Hill, Maud Van Cortlandt Taylor 1870-1961.

Maud Van Cortlandt Taylor was born in Staten Island, New York, on April 11, 1870, to a wealthy family descended from early American colonists. She met Louis W. Hill, son of railroad baron James J. Hill, while living with her family in St. Paul, Minnesota. Maud began studying to become a nurse at Presbyterian Hospital in New York in 1900 but ended her schooling when she became ill with typhoid later that year. She became engaged to Louis Hill in April of 1901 and they married at the home of her brother on June 5. After a trip through Europe the couple settled on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, later moving into a newly constructed house immediately next door to the James J. Hill residence.

Maud and Louis had four children, Louis Jr., Maud, Jerome, and Cortlandt, all born between 1902 and 1906. The family split their time between their homes on Summit Avenue in St. Paul and at the North Oaks family farm. Maud was heavily involved in charity work; she and Louis founded a family foundation, later known as the Northwest Area Foundation, and she was active in the Red Cross, the Colonial Dames of America, the Schubert Club, and the Church of St. John the Evangelist in St. Paul. The Hills frequently traveled to California, Glacier National Park in Montana, New York City, St. John River in Quebec, the Caribbean, and the British Isles and continental Europe; in later years Maud regularly visited France, where her son Jerome kept a home. Maud and Louis separated in 1934 after which she maintained her own home on Portland Avenue in St. Paul. Maud died on August 23, 1961 in St. Paul.

...