hill was born in westfield, massachusetts, the daughter of alexander mckenzie, a clergyman, and nancy (lewis) mckenzie. in 1873 she married benjamin m. hill. hill took up the study of cooking and its related sciences later in life: she returned to school around age 40, graduating from the boston cooking school in 1892. fannie farmer was assistant principal at the time. in 1896 she founded the "boston cooking school magazine" (later renamed "american cookery"). hill produced several cookbooks promoting the products of a particular company, a practice that began during this period. alice bradley, an 1897 graduate of the boston cooking school, who later bought miss farmer's cooking school and was cooking editor of the "woman's home companion" for twenty years, got her start doing cooking demonstrations for hill.