He was by occupation a farmer and school-teacher.   He married Ruth Adams.  She was a native of Virginia, but a resident of Warren county, Kentucky, at the date of his marriage.  She survived her husband but two weeks, dying in the same month and year.  Eleven children were the fruits of that marriage, eight of whom have survived their parents.  Joshua A. is the third in the family.  He, in his youth, received a limited education in the common schools of his native county.  The schools, and educational system of Illinois, forty years ago, were very crude and imperfect, as compared with the present, and the youth of that day had to be content with what would now be regarded as a very slight education.  

Mr. Hill, at a comparatively early age, became self-supporting and reliant.  He worked upon a farm, and when the Illinois Central railroad was in progress of building, he helped to grade the track and get out ties upon which to place the iron.   In 1852 and prior to this, he came to Taylorville and found work, and assisted in getting out the timbers for the mill that stood in the west part of the town.   He afterward returned to Fayette county, where he remained until February, 1855, when he moved his family to, and permanently settled in this county.

He was the first Town Collector or South Fork township, under the township organization act.   In 1867, '68, he was Deputy Sheriff under John White, and in 1868 was elected Sheriff, and remained in office until his term expired, in 1870.  He then engaged in mercantile business in Taylorville for a short time, when he went to his farm and remained there until 1874, when he was elected Sheriff of the county for the second time, and that, too, without opposition.  He remained in office until 1876, when he was elected Circuit Clerk, and at present discharges the duties of that office in a manner that gives entire satisfaction to his numerous friends.

In politics Mr. Hill is a democrat.  He cast his first vote for Franklin Pierce, in 1852, and since that time has been a reliable and consistent member of that political organization.  He is also a member of the A. F. A. M. Lodge, both Blue Lodge and Chapter.  On the 22nd of April, 1852, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Casey, a native of Fayette county, Ill.  Her father, Thomas Casey was born in Kentucky. This union has been blessed with six children, five of whom are living.   Martha, the eldest daughter, died in her nineteenth year.  The others are yet beneath the parental roof, except Sarah J., who is the wife of I. J. Glass.  The names of the others are, Mary E., Amanda, Emma, and Levi Eugene Hill.

As an official of the county, Mr. Hill possesses the entire confidence of his constituents.  He is a reliable, capable and trustworthy servant of the people.  That this is the verdict of the citizens is attested by his frequent elections to responsible offices.  In his manner he is a quiet, unobtrusive gentleman and a straightforward man, polite and attentive to all who come in contact with him in his official position.  He has been honored by his fellow-citizens by being elected to different offices, for which he returns them his sincere thanks, and in retiring to farm-life once more, feels the proud satisfaction of knowing that he carries with him their best wishes.