Those iron ore holdings had grown so lucrative that Hill wanted to avoid the charge of earning too much money, according to an authorized company history, The Great Northern Railway.. In 1897, Hill grudgingly bought the small Duluth, Superior & Winnipeg Railroad, which came with 10,000 acres of Mesabi Range land. Roosevelt sent his Justice Department to sue the Northern Securities Company in 1902. It closed at $8.10 a share, roughly what shareholders can expect in a final payout. 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. In 1890 the railroad became the Great Northern Railway Company, with Hill as president (1890-1907) and later chairman of the board (1907-1912). The Union Pacific Railroad was the biggest competitor of Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads. Opened as the James . James J. Hill is back in the news this month but not for his famous railroad. This last attempt lasted from 1955 until final Supreme Court approval and merger in March 1970, which created the Burlington Northern Railroad. Politically, Hill was a conservative Bourbon Democrat. Hill and his men worked in spite of all obstaclesincluding a presidential veto of a bill that would have allowed Hill legally to build through American Indian territory (the law preventing Hill from laying track across Indian territories was later repealed under President Grover Cleveland, who like Hill was a Bourbon Democrat). The 14-story building cost $14 million to construct. The $400-million merger consolidated all major rail lines in the northwest quarter of the nation. In May 1879, the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway Co. (StPM&M) formedwith James J. Hill as general manager. Near the end of his life, Hill played what a recent biographer, Albro Martin, called his "last and greatest role." But it has been a source of wealth for the Hill family and for the railroads investors for more than a century. Surprisingly, at the end of arbitration Hill accepted most the workers demands. He bought out plenty of bankrupt businesses during this time, reformed them and sold them off at great profit. The skill of book-keeping he had acquired as a clerk at Kentucky, before moving to Minnesota helped augment his knowledge and had landed him this job. 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. The Supreme Court in 1904 ordered it to be dissolved as a monopoly. The introduced crop weed in Western US wheat-growing areas Sisymbrium altissimum also has a common name "Jim Hill Mustard", after the belief by farmers that it was spread from contaminated seed leaking out of railway stock along the railroads he controlled. 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. It was his relentless hard work and business prowess that led to further railroad development in Northwest America. And he built the iron ore docks, which made it possible to ship ore to distant cities like Cleveland; Gary, Ind. He was forced to leave school in 1852 due to the death of his father. In St. Paul, the city's main library building and the adjoining Hill Business Library were funded by him. Hill was known to be blunt with occasional humour. In addition, he donated to numerous schools, including the Saint Paul Seminary. (photo courtesy Minnesota Historical Society). 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. His first job in St. Paul was with a steamboat company, where he worked as a bookkeeper. Over the next 18 years they had 10 children: Mary, James, Louis, Clara, Katherine (who died in infancy), Charlotte, Ruth, Rachel, Gertrude, and Walter. Seizing this opportunity, he collaborated with Norman Kittson, Donald Smith, George Stephen and John Stewart Kennedy, and bought off St. But in a nod to the unique situation, she wrote, This is truly uncharted territory; there is no map the trustees can consult.. In 1995, Burlington Northern merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to become the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. Hill's father died when the boy was 14, so Jim Hill began clerking in local shops before setting off to seek his fortune. His condition deteriorated quickly in mid-May, but even with the help of many respected doctors he was beyond saving. Boeckmann had been a football hero for the University of Minnesota. Memorial donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated by the family. The couple tied the knot in 1867, their marriage brought ten children into the world, of which one (Katherine) died in infancy. Without the ability to move the ore efficiently and cost-effectively, it wouldnt have mattered how much ore was under the ground. 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. His pains turned unbearable and his health deteriorated. That handoff has been the subject of a dispute in Ramsey County District Court, mostly about the timing of the handover. 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. 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. ST. PAUL, May 29--James J. Hill, builder of the "Northwest Empire," died at 9:30 A.M. today at his house, 240 Summit Avenue. They had ten children: 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. Now both Morgan and Hill started rampantly buying shares of Northern Pacific causing the stock market at Wall Street to come unbound. This last attempt lasted from 1955 until final United States Supreme Court approval and merger in March, 1970, which created the Burlington Northern Railroad. hillhouse@mnhs.org Avenue in the Library in his 70th year, was born on 25 September 1956 at little Falls N! Hill County, Montana is named in his honor. 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. 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. First, Hill turned his personal ownership of the mines over to his railroad, a move that Hills more reverential biographers cite as proof of his honor and generosity. Over 400 workers labored on the project. James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 - May 29, 1916), was a Canadian-American railroad executive. 