Joe Hill

LOS ANGELES – FEB 5: Hill at the “Locke & Key” Series Premiere Screening at the Egyptian Theatre on February 5, 2020 in Los Angeles, CA, kathclick/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Joseph Hillstrom King

Place of Birth: Bangor, Maine, U.S.

Date of Birth: June 4, 1972

Ethnicity: English, smaller amounts of French-Canadian/French, Norwegian, German, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Irish, and Scottish, distant Welsh and Dutch

Joe Hill is an American author. He wrote the novels Heart-Shaped Box, Horns, NOS4A2, The Fireman, and King Sorrow; the collections 20th Century Ghosts (including the short stories Abraham’s Boys and The Black Phone) and Strange Weather; and the comic book series Locke & Key, Wraith: Welcome to Christmasland, and Basketful of Heads. He also co-wrote the novellas Throttle and In the Tall Grass, with his father, author Stephen King. His works have been adapted into the films Horns, In the Tall Grass, The Black Phone, and Abraham’s Boys, and the shows NOS4A2 and Locke & Key; he co-wrote episodes of the latter. He also appeared in the film Creepshow (1982).

Joe is the son of Tabitha King (born Tabitha Jane Spruce), who is also an author, and Stephen Edwin King. He is the brother of Naomi, a Unitarian minister, and Owen King, an author. His birth name, Joseph Hillstrom King, is after executed Swedish-American labor activist and songwriter Joe Hill (born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund), who used the name “Joseph Hillström.”

Joe is married to British publisher Gillian Redfearn. He has three children with his former wife Leanora Legrand; and two children with Gillian.

Joe’s paternal grandfather was Donald Edwin King (born Donald Pollock, the son of William Edwin Pollock and Helen Alethea Bowden). Donald was born in Peru, Miami, Indiana, and changed his name to King; he had also used his own stepfather’s surname, Szczepanski. William was born in Cass County, Indiana, the son of David Rittenhouse Pollock and Elizabeth Davis. Helen was born in Chili, Miami, Indiana, the daughter of William F. Bowden and Harriet R. “Hattie” Clear.

Joe’s paternal grandmother was Nellie Ruth Pillsbury (the daughter of Guy Herbert Pillsbury and Nellie Western Fogg). Joe’s grandmother Nellie was born in Scarborough, Cumberland, Maine. Guy was born in Scarborough, the son of Howard Leavitt Pillsbury and Cecelia/Cecilia/Celia Media Foss. Joe’s great-grandmother Nellie was born in Scarborough, the daughter of Arthur J./I./P. Fogg and Susan Ann Carter.

Joe’s maternal grandfather was Raymond George Spruce (the son of Raymond Joseph Spruce and Essie D. White). Joe’s grandfather Raymond was born in Maine. Joe’s great-grandfather Raymond was born in Milford, Penobscot, Maine, the son of Joseph Spruce, whose parents were French-Canadian, from Québec; and of Helen C. Dudley. Joe’s great-grandmother Essie was born in Stillwater, Old Town, Penobscot, Maine. Her father was William E. White. Her mother was Jennie McLaughlin, whose own father was born in Saint James, Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada, to a Scottish mother, from Lochmaben; and whose own mother was Irish.

Joe’s maternal grandmother was Sarah Jane White (the daughter of Almon Franklin White and Harriet L. Martinson). Sarah was born in Old Town, Penobscot, Maine. Almon was born in Penobscot. Harriet was born in Franklin, Hancock, Maine, the daughter of Magnus A. Martinson, who was Norwegian; and Jennie A. Dalton, whose father was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England.

A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2014) stated that Joe’s father Stephen’s genetic ancestry is:

*99% European
——–*68% Western European
——–*8% Scandinavian
——–*3% Iberian
——–*2% Irish
——–*1% Eastern European
——–*>1% West Asian
——–*>1% Caucasus areas

Sources: Genealogy of Joe Hill – https://www.wikitree.com

Genealogies of Joe’s father – http://www.geni.com
http://famouskin.com

Genealogies of Joe’s paternal grandparents, Donald Edwin King and Nellie Ruth (Pillsbury) King – https://www.findagrave.com