James J. Hill
James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 – May 29, 1916) was a Canadian-American railroad director. 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. 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", and died in 1916 with a fortune of about 63 million dollars.[1] His former home, James J. Hill House, is now a museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
James J. Hill
May 29, 1916 (aged 77)
Canadian-American
Railroad tycoon
Mary Theresa Mehegan
10, including Louis W. Hill
Louis Warren Hill Jr. (grandson)
Jerome Hill (grandson)
Samuel Hill (son-in-law)
Biography[edit]
Childhood and youth[edit]
James J. Hill was born September 16, 1838, in Eramosa Township, Upper Canada (now Ontario) to James Hill Jr. and Ann Dunbar. A childhood accident with a bow and arrow blinded him in the right eye. He had nine years of formal schooling. He attended the Rockwood Academy for a short while, where the head gave him free tuition.[2] He was forced to leave school in 1852 due to the death of his father. By the time he had finished, he was adept at math, land surveying, and English. His particular talents for English and mathematics would be helpful in his career.
Death[edit]
By early 1916, Hill began pouring more attention into philanthropy, donating thousands of dollars to various institutions as he privately struggled with a variety of increasingly painful ailments. His condition deteriorated quickly in mid-May, but even with the help of many respected doctors he was beyond saving.[19] After falling into a coma, he died in his home in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 29, 1916.[14] Mary Theresa Hill died in 1922 and was buried next to her husband by the shore of Pleasant Lake on their North Oaks farm.
