors are a brother, John Hill of Silsbee, and three nieces, Mrs. E.C. Daigle and Mrs. Slaughter Coffey, both of Beaumont, and Mrs. Carrie Goodwin of Nederland.
Beaumont Journal, 08/09/1950

parents unknown
informant: E.C. Daigle

Abner A. Hill m. Sarah E. Rhoads, 17 Apr 1878, Chambers County, TX