on the lake,. 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. 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. A Canadian himself of Scotch-Irish Protestant ancestry, he brought in many men with the same background into high management. 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. 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. The result was chaos on Wall Street. Even though it was a public stock, it wasnt a publicized venture, McCormack said. (Ironically, the Burlington Route, Northern Pacific, and Great Northern would later merge in 1970 to form the Burlington Northern Railroad.) Meanwhile, nearly every other transcontinental railroad went bankrupt. Over 400 workers labored on the project. "Minnesota, Death Records, 1866-1916," index and database. His first goal was to expand and upgrade even more. s W. Hill, James Norman Hill, Unknown Hill, Clara Ann Lindley (born Hill), Katherine Theresa Hill, Unknown Hill, Ruth Beard (born Hill), Sep 16 1838 - Wellington, Guelph, Rockwood, Eramosa Township, Ontario, Canada, Mary Elizabeth Brooks (born Hill), Alexander Samuel Dunbar Hill. Hill was born September 16, 1838, in Eramosa Township, Upper Canada (now Ontario) to James Hill Jr. and Ann Dunbar. The duo acquired the three rails and formed the Northern Securities Company. Gertrude married Peter Harvie Ffolliott in 1942. http://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/sv000012.xml. On 16 September 1838, James J. Hill was born to Anne Dunbar Hill and James Hill. 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. Hillwas acknowledged for his discreet business skills but he also had a deep regard for art. 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). However, Hill, without the benefit of a central company, managed to acquire the Colorado and Southern Railway lines into Texas, and to build the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. Hill took drastic cost-saving measures to keep the Great Northern operating, but the pay cuts to railroad workers proved too much to bear. This business brought good profit in five folds by 1879, consolidating his monopoly in the anthracite coal industry. 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. (Pioneer Press file photo: Joe Odin). He tactfully entered the coal business during the time of the Civil War in 1867, where he supplied coal instead of wood, which was undergoing heavy shortage. After the death of Hill's wife in 1921, the house was donated to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Copyright Privacy Information Policy Ticketing Policy. 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. Under his management, StPM&M prospered. 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. She received education at St. Marys Institute of Notre Dame. James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 - May 29, 1916), was a Canadian-American railroad executive. From the start, the iron ore trust had its headquarters in St. Paul, as did Hills more famous Great Northern Railway. Mary Hill was long active in St. Paul's Catholic community. Although Great Northern and Northern Pacific were backed by J. P. Morgan and James J. Hill, the Union Pacific was backed not only by its president, Edward H. Harriman, but by the extremely powerful William Rockefeller and Jacob Schiff. He was quick witted and had an animated way of speaking. 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. Give me Swedes, snuff and whiskey, and I'll build a railroad through hell. In 1929, the Great Northern Railway named its flagship passenger train the Empire Builder in his honor. Not for the first time in Hill's career, competitors became partners. It was his relentless hard work and business prowess that led to further railroad development in Northwest America. It just sat there, in offices at the First National Bank building, and no one paid a lot of attention to it., That was true even on the Iron Range. For a brief period of time, he hired Italian and Greek laborers, but company officials were not satisfied with their performance. After the first punishing year of World War I, the Allied Powers desperately needed financial support to continue the war effort. James J. Hill. The 14-story building cost $14 million to construct. He fell in love with a waitress, Mary Theresa Mehegan, at Merchants Hotel, where he often dined. 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 . 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. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/james-j-hill-138.php. Hills son Louis persuaded him to buy it, Brunfelt said. Born In: Eramosa Township, Ontario, Upper Canada, Spouse/Ex-: Mary Theresa Mehegan (m. 1867), children: Charlotte Hill Slade, Clara Hill Lindley, Gertrude Hill Gavin, James N. Hill, Katherine, Louis W. Hill, Mary Hill Hill, Rachel Hill Boeckmann, Ruth Hill Beard, Walter Jerome Hill, See the events in life of James J. Hill in Chronological Order, (Canadian-American railroad executive, Businessman). Mary Theresa Mehegan, born in 1846 in New York City, was the child of Irish immigrants who settled in the frontier town of St. Paul in 1850. 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. 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. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions. The Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific tried to merge four times, in 1896, 1901, 1927, and 1955. Built at a cost of $930,000 and with 36,000 square feet (3,300m2), the James J. Hill House was among the city's largest. The 1887 building was converted between 2000 and 2004 to a 53 unit condo in the Historic Lowertown District of St. Paul. Hill did much of the route planning himself, travelling over proposed routes on horseback. Thus, the knowledge he amassed in the academy was put to use in order to establish his business later in life. "[7] Hill got what he wanted, and in January 1893 his Great Northern Railway, running from St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington a distance of more than 1,700 miles (2,700km) was completed. hillhouse@mnhs.org cameron mcinnes salary; May 21, 2022; Contents 1 Life 1.1 Family Roots 1.2 Marriage 1.3 Death 2 Work 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. The main room of the James J. Hill Center in downtown St. Paul on Tuesday, June 11, 2019. Hill also wanted control of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad because of its Midwestern lines and access to Chicago. The winners of that truce were Hill and Morgan, who immediately formed the Northern Securities Company with the aim of tying together their three major rail lines (Ironically, the Burlington Route, Northern Pacific, and Great Northern would later merge in 1970 to form the Burlington Northern Railroad). [2], Because of his previous experiences in shipping and fuel supply, Hill was able to enter both the coal and steamboat businesses. "When we are all dead and gone," he said, "the sun will still shine, the rain will fall, and this railroad will run as usual.". Hence, Hill left school in 1852, and began