When his estate was divided his widow received over 16 million, and each of his children received almost 4 million; 1.5 million was paid in income and inheritance taxes.[19]. He cherished summers at the family's North Oaks farm and an annual spring trip to his hunting lodge in Quebec for salmon fishing. By 1889, Hill decided that his future lay in expanding into a transcontinental railroad. Sep 16 1838 - Eramosa Township, Upper Canada, British North America, May 29 1916 - Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, United States, James Jerome Hill, Ann Hill (born Dunbar), Sep 16 1838? Egil and Rachel had two daughters, Mary and Gertrude. Therefore, Hill turned to his confidant and esteemed financer J.P Morgan. [9], In 1898 Hill purchased control of large parts of the Mesabi Range iron mining district in Minnesota, along with its rail lines. Near the end of his life, Hill played what a recent biographer, Albro Martin, called his "last and greatest role." In 1929, the Great Northern Railway named its flagship passenger train the Empire Builder in his honor. In May 1879, the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway Co. (StPM&M) formedwith James J. Hill as general manager. His father was a hired farmer, who received employment occasionally at Ontario in Canada. As a result, one feature Hill integrated into the construction of the 1887 company headquarters (the Great Northern General Office Building) was barrel vaulted ceilings constructed of brick and railroad steel rails that held up a layer of sand several inches deep. He also partnered with several banks and became a member of the board of directors in several of them. Hill chose to build his railroad north of the competing Northern Pacific line, which had reached the Pacific Northwest over much more difficult terrain with more bridges, steeper grades, and tunnelling. (Peter Hill Beard is his great-grandson.) In order to generate business for his railroad, Hill encouraged European immigrants to settle along his line, often paying for Russian and Scandinavian settlers to travel from Europe. The 1887 building was converted between 2000 and 2004 to a 53 unit condo in the Historic Lowertown District of St. Eramosa Township, Upper Canada, British North America, Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, United States, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_J._Hill&oldid=707800972, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hill_james_jerome_14E.html, Persons of National Historic Significance. He observed and learnt and came up with shrewd ideas. Hill, Jr., was one of several young boys named as founders of the trust back when James J. Hill was alive, to keep the trust going for many years. Call us at (858) 263-7716. 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 . As a result, one feature Hill integrated into the construction of the 1887 company headquarters (the Great Northern General Office Building) was barrel-vaulted ceilings constructed of brick and railroad steel rails that held up a layer of sand several inches deep. 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. Minnesota-EASy, "Minnesota, Marriages, 1849-1950," index and database. Over 400 workers labored on the project. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA. Meanwhile, nearly every other transcontinental railroad went bankrupt. That ore movement was absolutely critical. Because Hill created a property-holding trust, it had to follow laws insuring that property is controlled by the living, not the dead. 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. Hill was born September 16, 1838, in Eramosa Township, Upper Canada (now Ontario) to James Hill Jr. and Ann Dunbar. Politically, Hill was a conservative Bourbon Democrat. Roosevelt sent his Justice Department to sue the Northern Securities Company in 1902. Neither side could win a distinct advantage, and the parties soon realized that a truce would have to be called. Hill's leadership became a case study in the successful management of a capital-intensive business during the economic downturn. Hill was known to be blunt with occasional humour. It is also true that he used to survey the areas where rails were to be laid himself on horseback. Hill had seen the devastation done to downtown Chicago by the great fire of 1871. But getting the freight revenue required a massive investment in track, machinery, land and manpower. It was obtained by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1978 and today is operated as a museum and gallery. J. Hill, a wildly successful railroad tycoon known appropriately as the "Empire Builder", the 36,000-square-foot property at 240 Summit Avenue spans three lots and touts arguably the most . The center, which opened in 1921 . For James Hill it was a golden opportunity. With 1901 and the start of the new century, James Hill now had control of both the Great Northern Railway, and the Northern Pacific (which he had obtained with the help of his friend J. P. Morgan, when that railroad went bankrupt in the depression of the mid-1890s). Father of Marie Francis Hill; James Norman Hill; Louis Warren Hill; Clara Anne Lindley; Charlotte Elizabeth Slade and 5 others; Gertrude T Gavin; Walter Jerome Hill; Katherine Hill died young; Ruth Heidsieck and Rachel Boeckmann less (Canadian-American railroad executive, Businessman) James Jerome Hill, a Canadian-American railroad executive and the greatest pioneer in the field of transcontinental railroads, was a visionary who transcended the dreams of a common man and went on to become 'The Empire Builder.'