The Great Northern bought its lands from the federal governmentit received no land grantsand resold them to farmers at cheap prices. The Hills shrewdly included a group of children among the founders, insuring the trust would last a very long time. Juche, a Korean-influenced dinner spot, takes its place. Many speculators, who had sold Northern Pacific "short" in the anticipation of a drop in the railroad's price, faced ruin. 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. Over 400 workers labored on the project. 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. For decades, much of Minnesotas Mesabi Range was owned by a St. Paul-based trust that Hill and his partners created in 1906. Surprisingly, at the end of arbitration Hill accepted most the workers demands. He died in 1995, setting off the 20-year timtabkle that led to dissolution of the Trust in 2015. Hill was an avid collector and patron of the arts. [11] This "Dakota Boom" peaked in 1882 as 42,000 immigrants, largely from northern Europe, poured into the Red River Valley running through the region. He was well-known for his blunt, direct manner, and many commented on his occasional flashes of humor. The train served as Great Northern's flagship train, and is still operated today by Amtrak. This incident however did not cause much hindrance in his future career. 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. A truce had to be called between the warring teams following which Hill and Morgan joined hands to stabilise the share market. 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. The 1893 depression saw the collapse of many businesses, including railroads, throughout the United States. Hill was known to be blunt with occasional humour. In time, Hill had gained control of the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and the Burlington railroads. Instead, its for his lesser-known role as an iron ore magnate. St. Paul, MN 55102 Morgan, acting on behalf of his friend, ordered his men to buy everything they could get their hands on. 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. Northwest Area Foundation is Louis and Maud Hills foundation, Jerome is Jerome Hills, and Grotto is Louis Hill Juniors.. In 1891, after three years of building, construction was completed on a new Hill family home on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. 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. Hill teamed up with Norman Kittson (the man he had merged steamboat businesses with), Donald Smith, George Stephen and John Stewart Kennedy. His particular talents for English and mathematics would be critical later in his life. The Union Pacific Railroad was the biggest competitor of Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads. At the start, it took the Hill family a few years to fully explore and understand what they owned. New and used Descendants Dolls for sale in Las Cruces, New Mexico on Facebook Marketplace. Categories: Eramosa Township, Upper Canada | Great Northern Railway | Persons of National Historic Significance | Namesakes US Counties | Notables, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. 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? In later years, he explained his economic philosophy in the book Highways of Progress and continued the campaign to convert the farmers of the Northwest to the principles of scientific agriculture, often testing breeds of cattle and strains of grain at his own farms. Hill avoided this by investing a large portion of the railroad's profit back into the railroad itselfand charged those investments to operating expense. 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. Hill also wanted control of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad because of its Midwestern lines and access to Chicago. Then Harriman quickly began buying stock in Northern Pacific with the aim of eventually gaining control over it. Scan from original on Epson Expression 10000XL. The $400-million merger consolidated all major rail lines in the northwest quarter of the nation. He observed and learnt and came up with shrewd ideas. Minnesota-EASy, "Minnesota, Marriages, 1849-1950," index and database. By the time of his death in 1916, James J. Hill was worth more than $53 million[ (almost $2.5 billion (2007) dollars). 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. - Eramosa Township, Ontario, Canada, May 29 1916 - Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, USA. Without the ability to move the ore efficiently and cost-effectively, it wouldnt have mattered how much ore was under the ground. It was obtained by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1978 and today is operated as a museum and gallery. It was designed by James Brodie, who also built the Hill's house on Summit Avenue. She attended finishing school at St. Mary's Institute (Milwaukee, Wis., 1864-1867) and married James J. Hill on August 19, 1867. 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]. His massive success kindled envy in many people as his story was a real-life rags-to-riches fairy tale. Give me Swedes, snuff and whiskey, and I'll build a railroad through hell. Paul and Pacific Railroad encountered huge losses and was bankrupt. 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. The Great Northern began large-scale shipment of ore to the steel mills of the Midwest. Because of these measures, Hill not only stayed in business, but also increased the net worth of his railroad by nearly $10 million. By 1860, he was working for wholesale grocers, for whom he handled freight transfers, especially dealing with railroads and steamboats. Holidays on the Hill Tour. By 1889, Hill decided that his future lay in expanding into a transcontinental railroad. Brother of Mary Elizabeth Hill He had nine years of formal schooling. using former Great Northern tracks west of St. Paul. For James Hill it was a golden opportunity. WIKITREE PROTECTS MOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION BUT ONLY TO THE EXTENT STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE AND PRIVACY POLICY. Hill was a hands-on, detail-obsessed manager. The house has many early electrical and mechanical systems that predate widespread adoption in modern domestic structures. In 1929, the Great Northern Railway named its flagship passenger train the Empire Builder in his honor. James is 18 degrees from Margaret Atwood, 19 degrees from Jim Carrey, 20 degrees from Elsie Knott, 21 degrees from Gordon Lightfoot, 23 degrees from Alton Parker, 19 degrees from Beatrice Tillman, 17 degrees from Jenny Trout, 20 degrees from Justin Trudeau, 23 degrees from Edwin Boyd, 18 degrees from Barbara Hanley, 27 degrees from Fanny Rosenfeld and 20 degrees from Cathryn Hondros on our single family tree. Richter thinks that James Hill's story is an important one not only because of his success, but also because of the odds his success was won against. 