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]. During this same period, Hill also entered into banking and quickly managed to become member of several major banks' boards of directors. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/james-j-hill-138.php. 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. Paul and Pacific Railroad to the Great Northern Railway Company. Thus, the knowledge he amassed in the academy was put to use in order to establish his business later in life. Hills son Louis persuaded him to buy it, Brunfelt said. Then Harriman quickly began buying stock in Northern Pacific with the aim of eventually gaining control over it. 651-297-2555 Schonberger, Howard. In 1958, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.[29]. At the end of his life, Hill was asked by a newspaper reporter to reveal the secret of his success. In 1873, he entered the steamboat business and by 1879 he had a local monopoly by merging (with Norman Kittson). 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. She attended finishing school at St. Mary's Institute (Milwaukee, Wis., 1864-1867) and married James J. Hill on August 19, 1867. Between 1883 and 1889, Hill built his railroads across Minnesota, into Wisconsin, and across North Dakota to Montana. 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. [3] By 1879 he had a local monopoly by merging with Norman Kittson. Even with treatment from the best of doctors, he found no relief. 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). Brother of Mary Elizabeth Hill 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. With these friendly relations established, Hill managed to secure the industrializing Japanese order for 15,000 tons of rails against competition from England and Belgium. 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. Copyright Privacy Information Policy Ticketing Policy. Contents 1 Life 1.1 Family Roots 1.2 Marriage 1.3 Death 2 Work Concomitantly, the resulting trade in munitions with England and France carried the United States from a depression in 1914 to boom years in 1915 and 1916.[22]. 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. 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Nearing the century mark, downtown St. Paul's James J. Hill Center to close in July. Between 1856 and 1859 he prospered in a series of wood and coal merchandising partnerships. What was initially considered Hills folly by many turned into his biggest success. On March 14, the Northern Securities Company was ordered to be dissolved under the Sherman Antitrust Act. For decades, much of Minnesota's Mesabi Range was. The result was restoration of the workers' wages to pre-depression levels. Residential Links: www.montereycountyweekly.com, en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org By: jdubble07 Advertisement Around the World Mailing List Advertisement Its a tale of high finance and amazing fortune, befitting St. Pauls larger-than-life railroad baron. [25] Hill had seen the devastation done downtown by the Great Chicago Fire. - Eramosa Township, Ontario, Canada, May 29 1916 - Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, USA. Not for the first time in Hill's career, competitors became partners. A portrait of James J. Hill is now hung in the library in his home. The Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific tried to merge four times, in 1896, 1901, 1927, and 1955. Concomitantly, the resulting trade in munitions with England and France carried the United States from a depression in 1914 to boom years in 1915 and 1916. 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. After the death of Hill's wife in 1921, the house was donated to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Hill did much of the route planning himself, traveling over proposed routes on horseback. He observed and learnt and came up with shrewd ideas. His particular talents for English and mathematics would be helpful in his career. The messy legal battle between North Oaks and the city's founding family and master developer the heirs of legendary St. Paul railroad magnate James J. Hill is finally over. [13] Hill's leadership became a case study in the successful management of a capital-intensive business during the economic downturn. 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. His massive success kindled envy in many people as his story was a real-life rags-to-riches fairy tale. 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". 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 net worth of the company jumped from $728,000 in 1880 to $25,000,000 in 1885. Hill's top aides were careless about details, bookkeeping, correspondence, and reports.[17]. 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. His philanthropy included generous gifts to colleges and universities, and prompt responses to victims of disasters, such as the sinking of the Titanic, the Hinckley fire, and the San Francisco earthquake. 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. He was the only businessman to make a hefty profit even during the time of depression. They had ten children: He died in his home in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 29, 1916. The task seemed impossible without government land grants. 