We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. Search arrest records and find latests mugshots and bookings for Misdemeanors and Felonies. He was the only businessman to make a hefty profit even during the time of depression. 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. 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. The couple tied the knot in 1867, their marriage brought ten children into the world, of which one (Katherine) died in infancy. Hill's leadership became a case study in the successful management of a capital-intensive business during the economic downturn. 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). During this same period, Hill also entered into banking and quickly managed to become member of several major banks' boards of directors. [14] Mary Hill died in 1922 and was buried next to her husband by the shore of Pleasant Lake on their North Oaks farm. Today Hills house has been preserved as a museum. 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. The train served as Great Northern's flagship train, and is still operated today by Amtrak. "What we want," Hill is quoted as saying, "is the best possible line, shortest distance, lowest grades, and least curvature we can build. He was well-known for his blunt, direct manner, and many commented on his occasional flashes of humor. With his astute judgments and haggling skills, he managed to recover it from bankruptcy and even expanded the rails. His ability to ride out the depression garnered him fame and admiration. 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 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. (Ironically, the Burlington Route, Northern Pacific, and Great Northern would later merge in 1970 to form the Burlington Northern Railroad.) The Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific tried to merge four times, in 1896, 1901, 1927, and 1955. hillhouse@mnhs.org Largest Database of New Mexico Mugshots. Descendants Dolls for sale in Las Cruces, New Mexico | Facebook Marketplace He was soon made the General Manager of the newly formed St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway Co. Hill recruited hundreds of immigrants and developed mini homesteads in Dakota and Montana that helped in building markets; he used the railways as a means of commuting immigrants from one place to another. [8] Hill moved on without the benefit of a central company, and acquired the Colorado and Southern Railway lines into Texas. Paul and Pacific Railroad encountered huge losses and was bankrupt. History The city that is now North Oaks was purchased by Hill in 1883 and turned into a 5,000-acre research farm. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/james-j-hill-138.php. Then Harriman quickly began buying stock in Northern Pacific with the aim of eventually gaining control over it. Some mines were already operating, and Hills sons were excited by the potential. Hill did much of the route planning himself, travelling over proposed routes on horseback. 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 . 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. Nearing the century mark, downtown St. Paul's James J. Hill Center to close in July. Hill always saw his railroads mission as moving goods, not producing them; mining wasnt part of the Great Northern Railway charter; and above all, by 1906 it became illegal for railroads to haul commodities that the railroads themselves had produced. Near the end of his life, Hill played what a recent biographer, Albro Martin, called his "last and greatest role." Hill was born in Eramosa Township, Wellington County, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Hill was intimately involved in the planning and construction (19141916) of a new company headquarters in St. Paul (to be known as the Great Northern Office Building), which was to house the corporate staffs of the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific and Hill's banking enterprises. A daughter, Katie, died in infancy (1876). James J. Hill household, 1895 state census, Ramsey County, Minnesota, population schedule, Saint Paul, Ward 7, Precinct 2, page 89; GSU Film Number 000565801. By 1889, Hill decided that his future lay in expanding into a transcontinental railroad. Hill sent Mary to finishing school in Milwaukee before their marriage in 1867 to prepare her for the impending change of stature in her life. As with his business dealings, Hill supervised the construction and design himself, hiring and firing several architects in the process. Quietly, Harriman began buying stock in Northern Pacific with the intention of gaining control of Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. Politically, Hill was a Bourbon Democrat. He attended the Rockwood Academy for a short while, where the head gave him free tuition. For a brief period of time, he hired Italian and Greek laborers, but company officials were not satisfied with their performance. Jim Hill Mountain near Stevens Pass in the Cascade Range is named after him, also. In 1867, James J. Hill married Mary Theresa Mehegan, born in 1846 in New York City. Ownership of the Iron Range mines will now pass to energy company Conoco-Phillips. The result was restoration of the workers' wages to pre-depression levels. Folks already knew the region had iron ore. In 1995, Burlington Northern merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to become the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. Categories: Eramosa Township, Upper Canada | Great Northern Railway | Persons of National Historic Significance | Namesakes US Counties | Notables, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. As Hill started getting older, he suffered from several painful ailments. Opened as the James . By 1889, Hill decided that his future lay in expanding into a transcontinental railroad. 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. Hill noted that the secret to his success was "work, hard work, intelligent work, and then more work."[4]. James Jerome Hill was a Canadian-American railroad director. Hills son Louis persuaded him to buy it, Brunfelt said. 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 winter months when the Mississippi River was frozen and steamboats could not run, Hill started bidding on other contracts and won quite a few. With the end of the iron ore trust, any royalties that flow from the mines will now head in another direction. What was initially considered Hills folly by many turned into his biggest success. His ability to ride out the depression garnered him fame and admiration. A portrait of James J. Hill is now hung in the library in his home. 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. And, oh my God, what happened when they bought that feeding an industrial boom that would transform Minnesota and the nation. In 1870 he partnered with a few acquaintances and began his own Red River Transportation Company, which offered steamboat freight shipping between St. Paul and Winnipeg. That, and his hard micromanaging practices, eventually led to a railway-wide strike and the workers' unionization under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs. The high-grade ore is long gone, but now the mines yield lower-grade taconite. By 1860, he was working for wholesale grocers, for whom he handled freight transfers, especially dealing with railroads and steamboats. In September 1915, the first public loan, the $500,000,000 Anglo-French loan, was floated after negotiations with the Anglo-French Financial Commission. 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. The StP&P in particular was caught in an almost hopeless legal muddle. Together they not only bought the railroad, they also vastly expanded it by bargaining for trackage rights with Northern Pacific Railway. (Peter Hill Beard is his great-grandson.) The train continues as Amtrak's daily Empire Builder, which uses former Great Northern tracks west of St. Paul, Minnesota. By 1860, he was working for wholesale grocers, for whom he handled freight transfers, especially dealing with railroads and steamboats. Through this work, he learned all aspects of the freight and transportation business. In 1867, James J. Hill married Mary Theresa Mehegan, born in 1846 in New York City. He realised the colossal development and opportunities it would bring to the northwest region. 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