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. In May 1879, the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway Co. (StPM&M) formedwith James J. Hill as general manager. ", White, W. Thomas. 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. It was his relentless hard work and business prowess that led to further railroad development in Northwest America. Follow him at twitter.com/TomWebbMN. That handoff has been the subject of a dispute in Ramsey County District Court, mostly about the timing of the handover. 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. Login to find your connection. He bought out plenty of bankrupt businesses during this time, reformed them and sold them off at great profit. When she met James Belton, a descendant of Prospect Hill slaves who had chosen not to emigrate, they both encountered someone whose life represented what their own might have been, had their. 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. Geni requires JavaScript! In addition, he donated to numerous schools, including the Saint Paul Seminary. 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. Together they not only bought the railroad, they also vastly expanded it by bargaining for trackage rights with the Northern Pacific Railway. On March 14, the Northern Securities Company was ordered to be dissolved under the Sherman Antitrust Act. 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. During the Panic of 1873, a number of railroads, including the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (StP&P), had gone bankrupt. He also contributed to the establishment of Marquette University School of Medicine. 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 and starting a "10 dollar trip" (equal to $301.59 today) for immigrants. 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. 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). James J. Hill household, 1895 state census, Ramsey County, Minnesota, population schedule, Saint Paul, Ward 7, Precinct 2, page 89; GSU Film Number 000565801. A Canadian himself of Scotch-Irish Protestant ancestry, he brought in many men with the same background into high management. As Hill started getting older, he suffered from several painful ailments. (photo courtesy Minnesota Historical Society). Over the next 18 years they had 10 children: Mary, James, Louis, Clara, Katherine (who died in infancy), Charlotte, Ruth, Rachel, Gertrude, and Walter. The man nicknamed the Empire Builder, and his descendents, get credit for a defining role in developing and shaping Minnesotas Iron Range and the Northwest. 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. Mary Hill died in 1922 and was buried next to her husband by the shore of Pleasant Lake (North Oaks, Minnesota) on their North Oaks farm. He also built the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway. After 20 years working in the shipping business on the Mississippi and Red rivers, Hill and several other investors purchased the nearly bankrupt St. Paul and Pacific Railroad in 1878. Near the end of his life, Hill played what a recent biographer, Albro Martin, called his "last and greatest role." The Hill Family In 1867, Mary Theresa Mehegan, the daughter of Irish immigrants, wed James Jerome Hill, a Canadian immigrant who went on to achieve incredible success. Largest Database of New Mexico Mugshots. Hill's leadership became a case study in the successful management of a capital-intensive business during the economic downturn. Egil and Rachel had two daughters, Mary and Gertrude. 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. Its last trading day was April 6, 2015. She received education at St. Marys Institute of Notre Dame. 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. 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 . Under his management, StPM&M prospered. Tom Webb can be reached at 651-228-5428. The house has many early electrical and mechanical systems that predate widespread adoption in modern domestic structures. In a way, they kind of fell into the biggest, most valuable property on the Range, said Pam Brunfelt, an Iron Range historian. The trust never did any mining itself; it only collected royalties. That includes the Mahoning. From 1937 to 1951, Mr. Hill served in the Minnesota House of Representatives. The center, which opened in 1921 . 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. He came to St. Paul in 1856, where he first worked as a shipping clerk for J. W. Bass and Company. Hill's historic home is located next to the cathedral, largely due to the special relationship Hill's wife, a practicing Catholic, had with the Diocese. 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. The Union Pacific Railroad was the biggest competitor of Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads. Quietly, Harriman began buying stock in Northern Pacific with the intention of gaining control of Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. In 1897, Hill grudgingly bought the small Duluth, Superior & Winnipeg Railroad, which came with 10,000 acres of Mesabi Range land. Hill's father died when the boy was 14, so Jim Hill began clerking in local shops before setting off to seek his fortune. 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 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. (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.'. As it turned out, Hill had personally bought the great Mahoning mine, the motherlode that would feed Americas steel age and play major roles during two World Wars. For a brief period of time, he hired Italian and Greek laborers, but company officials were not satisfied with their performance. Boeckmann had been a football hero for the University of Minnesota. He also took strong measures to economizein just one year, Hill cut the railway's expense of carrying a ton of freight by 13%. The result was restoration of the workers' wages to pre-depression levels. Hill Capital is a venture capital fund established in 2016 "aligned with James J. Hill's belief in the cooperation of the production, distribution and exchange of wealth as outlined in his writings". J. Hill was young, he moved to Kyiv, Ukraine when Hill born. Map | Directions and Parking. 