ANDOVER -- Mention the name Luther Hill to old timers and their thoughts immediately turn to Luther Hill Corn -- the sweet corn developed by a former Sussex County superintendent of schools following his retirement from that position.

Betty Bishoff Mitchell, a lifelong county resident recalls eating Luther Hill Corn as a child and how much she looked forward to corn season.

As a trustee and treasurer of the Andover Cemetery Association for the past several years, she thought of a project that finally came to fruition this year. As Luther Hill, his wife Melinda Stackhouse, and Hill family members are buried in the Andover Cemetery, Mitchell thought that it would be a neat idea to plant the corn that Hill propagated on his gravesite. However, after obtaining approval from association President Deanna Seely, finding the seed posed a challenge.

Observing a sign advertising Luther Hill Corn for sale at Valley View Farm on state Route 206, south of Newton, she approached its owner, George Fetzer, and shared her idea with him. Fetzer graciously provided her with some Luther Hill Corn seed and, in late June, Mitchell planted the corn seed on both Luther Hill's gravesite as well as at the site of the main Hill family monument.

To protect it from critters, Mitchell surrounded the corn with wire and alerted the cemetery caretaker so that it would not be mowed down. Mitchell's project was a success. To her surprise, not only did the cornstalks grow, but the ears of corn actually matured.

As one of her cousins was visiting from Alabama, Mitchell shared some of the corn with her so that she, too, could raise it.

"Just think" Mitchell muses, "maybe Luther Hill Corn will be growing in Alabama as well as in New Jersey."

As for Fetzer, he, too, is a lifelong county resident.

As a youngster he grew up on a dairy farm. His uncle allowed him to plant a few rows of sweet corn around the cattle corn.

When ripe, he sold it and earned his spending money. Unlike Mitchell, however, Fetzer never saw, tasted or even heard of Luther Hill Corn until his customers started asking him about it.

Fetzer spent six years searching for Luther Hill Corn seed. He finally obtained it from a couple, the Walkers, who resided at the end of Muckshaw Pond who had decided not to grow it any more.

The Walkers had five or six packets of seed they had saved themselves and sold it to Fetzer.

That was about 20-25 years ago and Fetzer has been growing about 30 acres of Luther Hill Corn since.

Each year he saves his own seed. He has about 100 customers who order it in advance and when the corn is ripe, he calls them. Fetzer describes the corn as very small -- three to six inches in length. It is white but very sweet. It has to be picked, cooked and eaten immediately.

The raccoons love it.

Each cornstalk grows to about five feet tall and yields from two to four ears of corn. Fetzer observes that the ears are so small that they were soon replaced commercially by larger ears of corn.

He adds that Luther Hill Corn is the parent of Silver Queen corn as well as several other corn varieties. Fetzer muses that those who order the Luther Hill Corn probably do so for its nostalgic value.

The corn, as its name implies, was propagated by Luther Hill about 1902. Born March 9, 1834, in Green, Luther Hill was the son of Samuel and Elsie Wilcox Hill. After obtaining his elementary education in the Huntsville School, he continued his studies at the Edward A. Stiles' Academy (later known as Mount Retirement Seminary), in Wantage. When 19 years of age, he began his teaching career by teaching in the Springdale School.

He then alternated employment between merchandising and teaching.

A versatile man, Luther Hill engaged in many professions such as store keeper, teacher, farmer and served as the first tax collector of Andover Township. Hill also devoted his time to both his church and his community as he was a founding member of the county Nature Study Club, the county Historical Society, a member of the county Agriculture Society and served as a director of the Sussex National Bank.

A lifelong member of the Andover Presbyterian Church, Hill served many years as its Sunday School superintendent as well as a trustee and an elder. When Andover Borough was formed, Hill became one of its first councilmen. During his 27 years as county superintendent of schools, Hill reportedly traveled by horse and buggy, visiting each school in the county twice a year.

He maintained his office in his own home and wrote out all of his reports in longhand.

While much is known about Hill's life, still unknown is specific information relative to Hill's breeding corn efforts, such as background and growing techniques and what prompted him to develop a new corn variety.

Hill died Dec. 30, 1924, with the funeral held at his home, Fern Hill, that overlooks Route 206, in Andover.

Despite a blinding snowstorm, his body was conveyed from his home that adjoined the cemetery and through his orchard to his final resting place.

Hill's memory lives on in the sweet corn he propagated more than one century ago. Fetzer, in continuing the tradition of raising Luther Hill Corn observes that as Hill lived only a short distance down the road from his farm, that it's fitting for him to do so.

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Jennie Sweetman a history writer for the New Jersey Herald may be contacted at jenniee@warwick.net.