Born in southern Ontario on September 16, 1838, to Irish immigrant parents, young Hill suffered a bow and arrow injury at age nine and lost sight in his right eye for the rest of his life. In 1850 she came with her family to St. Paul. James J. Hill III is one of 10 children of James J. Hill, a Canadian-American railroad executive who built the Great Northern Railway which connecte St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington. At the start, it took the Hill family a few years to fully explore and understand what they owned. At the peak of his success he met with the disapproval of President Theodore Roosevelt for his railway monopoly. It is currently situated in front of More Hall, which is adjacent to the former on campus nuclear reactor building. After his fathers death, his mother found it difficult to provide for her children by the means of only running a small inn. Gertrude married Peter Harvie Ffolliott in 1942. http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/sv000012.xml. We do not care enough for Rocky Mountains scenery to spend a large sum of money developing it. The theory was that if a fire broke out and the ceiling caved in, the sand would drop and retard or suppress the fire. He imported grains from Russia and sold this to farmers. She attended finishing school at St. Mary's Institute (Milwaukee, Wis., 1864-1867) and married James J. Hill on August 19, 1867. In 1880, its net worth was $728,000 (equal to $20,441,738 today); in 1885 it was $25,000,000, equal to $753,981,481 today. Hill avoided this by investing a large portion of the railroad's profit back into the railroad itselfand charged those investments to operating expense. [19] After falling into a coma, he died in his home in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 29, 1916. In an interview during his last few years, he was questioned on what led him to rule the railway empire, to which he diligently replied, Work, hard work, intelligent work, and then more work. Certainly, nothing came easy for him; he overcame the toughest challenges life could fling at him and yet went on to establish the Great Northern Railroad. His life is the perfect example of a journey from obscurity to fame. By 1889, Hill decided that his future lay in expanding into a transcontinental railroad. In St. Paul, the city's main library building and the adjoining Hill Business Library were funded by him. Copyright Privacy Information Policy Ticketing Policy, James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest, Harriman vs. Hill: Wall Street's Great Railroad War, James J. Hill and the Opening of the Northwest. Hill was represented by, among others, the law firm headed by Frank B. Kellogg. He observed and learnt and came up with shrewd ideas. He had nine years of formal schooling. James Jerome Hill was born near Guelph, Ontario on September 16, 1838. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. By the time of his death in 1916, James J. Hill was worth more than $53 million[ (almost $2.5 billion (2007) dollars). Revealing for the first time a story hidden from public view for a century, award-winning historian James A. Stolpestad and the Ramsey County Historical Society present the history of the Great Northern Iron Ore Properties mining trust formed in 1906 by James J. Hill and Louis W. Hill to acquire, manage, and lease 67,000 acres on Minnesota's 100-mile long Mesabi Range. The iron empire: James J. Hills Great Northern, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Submit to Stumbleupon (Opens in new window), The iron empire: James J. 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It is also true that he used to survey the areas where rails were to be laid himself on horseback. Connecting junctions almost all over North America, it is to his merit that trade and occupations saw a leap in U.S.A. Holding on to his vivid ambition, he climbed up to the helm of Americas transportation business from being the son of a hired peasant. He was the only businessman to make a hefty profit even during the time of depression. He gradually began working for himself. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest. A bust of Hill is located on the University of Washington campus in Seattle, Washington. For James Hill it was a golden opportunity. The most famous home of the first construction boom was the James J. Hill House, built in 1891 in Richardsonian Romanesque style on the site of the original Edward Duffield Neill home.Owned by James. James Jerome Hill Mary Theresa Mehegan Hill Mary Frances (Mamie) James Norman (Jimmy) Louis Warren Clara Ann The rest of their children were Mary, James, Lewis, Clara, Charlotte, Ruth, Rachel, Gertrude and Walter. Its a tale of high finance and amazing fortune, befitting St. Pauls larger-than-life railroad baron. The Union Pacific Railroad was the biggest competitor of Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads. The move was politically unpopular and in clear violation of Minnesota statutes. We do not care enough for Rocky Mountains scenery to spend a large sum of money developing it." Hill County, Montana is named in his honor. In 1887, the Great Northern's first company headquarters building was constructed in St. Paul. Paul. Theres really no other trust like it., Yet there was another reason, at a time of rising public resentment toward wealthy industrialists and grim conditions at the mines. The James J. Hill House in St. Paul, is a National Historic Landmark.