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. To that end, Hill was a major figure in the effort launched by J.P. Morgan to float the Anglo-French Bond drive of 1915, which allowed the Allies to purchase much-needed foodstuffs and other supplies. Because of these measures, Hill not only stayed in business, but also increased the net worth of his railroad by nearly $10,000,000 (equal to $301,592,593 today). Login to find your connection. He imported grains from Russia and sold this to farmers. She died on November 22, 1921. James J. Hill III is one of 10 children of James J. Hill, a Canadian-American railroad executive who built the Great Northern Railway which connecte St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington. By all accounts, Hill was a hands-on, detail-obsessed manager. Though a Protestant, Hill maintained a strong philanthropic relationship with the Catholic Church in St. Paul and throughout the northwest. Much of his collection is hanging in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the majority of pieces having been donated by his heirs. Hence, Hill left school in 1852, and began working at a grocery store to aid in supporting his family. James J. Hill House Rugged stone, massive scale, fine detail and ingenious mechanical systems recall the powerful presence of James J. Hill, builder of the Great Northern Railway. Today, that fortune would be worth upward of $3 billion . In a way, they kind of fell into the biggest, most valuable property on the Range, said Pam Brunfelt, an Iron Range historian. In The Great Gatsby, Hill is the man whom Gatsby's father says Gatsby would have equalled if he had lived long enough. The Great Northern reached Seattle on January 7, 1893. The last survivor turned out to be James J. Hills grandson, Louis Hill Jr., who died April 6, 1995. 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. It is still active, and if you add the Hibbing Taconite Pit to it, it stretches for five miles now, Brunfelt said. He came to St. Paul in 1856, where he first worked as a shipping clerk for J. W. Bass and Company. ", White, W. Thomas. He was the first major donor to the Marquette University School of Medicine. harlotte Elizabeth Slade (nacida Hill), Ruth Heidsieck (nacida Hill), Rachel Boeckmann (nacida Hill), Gertrude T Gavin (nacida Hill), Kat James Dunbar, Mary Elizabeth Brooks (born Hill), Alexander Samuel Dunbar Hill. [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. James J. Hill's son and grandson, Louis Hill and Louis Hill Jr., photographed in 1917. James J. Hill household, 1895 state census, Ramsey County, Minnesota, population schedule, Saint Paul, Ward 7, Precinct 2, page 89; GSU Film Number 000565801. The train served as Great Northern's flagship train, and is still operated today by Amtrak. The Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific tried to merge four times, in 1896, 1901, 1927, and 1955. An enthusiastic conservationist, Hill was invited by President Theodore Roosevelt to a governor's conference on conservation of natural resources, and later appointed to a lands commission. Enter a grandparent's name. In 1891, after three years of building, construction was completed on Hill's new family home at 240 Summit Avenue in St. Paul. 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. 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. 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. Quietly, Harriman began buying stock in Northern Pacific with the intention of gaining control of Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. (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. Revealing for the first time a story hidden from public view for a century, award-winning historian James A. Stolpestad and the Ramsey County Historical Society present the history of the Great Northern Iron Ore Properties mining trust formed in 1906 by James J. Hill and Louis W. Hill to acquire, manage, and lease 67,000 acres on Minnesota's 100-mile long Mesabi Range. 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. Hill died in St. Paul on May 29, 1916. Born in southern Ontario on September 16, 1838, to Irish immigrant parents, young Hill suffered a bow and arrow injury at age nine and lost sight in his right eye for the rest of his life. It is just amazing that one mine complex produced as much ore as it has., The mines have been lucrative for a very long time. At the start, it took the Hill family a few years to fully explore and understand what they owned. In rare moments away from work, Hill devoted himself to amassing an impressive collection of French landscape painting showcased in the two-story art gallery of his Summit Avenue mansion. 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 Hill Library has developed numerous online programs and now serves millions of small business owners worldwide. 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. 651-297-2555 So the trust came with an expiration date: it would terminate 20 years after the last original founder had died. Paul and Pacific Railroad. This business brought good profit in five folds by 1879, consolidating his monopoly in the anthracite coal industry. But it collected a lot of royalties, more than $500 million over its long lifetime. 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. It was obtained by the Minnesota Historical Society in 1978 and today is operated as a museum and gallery. As Hill started getting older, he suffered from several painful ailments. It was designed by James Brodie, who also built the Hill's house on Summit Avenue. James Jerome Hill (1838 - 1916) James Jerome Hill Born 16 Sep 1838 in Eramosa Township, Upper Canada, British North America Son of James Hill Sr. and Ann (Dunbar) Hill [sibling (s) unknown] Husband of Mary Theresa (Mehegan) Hill married 19 Aug 1867 in Saint Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, United States Descendants Minnesota-EASy, "Minnesota, Marriages, 1849-1950," index and database. A Canadian himself of Scotch-Irish Protestant ancestry, he brought in many men with the same background into high management. The train continues as Amtrak's daily Empire Builder, which uses former Great Northern tracks west of St. Paul, Minnesota. 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. He was general manager (1879-1882) and president (1883-1890) of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Company. 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. One of his challenges at this point was the avoidance of federal action against railroads. Husband of Mary T Hill and Mary Theresa Hill Hill was represented by, among others, the law firm headed by Frank B. Kellogg. 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. More than a century be worth upward of $ 3 billion Railroad, they also vastly expanded it by for. 1852 due to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated by the Great Chicago Fire over it the balcony. 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