Discover Remarkable People Bearing the Hildreth Name
Notable Hildreths
People bearing the Hildreth name have become historically significant through their achievements and contributions to society. This page lists some of them.
Click on a name below for a picture and brief biography.
Richard Hildreth
b. 1807 in Deerfield, MA, d. 1865 in Florence Italy. Noted abolitionist, publicist, novelist, journalist, effective contributor to the New York Tribune, American historian, and United States Consul under President Lincoln to Trieste and all the Austrian ports on the east shore of the Adriatic, he authored The Slave; or Memoirs of Archy Moore in 1836, the first anti-slavery novel published in the United States. Between 1847 and 1852, he wrote the six-volume History of the United States. Some experts believe he was the first American historian to support the use of scientific methods in history.
Sarah Jones Hildreth Butler
Born 1816 in Dracut, Mass. Died 1876. Began formal training in dramatics at 16 in Boston. Acted onstage in Boston, New York, Charleston, and Cincinnati. Married Benjamin Butler who would become a general in the Union army during the Civil War and later a member of Congress. Her lineage is Isreal, Isreal, Elijah, Ephriam, James, Richard, making her a 7th-generation Hildreth.
Col. Thaddeus Hildreth
Born 1827 in Gardiner, Maine. Died 1880 in Gardiner, Maine. Prospected in California during the Gold Rush. Credited with discovering gold in Columbia, CA, originally called Hildreth's Diggings and now a state park. Returned to complete his medical education and subsequently became the surgeon of the Third Maine Regiment during the Civil War. See the April 2012 issue of Hildreth Highlights for more information
Hildreth Meière
(b.1892 in New York City, d. 1961). Daughter of Ernest and Marie Hildreth "Minnie" Meière, she did not use her given first name Marie but used her mother's maiden name instead. She was one of the most influential and creative decorative artists of the Twentieth Century whose achievements gained the recognition of the established art world.
Most of Meière’s spectacular creations are on public view and enhance such buildings as the Nebraska state capitol, Radio City Music Hall, and the Travelers Insurance Company among many others.
In the 1930s, she was considered the most famous muralist of the Art Deco style and probably the most prolific in the country. Meière’s specialty was the ancient and beautiful art of mosaic, which continues to be enjoyed in churches and public buildings across the country in over a hundred commissions from New York to California.
More information about her life and work is available at http://www.hildrethmeiere.com.
Horace O. Hildreth
Born 1902 in Gardiner, Maine. Died 1988 in Portland, Maine, Governor of Maine, 1945–1949. President of Bucknell University, 1949–1953. U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, 1953–1957. A graduate of Bowdoin College and Harvard Law School, he practiced law in Portland and began the Hildreth Network of Maine radio and television stations before entering politics.
George Adams Parkhurst
Born 1914. Died 1998. Co-Founder with wife Barbara Hildreth Parkhurst of the reorganized Hildreth Family Association in 1977. Past president of the HFA and past editor of Hildreth Highlights. Co-author with his wife of Volume V of the Hildreth Family Association. Admitted to MIT without taking an entrance exam and graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1936. World War II veteran as Captain in the Army's Chemical Warfare Service from 1942–1945. Historian, author of several books, historical books and pamphlets, genealogical articles, and speaker and historical writer for several newspapers. See the July 1998 issue of Hildreth Highlights for more information.
Rear Admiral James B. Hildreth
Born 1920 in Ukiah, California. Died 2006 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Believed to be the only descendant of either Thomas1 or Richard,1 be promoted to Flag Officer in the US Navy. Awarded Bronze Star, Legion of Merit Medal, and Gold Star. Commanded Guantanamo Bay naval base 1968–70. Served in the Pacific during World War II and held command positions in the Atlantic. See the July 2012 issue of Hildreth Highlights for more information.
Barbara Hildreth Parkhurst
Born 1920. Died 2011. Barbara, with her husband George rejuvenated the long inactive Hildreth Family Association (HFA) which came to fruition in 1977. She also co-authored Volume V of the Hildreth Family Association, the last hardcover book published by the Association. Barbara graduated from Simmons College and was a chemistry instructor at Lasell College in Newton MA. Prior to her retirement, she was a parasitologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. George and Barbara also organized and held several early HFA Reunions in New England and entertained the attendees in their homes in Chelmsford, Massachusetts and at their summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. See January 2012 Hildreth Highlights lead article.
Major General James R. Hildreth
B. 1927 Pine Bluff AR. Served in the U.S. Army as an enlisted man from January 1947 to November 1948. Entered Louisiana Polytechnic Institute and graduated cum laude in 1952 receiving a BA degree in political science and was commissioned through the ROTC. He went on active duty in August of 1952 and completed pilot training at Foster Air Force Base, Texas in September 1953, then sent to Korea where he was flight commander with the 310th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. Entered the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL in Sept. 1963. In April 1967, he became commander of the 1st Air Commando Squadron at Pleiku Air Base, Republic of Vietnam and completed 285 combat missions with a total of 618 combat hours in A-1E Skyraider. With many important commands and assignments following that, on April 9, 1979, he was named commander of the Thirteenth Air Force, Clark Air Base, Philippines. He was promoted to the grade of Major General on Jan.18, 1977 with the date of rank Nov. 1, 1973. General Hildreth served his country with distinction and valor. He is known to friends and family as “Cotton” and is a Thomas1 Hildreth descendant from the James2 line. For more information, see page 4 of the April 2004 Hildreth Highlights.
Ronald Budd Hildreth
Born June 24,1933 in Blue Point, NY. Died June 21, 2016 in Montauk, NY. Ron became President of the Hildreth Family Association (HFA) on August 6-7,1983 in Ankeny, Iowa at an annual 2-3 day reunion. Following that he slowly introduced the concept of reunions lasting a full week to be held in different parts of the country, including two trips to England 1997 & 2006. For 32 years Ron was President of the HFA and held it together due to his dedication and yearly reunions.
Ron graduated valedictorian from Bayport High School in 1950 and he went on to graduate from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1954 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering.
Ron joined the Army 1955-1957 as First Lieutenant.
After Ron’s discharge he returned to school and received a Masters Degrees of Business Administration from Rutgers University and a J.D. in 1961 from Georgetown University School of Law. Ron was a member of the Virginia Bar Association starting in 1960 and the New York State Bar Association starting in 1962.
Ron had been a lecturer for the Practicing Law Institute, an adjunct professor of patent law at Long Island University from 1968-1977, and an adjunct professor of patent, trademark, and copyright law at St. John’s University School of Law since 1972. He authored the textbook, “Patent Law. A Practitioner’s Guide” still being used at Law schools nationwide. Ron became a partner in the law firm Brumbaugh, Graves, Donohue & Raymond, where he practiced patent law until his retirement in 2003 from Baker Botts law firm.
See April & August 2016 issue of Hildreth Highlights for more information.