working at a grocery store to aid in supporting his family. He was named a founder of the Trust at age 4. In 1959, Hill High in St. Paul, Minnesota, was established as a school from the funds set aside from Hill's wife for education. Because of vandals or curious admirers both graves were later moved to Resurrection Cemetery in St. Paul for safer keeping. All his success left Hill with an estimated net worth of $63 million and over $200 million in related assets upon his death on May 29, 1916. With his astute judgments and haggling skills, he managed to recover it from bankruptcy and even expanded the rails. During the late 1880s,he aimed to build a rail route through the Rockies to the Pacific. After the death of Hill's wife in 1921, the house was donated to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. In 1887, the Great Northern's first company headquarters building was constructed in St. Paul. This incident however did not cause much hindrance in his future career. Having done community building through foundation work and governmental work, he found another way to build a community by creating the unique North . 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 also contributed to the establishment of Marquette University School of Medicine. Between 1856 and 1859 he prospered in a series of wood and coal merchandising partnerships. 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. Many speculators, who had sold Northern Pacific "short" in the anticipation of a drop in the railroad's price, faced ruin. In 1887, the Great Northern's first company headquarters building was constructed in St. Paul. CONTENT MAY BE COPYRIGHTED BY WIKITREE COMMUNITY MEMBERS. Meanwhile, nearly every other transcontinental railroad went bankrupt. University leaders admit to misstep in Islamophobia controversy as adjunct professor files lawsuit, Winter storm warning issued for metro Denver, northeast plains ahead of significant storm, The Embrace Martin Luther King Jr. Boston memorial causes a stir, Duluth Boy Scout has slept outside for 1,000 days and counting, NYPD captain forced out after collecting about $60K for hours he never worked, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Richter said Hill came to the West with nothing more than $200 and a physical disability. The Great Northern Iron Ore Properties trust finally terminated on April 6, 2015, a century after Hills death, and its shares stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange. More About MAURICE EARL HILL: Hill's heirs established the James J. Hill Reference Library in St. Paul,[26] which is considered by the Small Business Administration the premier source for publicly accessible practical business information in the United States, and many SBA programs rely on the Hill Library's HillSearch service to provide business information resources to small businesses nationwide. He also took strong measures to economizein just one year, Hill cut the railway's expense of carrying a ton of freight by 13%. Hill was represented by, among others, the law firm headed by Frank B. Kellogg. [28] As of September 2016, the fund is not yet closed. 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. 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. For decades, much of Minnesotas Mesabi Range was owned by a St. Paul-based trust that Hill and his partners created in 1906. Hill's father died when the boy was 14, so Jim Hill began clerking in local shops before setting off to seek his fortune. He was within 40,000 shares of control when Hill learned of Harriman's activities and quickly contacted J. P. Morgan, who was on vacation in Europe at the time. discoveries. Scan from original on Epson Expression 10000XL. This last attempt lasted from 1955 until final United States Supreme Court approval and merger in March, 1970, which created the Burlington Northern Railroad. Much of his collection is hanging in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the majority of pieces having been donated by his heirs. Together they not only bought the railroad, they also vastly expanded it by bargaining for trackage rights with Northern Pacific Railway. A truce had to be called between the warring teams following which Hill and Morgan joined hands to stabilise the share market. Jameson discovered the pass 1889 and it shortened the Great Northern's route by almost one hundred miles. The Union Pacific Railroad was the biggest competitor of Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads. She was the daughter of an Irish immigrant and was a pious catholic. Categories: Eramosa Township, Upper Canada | Great Northern Railway | Persons of National Historic Significance | Namesakes US Counties | Notables, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. The result was restoration of the workers' wages to pre-depression levels. The Hill Library has developed numerous online programs and now serves millions of small business owners worldwide. Therefore, Hill turned to his confidant and esteemed financer J.P Morgan. He also ran model experimental farms in Minnesota such as North Oaks to develop superior livestock and crop yields for the settlers locating near his railroads. During this same period, Hill also entered into banking and quickly managed to become member of several major banks' boards of directors. (photo courtesy Minnesota Historical Society), Louis W. Hill, Jr., the grandson of James J. Hill, was the last living founder of the Great Northern Iron Ore Trust in St. Paul. He gradually began working for himself. 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. Just one grandparent can lead you to many 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. James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 May 29, 1916) was a Canadian-American railroad director. Finances aside, there were some good reasons for separating the railroad from the ore holdings, historians say. 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. 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 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. He died on 29 May1916 and his body was buried at North Oaks Farm but on account of vandalism his coffin was moved to Resurrection Cemetery in St. Paul, where his grave was guarded. Brunfelt gave one example: The Hull-Rust-Mahoning (mine) complex provided 25 percent of the ore during World War II that the nation consumed and Hill owned a big part of it.. In The Great Gatsby, Hill is the man whom Gatsby's father says Gatsby would have equalled if he had lived long enough. Surprisingly, at the end of arbitration Hill accepted most the workers demands. That handoff has been the subject of a dispute in Ramsey County District Court, mostly about the timing of the handover. The James J. Hill House in St. Paul, is a National Historic Landmark.[24]. What to expect; First visit; FAQ; Hill was known to be blunt with occasional humour. Through this work, he learned all aspects of the freight and transportation business. Map | Directions and Parking. 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