The Story of Hilltop Farm and China Hill by James Turner Harris This is where my mother grew up. My grandpa Turner built a log cabin somewhere in the late 1880s and then later built a clapboard farm house over it with the log cabin still inside - it still is in there. On the USGS (United States Geographical Society) maps the hill that it is located is still called after my grandfather. It is called "Turner Hill" on the maps. There is evidence that a older cabin existed before but in the wood which are to the right of the farm house (the house and outbuildings are to the bottom of the lake (big white spot) and just to the right of where the road from the top bends sharply and goes to the left (to Jane's Creek). (entry on USGS map...need a link inserted here) Feature Name ID Class County State Latitude Longitude Map Elevation BGN Entry Date Turner Hill 752627 Summit Washington MO 374520N 0905055W Belgrade - - 01-Jan-2000 Grandpa had about 110 acres that he bought from the guy who brought him from Cocke Co., Tn. circa 1882/1883 (Joshua Caffee). If you use your imagination you can see where pasture and crop land is (no trees - dark images) and where the woods are. There is a little creek running out of the woods NE to SW that is spring fed. Where the spring was (it is gone and made into a stock pond) is where the 1st cabin was. I will explain where my e-mail address comes from. My mom's family always called the farm "Hilltop." In the woods to the right of the farm there were some rocky outcrops of quartz with moss growing over them. Back then people mostly were dirt poor so you didn't have "Barbie's" to play with. Mom said she and some her sisters use to go up and play on this rocky, mossy area and pretend that they were playing house with "china" plates (the rocks). It was always cool in the woods so you can see why young girls would go there on hot summer days. I really like back there in the woods because it is beautiful and so peaceful. So as a kid when we got to go there on weekends (it was owned by my aunt and uncle then (grandpa died in 1931 and grandma in 1941) and they let the family use it as a weekend place. That stopped when they retired in the 60s and lived there full time until about 1976. Anyway, I loved going to "Hilltop" and going back to "China Hill" to explore (especially around where the old cabin was). Some people say that grandpa Turner made it first and "batched in it" and then made the other cabin when he got married in 1889. Others say that somebody was there before he got there and then moved on. My mom was born in 1917 and she said it was in ruins when she was a little girl. When I started doing geneaology I wanted to pay tribute to my mother and my mom and dads ancestors. Well the Harris's were people I never met or knew anything about. All I knew and did something with were the Turners. I wrestled with coming up with a name and thought about using "Hilltop" or "China Hill." One day it came to me that I could combine the two very easily into chinahilltop@charter.net. The farm was sold out of the family when my aunt and uncle retire to Largo, Fla. and it went through a couple of owners but now is owned by an elderly widow (originally from Jefferson Co., Mo. around Hillsboro or Desoto if I remember right - her husband died at the farm but she couldn't bear to leave the place) named Kay Wyrick. She has let me go through the farm house several times and every year or two I go down and "roam the land." She didn't know anything about the Turners when she moved there but over the years has met several of us and got to know us and our history so she feels like we are family. I hope you enjoyed the story as quickly and skimlily as I told it of Turner Hill and Hill Top and China Hill. My grandpa Harris's house in Belgrade, Mo. (Washington Co.) is long gone as it was by the river side and when they built a new bridge into Belgrade on C highway the house was torn down. We have no idea where the Harris's farm or houses are in St. Francois or Iron Co.'s. We do know they lived in and around Elvins and Doe Run in St Francois Co., Mo. a lot but later they were in Pilot Knob and Annapolis in Iron Co., Mo. Anyway this is "Hilltop" and "China Hill" is hid in the trees. NOTE: BOTH OF MY PARENTS WERE BROUGHT UP IN WASHINGTON CO., MO. (ABOUT 80 + MILES S.W. OF ST. LOUIS, MO. THE HARRIS'S CAME FROM ST. FRANCOIS CO., MO. WHICH IS ADJACENT TO WASHINGTON CO., MO. (ABOUT 100 MILES FROM ST. LOUIS, MO.) HARRIS'S FROM ELVINS, MO. (ST. FRANCOIS CO.) MY LINE OF HARRIS'S FROM BELGRADE, MO. (WASHINGTON CO.) THE MISSOURI TURNER'S FROM CALEDONIA, MO. (WASHINGTON CO.) ABOUT 3 MILES FROM BELGRADE. MY HARRIS'S HAD A SMALL FARM ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF BELGRADE AND GRANDPA HARRIS ALSO WORKED IN THE LEAD MINES. THE TURNERS LIVED ABOUT IN THE COUNTRY ABOUT 3 MILES FROM BELGRADE AND 3 MILES FROM CALEDONIA.