[24]. Scan from original on Epson Expression 10000XL. During the late 1880s,he aimed to build a rail route through the Rockies to the Pacific. After working as a clerk in Kentucky (during which he learned bookkeeping), Hill decided to permanently move to the United States and settled in St. Paul, Minnesota, at the age of 18. As with his business dealings, Hill supervised the construction and design himself, hiring and firing several architects in the process. He never really explained that the (railroads) major stockholders were the founding partners and their families so it really didnt cause them any harm financially., (But it did allow Hill in 1907 to testify, somewhat disingenuously, that he hadnt made the value of a postage stamp, directly or indirectly, out of the transaction. A truer account came in 1912, when Hill told a congressional committee that the land hed bought for $4 million would yield $750 million in iron ore.). Because of his previous experiences in shipping and fuel supply, Hill was able to enter both the coal and steamboat businesses. Even with treatment from the best of doctors, he found no relief. Some mines were already operating, and Hills sons were excited by the potential. Hill died in St. Paul on May 29, 1916. But as the decades pass, the legacy has become harder to see. Avenue in the Library in his 70th year, was born on 25 September 1956 at little Falls N! Hill noted that the secret to success was, "Work, hard work, intelligent work, and then more work.". Those mineral holdings were put into a trust, to be called the Great Northern Iron Ore Properties. "James J. Hill and the Trade with the Orient. In a way, they kind of fell into the biggest, most valuable property on the Range, said Pam Brunfelt, an Iron Range historian. He invested a considerable amount of profit back into the business, further expanding and upgrading the business, earning his position as president of the company. Minnesota-EASy, "Minnesota, Marriages, 1849-1950," index and database. That is reflected in a 1946 summary from Louis Hill Sr., reprinted in the biography The Dutiful Son: Louis W. Hill.. After amassing a personal fortune estimated at $63 million and over $200 million in related assets, James J. Hill died in his Summit Avenue home on May 29, 1916, one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures of America's Gilded Age. In order to ensure that he did not lose his patronage during the crisis, Hill lowered rail tariff shipping rates for farmers and gave credit to many of the businesses he owned so they could continue paying their workers. At the end of his life, Hill was asked by a newspaper reporter to reveal the secret of his success. The 1887 building was converted between 2000 and 2004 to a 53 unit condo in the Historic Lowertown District of St. Paul. The New York Times described Mr. Hill, in his obituary, as "gifted with fine tastes and a keen artistic sense of beauty of form and color, and his collections of art and jewels were among the finest in the country.". In 1867, Hill entered the coal business, and by 1879 it had expanded five times over, giving Hill a local monopoly in the anthracite coal business. Much of his collection is hanging in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the majority of pieces having been donated by his heirs. James J. Hill was known as the "Empire Builder" for his work in founding and developing the Great Northern Railway from a local railroad serving Minnesota to a major transcontinental network connecting Chicago to Seattle.[1][2]. Born in Virginia in 1825, Hill was a career military officer and graduate of West Point who served in the Mexican-American and Seminole Wars before leading Confederate troops in a series of key. On November 1, 1901, Hill, Morgan, and Harriman announced the formation of the Northern Securities Company, a holding company formed to control the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific, and the Burlington lines. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Hill was born September 16, 1838, in Eramosa Township, Upper Canada (now Ontario) to James Hill Jr. and Ann Dunbar. on the lake,. Built at a cost of $930,000 and with 36,000 square feet (3,300 m2), the James J. Hill House was among the city's largest. June 13, 2019 3:59 PM. By 1889, Hill decided that his future lay in expanding into a transcontinental railroad. His first goal was to expand and upgrade even more. In 1870, he and his partners started the Red River Transportation Company, which offered steam boat transportation between St. Paul and Winnipeg. To promote settlement and revenue for his rail business, Hill experimented with agriculture and worked to hybridize Russian wheat for Dakota soil and weather conditions. He was eyed as a great competitor by the successful and dominant E.H Harriman, who owned Union Pacific Railway. And once they did, it led to soul-searching about how to handle it. His first goal was to expand and upgrade even more. For a brief period of time, he hired Italian and Greek laborers, but company officials were not satisfied with their performance. After amassing a personal fortune estimated at $63 million and over $200 million in related assets, James J. Hill died in his Summit Avenue home on May 29, 1916, one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures of Americas Gilded Age. James J. Hill House Rugged stone, massive scale, fine detail and ingenious mechanical systems recall the powerful presence of James J. Hill, builder of the Great Northern Railway. For decades, much of Minnesota's Mesabi Range was. In 1929, the Great Northern Railway inaugurated a long-distance passenger train extending from Chicago to Seattle, and named it the Empire Builder in his honor. He also bought out bankrupt businesses, built them up again, and then resold themoften gaining a substantial profit. After the death of Hill's wife in 1921, the house was donated to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The net worth of the company jumped from $728,000 in 1880 to $25,000,000 in 1885. Between 1883 and 1889, Hill built his railroads across Minnesota, into Wisconsin, and across North Dakota to Montana. James J. Hill is back in the news this month but not for his famous railroad. From 1937 to 1951, Mr. Hill served in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Early in 1901 he joined with J. P. Morgan to buy control of the Northern Pacific Railroad control contested by E. H. Harriman of the Union Pacific in an epic stock market battle in May 1901. During the Panic of 1873, a number of railroads, including the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (StP&P), had gone bankrupt. ", White, W. Thomas. Louis Jr. was just 4 years old when the trust was created. Hill's top aides were careless about details, bookkeeping, correspondence, and reports.