. Part of Hill's success during the depression also was due to repeatedly cutting his employees' wages, although this was during a time of deflation when prices were falling generally. At the start, it took the Hill family a few years to fully explore and understand what they owned. In 1907 he made his son the owner of his business, yet his grit and determination led him to work daily, until just a week before he died. November 25-December 31, 2022. Hill pursued a broad range of other business interests: coal and iron ore mining, Great Lakes and Pacific Ocean shipping, banking and finance, agriculture, and milling. During the winter months when the Mississippi River was frozen and steamboats could not run, Hill started bidding on other contracts and won several. People commented on his piercing gaze and said he held their attention with his quick, animated speech, gesturing expansively and jabbing the air with a hand or finger to make his point. He even sold wood to farmers in order to encourage them to buy his wheat. Unlike the railroad, the trust rarely drew much attention. It was designed by James Brodie, who also built the Hill house on Summit Avenue. 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. Paul and Pacific Railroad to the Great Northern Railway Company. They frequently entertained Rachel's parents at their home and Rachel and her daughters lived at 240 Summit for a few years ca 1918-1922. A Canadian himself of Scotch-Irish Protestant ancestry, he brought in many men with the same background into high management. It was immediately challenged in court by Governor Samuel Van Sant. If the federal government believed that the railroads were making too much profit, they might see this as an opportunity to force lowering of the railway tariff rates. 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. The Great Northern reached Seattle on January 7, 1893. The StP&P in particular was caught in an almost hopeless legal muddle. Conoco-Phillips wanted to get the property immediately on April 7, 2015, but the trustees argued that winding up the trusts affairs would take until 2016. Drawing on his experience in the development of Minnesota's Iron Range, Hill was, during 19111912, in close contact with Gaspard Farrer of Baring Brothers & Company of London regarding the formation of the Brazilian Iron Ore Company to tap that nation's rich mineral deposits. With the end of the iron ore trust, any royalties that flow from the mines will now head in another direction. Because of these measures, Hill not only stayed in business, but also increased the net worth of his railroad by nearly $10 million. Enter a grandparent's name. The 1887 building was converted between 2000 and 2004 to a 53 unit condo in the Historic Lowertown District of St. Paul. It was at this point that Hill became the official president of StPM&M (not that he hadn't been the man behind the curtain before), and decided to expand the rail lines. His first goal was to expand and upgrade even more. using former Great Northern tracks west of St. Paul. Admission includes self-guided access to holiday-themed exhibits and a 60-minute guided tour highlighting holiday stories and memories from both the Hill family and their staff. 2008 - 2022 INTERESTING.COM, INC. It was there that he studied algebra, mathematics, geometry, land surveying and English. Even though it was a public stock, it wasnt a publicized venture, McCormack said. 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. Mary Theresa Mehegan was born in New York City on July 1, 1846. Meanwhile, nearly every other transcontinental railroad went bankrupt. He had nine years of formal schooling. Hill died in St. Paul on May 29, 1916. In 1891, after three years of building, construction was completed on a new Hill family home on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. Most people didnt know anything about it, unless they were investors themselves and worked for investment companies. The James J. Hill House in St. Paul, Minnesota is a National Historic Landmark. The result was restoration of the workers' wages to pre-depression levels. Over 400 workers labored on the project. New and used Descendants Dolls for sale in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Facebook Marketplace. hillhouse@mnhs.org Political contributions favored policies over party, and Hill was frequently frustrated when candidates failed to fulfill campaign promises. His first job in St. Paul was with a steamboat company, where he worked as a bookkeeper. Morgan, acting on behalf of his friend, ordered his men to buy everything they could get their hands on. 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. As one of the trusts current officials, Robert Stein, testified last November, It was set up uniquely by James J. Hill as part of the political circumstances of the time to avoid a federal statute that was passed. She received education at St. Marys Institute of Notre Dame. The net worth of the company jumped from $728,000 in 1880 to $25,000,000 in 1885. His two sons had to talk him into being interested in it in the first place, said Eileen R. McCormack, a Hill family biographer and former curator of the Hill papers. By all accounts, Hill was a hands-on, detail-obsessed manager. