Joseph Hilton was born in Preston, England, and came with his family to Darien, Georgia in 1855 where his father established a saw milling and lumber business under the name Thomas Hilton & Sons, which later became Hiltons and Fosters and still later, Hilton Timber & Lumber Company. After mergers with other lumber companies it finally became the Hilton & Dodge Lumber Company. They had saw mills, and/or offices in Darien, Savannah, and other places in Georgia and New York City. Thomas Hilton was born in Darien, graduated from St. Paul's School Concord, New Hampshire in 1904, and attended Yale University for one year, 1904-1905. He was associated with his father in Hilton & Dodge Lumber Company, 1905-1913, in Savannah and Darien, then with Gordon & Hilton (Beirne Gordon), cotton factors, 1914-July 1917. In 1917 he bought half interest in Pineora Manufacturing Company in Pineora, Georgia. Many years later he sold that business and became a lumber consultant. He was President of the South Pryor Terminal Company in Atlanta, at the time of its dissolution in 1931. Thomas Hilton married Elizabeth Fitzhugh Ficklen in 1913. Elizabeth Fitzhugh Ficklen is the descendant linking the Hilton and Alexander families as she was the daughter of John Rose and Bessie Mason (Alexander) Ficklen. Elizabeth's mother, Bessie Mason (Alexander) Ficklen, was the daughter of Edward Porter Alexander who served as a Confederate brigadier general during the Civil War. Edward Porter was one of ten children of Adam L. and Sarah (Gilbert) Alexander. The other children were: Alice Haskell, James Hillhouse, William Felix, Sarah, Harriet, Marion, Mary, Charles Atwood, and Louisa Alexander.
From the description of Hilton family papers, 1843-1962. (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 82368305