[17]. Mary Theresa Mehegan was born in New York City on July 1, 1846. [6] He wanted people to settle along his rail lines, so he sold homesteads to immigrants while transporting them to their new homes using his rail lines. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. Hill and Debs agreed to arbitration by other business owners led by Charles Alfred Pillsbury. Concomitantly, the resulting trade in munitions with England and France carried the United States from a depression in 1914 to boom years in 1915 and 1916. Upon completion of the Summit Avenue residence, Hill had the family's old house, which he had constructed in 1878, razed. That ore movement was absolutely critical. Yet, he was adamant to build the straightest route, with the shortest distance across the Northwest. By the time he had finished, he was adept at algebra, geometry, land surveying, and English. Hill responded with characteristic bluntness: "Work, hard work, intelligent work, and then more work. In 1867, James J. Hill married Mary Theresa Mehegan, born in 1846 in New York City. His father was a hired farmer, who received employment occasionally at Ontario in Canada. November 25-December 31, 2022. The Hills maintained close ties with Archbishop John Ireland and Hill was a major contributor to the Saint Paul Seminary, Macalester College, Hamline University, the University of St. Thomas, Carleton College, and other educational, religious and charitable organizations. This ended Hill's ability to maintain competitive rates in Asian countries and in the subsequent two years American trade with Japan and China dropped 40% (or $41 million). Jim Hill Mountain near Stevens Pass in the Cascade Range is named after him, also. Son of James Hill and Anne Hill Constantly updated. Because of the size of this region and the economic dominance exerted by the Hill lines, Hill became known during his lifetime as "The Empire Builder". [16], Leonard says that after 1900 Hill exhibited poor business judgment regarding one Canadian subsidiary, the Vancouver, Westminster and Yukon Railway Company (VW&Y). The threat of a real economic panic loomed. American railroad promoter and financier (18381916), The Northern Pacific and the "short squeeze" of 1901, The Hill Lines survive the trust-busting era, Claire Strom, "Among Friends: The Power of Ethnicity in the Great Northern Railway Corporation,", Don L. Hofsommer, "Ore Docks and Trains: The Great Northern Railway and the Mesabi Range,", Frank Leonard, "Railroading a Renegade: Great Northern Ousts John Hendry in Vancouver,", Webvideo:James J. Hill and the Building of the Stone Arch Bridge, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, James J. Hill and the Building of His Railroad Empire, Harry Elmer Barnes: The World War of 19141918, Great Northern Lofts - Condo and Loft Directory, "James Hill legacy a wealth of information", "James J. Hill; An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society", Northern Pacific Railway Corporate Records, Mary Theresa Mehegan Hill in MNopedia, the Minnesota Encyclopedia, James J. Hill in MNopedia, the Minnesota Encyclopedia, The Destruction of a Wealth and Jobs Creator by Parasitical-Elites, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_J._Hill&oldid=1127524764, 19th-century American railroad executives, 20th-century American railroad executives, Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople, Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent, Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad people, Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada), Businesspeople from Saint Paul, Minnesota, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the Encyclopedia Americana with a Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating citation to the NSRW, Wikipedia articles incorporating citation to the NSRW with an wstitle parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Mary Francis Hill Hill (18691947), who married, Clara Anne Hill Lindley (18731947), who married, Katherine Theresa Hill (18751876) (died in infancy), Charlotte Elizabeth Hill Slade (18771923), who married, Rachel Hill Boeckmann (18811967), who married. When there was not enough industry in the areas Hill was building, Hill brought the industry in, often by buying out a company and placing plants along his railroad lines. Its last trading day was April 6, 2015. In honour of his legacy, his heirs founded the James J. Hill Reference Library, which provides practical business information to businesses in the entire nation. ST. PAUL, May 29--James J. Hill, builder of the "Northwest Empire," died at 9:30 A.M. today at his house, 240 Summit Avenue. Hill was a member of the Jekyll Island Club (aka The Millionaires Club) on Jekyll Island, Georgia, along with J. P. Morgan and William Rockefeller. Hill sent emissaries to the Pacific who found that Japan had the most potential in the market of "Oriental Trade," and he decided to capitalize on this opportunity. Northern Pacific stock was forced up to $1,000 per share. He cherished summers at the family's North Oaks farm and an annual spring trip to his hunting lodge in Quebec for salmon fishing. During this period, Hill began to work for himself for the first time. Rachel Hill married physician Egil Boeckmann in 1913 at the Hill House at 240 Summit. He was forced to leave school in 1852 due to the death of his father. A New Mexico man is charged with killing and decapitating a 51-year-old