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Home; Our Practice; Services; What to expect. Having done community building through foundation work and governmental work, he found another way to build a community by creating the unique North . The rest of their children were Mary, James, Lewis, Clara, Charlotte, Ruth, Rachel, Gertrude and Walter. Louis Warren Hill (May 19, 1872- April 27, 1948), was an American railroad executive. In a way, they kind of fell into the biggest, most valuable property on the Range, said Pam Brunfelt, an Iron Range historian. During the Panic of 1873, a number of railroads, including the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (StP&P), had gone bankrupt. It was in the season of winter that the Mississippi River froze and trading via steamboats was hindered. In 1873, he entered the steamboat business and by 1879 he had a local monopoly by merging (with Norman Kittson). Hill and Debs agreed to arbitration by other business owners led by Charles Alfred Pillsbury. They were married for 49 years and had 10 children. 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. Hills Great Northern, McCormack added, profited on all sides, from the ore itself, and the transporting of it by rail to Duluth, and then by ship because it went on Hills ships. Guides lead tours that help you imagine family and servant life in the Gilded Age mansion, the setting of the public and private lives of the Hill family. The train served as Great Northern's flagship train, and is still operated today by Amtrak. 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. For a brief period of time, he hired Italian and Greek laborers, but company officials were not satisfied with their performance. In September 1915, the first public loan, the $500,000,000 Anglo-French loan, was floated after negotiations with the Anglo-French Financial Commission. Between 1883 and 1889, Hill built his railroads across Minnesota, into Wisconsin, and across North Dakota to Montana. It was a fortuitous investment for them.. A portrait of James J. Hill is now hung in the library in his home. The task seemed impossible without government land grants. The result was chaos on Wall Street. [13] Hill's leadership became a case study in the successful management of a capital-intensive business during the economic downturn. The reading room at the James J. Hill Center is seen from the second-floor balcony inside the nearly 100-year-old building on Thursday. Experience Christmas, 1910both upstairs and downstairsin the sumptuous Gilded Age mansion of railroad titan James J. Hill. Husband of Mary T Hill and Mary Theresa Hill Hill took drastic cost-saving measures to keep the Great Northern operating, but the pay cuts to railroad workers proved too much to bear. 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. Upon completion of the Summit Avenue residence, Hill had the family's old house, which he had constructed in 1878, razed. James J. Hill is back in the news this month but not for his famous railroad. 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. He went on to become a prominent businessman in St. Paul, a state legislator for 14 years, and a philanthropist who helped disburse some of the familys fortune. Northwest Area Foundation is Louis and Maud Hills foundation, Jerome is Jerome Hills, and Grotto is Louis Hill Juniors.. Hill was represented by, among others, the law firm headed by Frank B. Kellogg. With 1901 and the start of the new century, James Hill now had control of both the Great Northern Railway, and the Northern Pacific (which he had obtained with the help of his friend J. P. Morgan, when that railroad went bankrupt in the depression of the mid-1890s). 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. The Great Northern was the first transcontinental built without public money and just a few land grants and was one of the few transcontinental railroads not to go bankrupt. Mr. Hill will be resting at the Mackey Funeral Home, 33 Peel Street, Lindsay on Friday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Funeral service in the chapel on Saturday, May 31st at 10:00 a.m. Interment at Riverside Cemetery, Lindsay. An enthusiastic conservationist, Hill was invited by President Theodore Roosevelt to a governors' conference on conservation of natural resources, and later appointed to a lands commission. Hill did much of the route planning himself, travelling over proposed routes on horseback. Said Brunfelt, the Iron Range historian, The Great Northern (Railway) is one of the great success stories in American history, the only transcontinental railroad built by an individual, which is astonishing when you think of it. "A Gilded Age Businessman in Politics: James J. Hill, the Northwest, and the American Presidency, 1884-1912,", This page was last edited on 15 December 2022, at 06:08. ) Hill, James Norman Hill, Louis W. Hill, Clara Anne Lindley (born Hill), Katherine Theresa Hill, Charlotte Elizabeth Slade (born Hill), Sep 16 1838 - Eramosa Township, Ontario, Canada, Mary Elizabeth Hill, Alexander Samuel Dunbar Hill. Six months after the railroad reached Seattle came the depression called the Panic of 1893. After Louis Jr.s death, the 20-year clock began ticking for the Great Northern Iron Ore Properties trust, even as its stock continued to trade under the GNI symbol. This last attempt lasted from 1955 until final Supreme Court approval and merger in March 1970, which created the Burlington Northern Railroad. The key to the Great Northern line was Hill's use of the previously unmapped Marias Pass. 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. 