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 was a supporter of free trade and was one of the few supporters of free trade with Canada. (Pioneer Press file photo: Joe Odin). 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. Politically, Hill was a conservative Bourbon Democrat. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Paul and Pacific Railroad to the Great Northern Railway Company. 240 Summit Ave. We do not care enough for Rocky Mountains scenery to spend a large sum of money developing it." Hillsboro, North Dakota; Hill County, Montana; and Hillyard, Washington[23] (now a neighborhood of Spokane), are named for him. 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. 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. It was there that he studied algebra, mathematics, geometry, land surveying and English. Renamed the Great Northern Railway in 1890, it remained the "great adventure" of Hills life. Many speculators, who had sold Northern Pacific "short" in the anticipation of a drop in the railroad's price, faced ruin. 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. 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. 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. The rest of their children were Mary, James, Lewis, Clara, Charlotte, Ruth, Rachel, Gertrude and Walter. Still, historians agree that the Hills role on the Iron Range was definitely not a matter of just cashing royalty checks. Today Hills house has been preserved as a museum. 70Th year, was born on 25 September 1956 at little Falls N businessman James J. of. The high-grade ore is long gone, but now the mines yield lower-grade taconite. Hill saved money by repeatedly cutting wages, made possible by a time of deflation when prices were falling generally. Meanwhile, some of the original mines are still being worked. The James J. Hill House in St. Paul, is a National Historic Landmark.[24]. He was one of the key figures in moving the ore from the mines to the docks, she said. [9], In 1898 Hill purchased control of large parts of the Mesabi Range iron mining district in Minnesota, along with its rail lines. He wrote that by 1946, that single mine had produced 40 million tons of iron ore and generated $37 million in freight revenue for the railroad and $22.5 million in royalties that flowed into the trust. "Minnesota, Death Records, 1866-1916," index and database. The StP&P in particular was caught in an almost hopeless legal muddle. He ousted its president John Hendry, thereby worsening the problems, prolonging the delays, and adding to the costs of taking over the VW&Y. Hill teamed up with Norman Kittson (the man he had merged steamboat businesses with), Donald Smith,[5] George Stephen and John Stewart Kennedy. A bust of Hill is located on the University of Washington campus in Seattle, Washington. He was the only businessman to make a hefty profit even during the time of depression. It closed at $8.10 a share, roughly what shareholders can expect in a final payout. His first goal was to expand and upgrade even more. [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. It was obtained by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1978 and today is operated as a museum and gallery. Hill was born in Eramosa Township, Wellington County, Upper Canada (now Ontario). Thus, the knowledge he amassed in the academy was put to use in order to establish his business later in life. Over the next two decades, he worked relentlessly to push the line north to Canada and then west across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Paul. Hill took drastic cost-saving measures to keep the Great Northern operating, but the pay cuts to railroad workers proved too much to bear. In September 1915, the first public loan, the $500,000,000 Anglo-French loan, was floated. In 1867, Mary Theresa Mehegan, the daughter of Irish immigrants, wed James Jerome Hill, a Canadian immigrant who went on to achieve incredible success. He imported grains from Russia and sold this to farmers. He was eyed as a great competitor by the successful and dominant E.H Harriman, who owned Union Pacific Railway. In 1887, the Great Northern's first company headquarters building was constructed in St. Paul. 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. They were married for 49 years and had 10 children. Politically, Hill was a Bourbon Democrat. Having done community building through foundation work and governmental work, he found another way to build a community by creating the unique North . In February 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt began prosecution of the Northern Securities Company under the Sherman Antitrust Act. uis Warren Hill, Clara Anne Lindley (born Hill), Katherine Theresa Hill, Charlotte Elizabeth Slade (born Hill), Ruth Beard Heidsieck Lori James Jerome Hill, Anne Ann Hill (born Dunbar), James Hill, Mary Elizabeth Brooks (born Hill), Alexander Samuel Dunbar Hill, Louis Warren Hill. The Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific tried to merge four times, in 1896, 1901, 1927, and 1955. James Hill is managed by the Canada Project. Between 1883 and 1889, Hill built his railroads across Minnesota, into Wisconsin, and across North Dakota to Montana. Call us at (858) 263-7716. Because Hill created a property-holding trust, it had to follow laws insuring that property is controlled by the living, not the dead. 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. His condition deteriorated quickly in mid-May, but even with the help of many respected doctors he was beyond saving. 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 tunneling. Louis Jr. was just 4 years old when the trust was created. Most people didnt know anything about it, unless they were investors themselves and worked for investment companies. Hence, Hill left school in 1852, and began working at a grocery store to aid in supporting his family. 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