man at a local park Sunday then kicking the severed head around, according to a report . She received education at St. Marys Institute of Notre Dame. Hill was a hands-on, detail-obsessed manager. From 1886 to 1905, American exports to Japan leapt from $7.7 million a year (equal to $232,226,296 today) to $51.7 million, equal to $1,559,233,704 today. Therefore, Hill turned to his confidant and esteemed financer J.P Morgan. History The city that is now North Oaks was purchased by Hill in 1883 and turned into a 5,000-acre research farm. Two years later, Hill wrote a $2 million personal check half the purchase price for 25,000 acres of logged-off land, which had a small rail line to Hibbing for carrying logs. One of his challenges at this point was the avoidance of federal action against railroads. Upon completion of the Summit Avenue residence, Hill had the family's old house, which he had constructed in 1878, razed. Old St. Paul knows who he was, McCormack said of James J. Hill. 2008 - 2022 INTERESTING.COM, INC. It was obtained by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1978 and today is operated as a museum and gallery. Hill and his railway are mentioned in the Harry McClintock song "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum.". What to expect; First visit; FAQ; He was the president and board chairman of the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest . His ability to ride out the depression garnered him fame and admiration. The trust never did any mining itself; it only collected royalties. Politically, Hill was a conservative Bourbon Democrat. Because of vandals or curious admirers both graves were later moved to Resurrection Cemetery in St. Paul for safer keeping. [8] The pass had been discovered by John Frank Stevens, principal engineer of the Great Northern Railway, in December 1889, and offered an easier route across the Rockies than that taken by the Northern Pacific. His first job in St. Paul was with a steamboat company, where he worked as a bookkeeper. It was designed by James Brodie, who also built the Hill's house on Summit Avenue. 291 Pins 5y J Collection by Jessie Cochran Rachel Hill J Hill Mary Frances Gilded Age House On A Hill Downstairs Historical Sites Matilda Minnesota Funding provided by the State of Minnesota, the Legacy Amendment through the vote of Minnesotans on Nov. 4, 2008, and our generous donors and members. Because of the size of this region and the economic dominance exerted by the Hill lines, Hill became known during his lifetime as The Empire Builder. Login to find your connection. Hill was born in Eramosa Township, Wellington County, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Hill and his men worked in spite of all obstaclesincluding a presidential veto of a bill that would have allowed Hill legally to build through American Indian territory (the law preventing Hill from laying track across Indian territories was later repealed under President Grover Cleveland, who like Hill was a Bourbon Democrat). The 1893 depression saw the collapse of many businesses, including railroads, throughout the United States. James Hill is managed by the Canada Project. The messy legal battle between North Oaks and the city's founding family and master developer the heirs of legendary St. Paul railroad magnate James J. Hill is finally over. [10], The Great Northern energetically promoted settlement along its lines in North Dakota and Montana, especially by Germans and Scandinavians from Europe. Paul and Pacific Railroad. Between 1856 and 1859 he prospered in a series of wood and coal merchandising partnerships. Unfortunately for the Hill-Morgan alliance, on the same day they formed the Northern Securities Company, President William McKinley was assassinated, placing Theodore Rooseveltthe "trust-buster"in the office of President. And he built the iron ore docks, which made it possible to ship ore to distant cities like Cleveland; Gary, Ind. On March 14, the Northern Securities Company was ordered to be dissolved under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The theory was that if a fire broke out and the ceiling caved in, the sand would drop and retard or suppress the fire. New and used Descendants Dolls for sale in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Facebook Marketplace. The key to the Great Northern line was Hill's use of the previously unmapped Marias Pass. In May 1879, the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway Co. (StPM&M) formedwith James J. Hill as general manager. Categories: Eramosa Township, Upper Canada | Great Northern Railway | Persons of National Historic Significance | Namesakes US Counties | Notables, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. He ousted its president John Hendry, thereby worsening the problems, prolonging the delays, and adding to the costs of taking over the VW&Y. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. He offered Japanese Industrialists Southern cotton and would even ship it for free if they would compare it with the short staple cotton they were using with the promise of a refund if they were dissatisfied, which they were not. uis Warren Hill, Clara Anne Lindley (born Hill), Katherine Theresa Katie Hill, Charlotte Elizabeth Slade (born Hill), Ruth Beard Heidsiec Sep 16 1838 - Eramosa Township Wellington County Ontario, May 29 1916 - St. Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, United States, May 29 1916 - Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, USA, cw, Source: https://old.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10925230, Saint Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States, Railroad Transportation in the United States, St.tsar-NikolayII/St.Alexandra-Hesse-Darmstadt Web Site, Gladys Ryman and Herbert Wilson Sporbeck Web Site, James J (Jerome), Railroad Executive Hill, Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, United States.