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. He imported grains from Russia and sold this to farmers. We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. This business brought good profit in five folds by 1879, consolidating his monopoly in the anthracite coal industry. He was a voracious reader of nonfiction, although there are references to Hill lustily singing ballads based on the poems of Robert Burns. In 1867, James J. Hill married Mary Theresa Mehegan, born in 1846 in New York City. Hillsboro, North Dakota; Hill County, Montana; and Hillyard, Washington (now a neighborhood of Spokane) - are named for him. 4241 Jutland Dr #202, San Diego, CA 92117. In 1860 he was already managing cargo transfers by railway and steamboats for wholesale grocers. james j hill descendants todaycraftsman tool box lock rod james j hill descendants today. He knew that the multiplying profits would soon find its way under the Federal Governments scanner, and so he used his profits wisely. Gertrude Hill Gavin (18831961), who married Michael Gavin of New York City. Following their initial land purchases, Hill and his sons bought even more Iron Range land, raising the total to 67,000 acres. James Jerome Hill Mary Theresa Mehegan Hill Mary Frances (Mamie) James Norman (Jimmy) Louis Warren Clara Ann Thus, the knowledge he amassed in the academy was put to use in order to establish his business later in life. With the return of prosperity and the wave of trust-building and consolidation in the late 1890s, Hills problem became one of how to retain control of his vast railroad holdings. http://www.railroads-of-montana.com/Marias_Pass.htm, https://chereek.wordpress.com/tag/class-warfare/, http://sites.mnhs.org/historic-sites/james-j-hill-house/james-j-hill-gilded-age-entrepreneur. Northern Pacific stock was forced up to $1,000 per share. But as the decades pass, the legacy has become harder to see. A daughter, Katie, died in infancy (1876). So the legacy of the Empire Builder is still around and goes far beyond what is now known as the BNSF Railway, or Hills most personal emblem, the massive stone mansion on St. Pauls Summit Avenue. It was only in the 1870s that the possibility of a railway system through the Red River Valley dawned on him. Its last trading day was April 6, 2015. 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. Old St. Paul knows who he was, McCormack said of James J. Hill. ; and Pittsburgh. "Minnesota, Death Records, 1866-1916," index and database. Cook St. Paul is no more. Collecting the royalties required very little investment, beyond the initial price. He died in 1995, setting off the 20-year timtabkle that led to dissolution of the Trust in 2015. [14] Mary Hill died in 1922 and was buried next to her husband by the shore of Pleasant Lake on their North Oaks farm. Because of vandals and curious admirers, both graves were later moved to Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights for safer keeping. He began his career in transportation in 1856 as a 17-year-old clerk on the St. Paul levee. During this period, Hill began to work for himself for the first time. In February 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt began prosecution of the Northern Securities Company under the Sherman Antitrust Act. In 1897, Hill grudgingly bought the small Duluth, Superior & Winnipeg Railroad, which came with 10,000 acres of Mesabi Range land. During this same period, Hill also entered into banking and quickly managed to become member of several major banks' boards of directors. 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. Hills Great Northern ore trust terminated, St. Paul Midway Baseball calls it quits after 33 years, Crockarell buys 7th Place Apartments; First Avenue plans restaurant, With THC edibles legal in MN, more kids are finding them, eating them and getting sick, Minnesota Court of Appeals rejects bid to reinstate Brian Lipschultz on Otto Bremer Trust, Local developers donate downtown St. Paul building to Salvation Army, No increased stroke risk linked to Pfizers COVID boosters as feared, federal officials say, Hamline University leaders admit to 'misstep' in Islamophobia controversy as adjunct professor files lawsuit, St. Thomas receives $75 million donation toward new hockey, basketball facility on St. Paul campus, Defensive issues at center stage as Vikings look toward 2023, Duluth Boy Scout has slept outside for 1,000 days and counting, Man arrested after armed bank robbery in St. Paul, Police: Stolen vehicle rolls over in St. Paul, good Samaritan stops to help and he's carjacked, Walz calls for $12B in new spending to make MN 'best state in country for kids', Fugitive suspect in Mall of America killing arrested in Georgia; mother accused of driving him there. He fell in love with a waitress, Mary Theresa Mehegan, at Merchants Hotel, where he often dined. James Jerome Hill was a Canadian-American railroad director. Constantly updated. In 1889 John F. Stevens, the lead engineer of his company, found the Marias Pass, which was the lowest crossing region of the Rocky Mountain. But unlike his legendary Great Northern Railway, which was wrestled into being by Hills iron will, his iron ore holdings were something of an accident. It was a notable victory for the young labor organizer Eugene Debs (and occurred a few years before the more famous Pullman strike in Chicago) and marked a significant change in workers' rights. 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. The Democratic Party's continued enchantment with the populist William Jennings Bryan led Hill to support Republican presidential candidates William McKinley (1896 and 1900), Theodore Roosevelt (1904), and William Howard Taft (1908 and 1912). James J. Hill, in full James Jerome Hill, (born September 16, 1838, near Guelph, Ontario, Canadadied May 29, 1916, St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.), American financier and railroad builder who helped expand rail networks in the northwestern United States. With his astute judgments and haggling skills, he managed to recover it from bankruptcy and even expanded the rails. 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. 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