The times., 1898-11-21
Mr.. JAMES JEROME HILL
His Uncle's Statement of the
Mans True Personality.
WAS BORN In A LOG CABIN
He Was Never Poor-sIarried a Wait
ress, Though First EducatinE Her
Grew Rich by Purchasing Land
Valuable Wedding Presents 10 Il
Friends Daughter Gifts to the
Church.

Jim Hill was q prominent man long
before his great move into Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad circles was made few
months-,ago.4 For forty years mis- name
has been household word in the great
Northwest. and for that period his name
has been synonymous with push and
wealth. But his recent coup in practical
ly acquiring a line from the Atlantic 10
the Pacific has brought him more prom
inently before the eyes of the people OF
the East.
Jim Hill stories have been going the
rounds of the newspapers OF the country
for years. and an accumulated batch of
these would read like unto the adventures
of Baron Munchausen. According 10
these stories. Hill has been almost every
thing found in repertoire composed from
the Rollo books and Rudyard Kiplings
Many Inventions" According to these
stories he has acted as COW puncher,
bricklayer horse car conductor. steve
dore, expressman, farmer hod carrier.
reporter, saloon keeper. painter, black
smith-in fact, as jack-of-all-trades for
the benefit of space writers and men who
used to know him.
His True Personality.
1t is interesting, therefore, to get at the
true personality of such a phenomenon
and to discover a few reliable facts as to
his life and doings.
Near this city dwells an uncle of the
famous railroad man. He is Alexander
Dunbar and is well known to citizens Of
the District. having lived here many
years. He is now residing on farm near
Marshall Hall.
Mr.. Dunbar has known Jim" Hill from
boyhood and has followed the career Of
the latter very carefully. In view of The
many misleading stories about his
nephew, Mr.. Dunbar is anxious that they
should be denied or corrected, and that
the truth be known.
He Never Smiles.
Few men of Hill's acquaintance know
anything about him, said Mr.. Dunbar
to a Times reporter last night. He Is
anything but talkatiye, and does not utter
more than a few Sentences in any trans
action. He is a man who has never been
known to laugh. None of his friends have
ever seen him smile, and even in my pres
ence he preserves his stern countenance.
II suppose that his full name has seldom
been published. He is James Jerome Hill,
and was born in lockwood, Ontario,
Canada, in 1896. Nothing of his life has
ever been known to the world except his
big transactions and rapid accumulation
of wealth.
Born in n Log Cabin.
Ia Iaay n
number of men of note, and when a
youth was sent to college near Rock
wood where he received a splendid edu-
cation. This college was governed by an
old Quaker. who believed In fitting young
men with practical as well as theoretical
knowledge Here Hill was given a gen.
eral course in engineering this, with
q knowledge of masonry and foundations,
aided him later in life.
when his father died, the property of
the latter was willed to young Hill and
he started out in life with a good capital
instead of being penniless, as has always
been related. Hill was then a clerk in
the postoffice at lockwood. and he turned
over a farm which had become his prop
erty to a companion in the postofiice.
This companion was named Ferris and he
at once began n milling business on the
property loaned him, which has since en-
abled him to amass large fortune.
Was Never Poor.
Jim Hill has never been poor and has
always been generous. 1t has been relat-
ed that he was at one time a stevedore
This is untrue. and must have originated
from the fact that he at one time was in
the Office of commission merchant on d
dock at ST. Paul.
Hill was very practical and came from
family devoid of sentimentality. His
grandfather and grandmother never saw
each other until the day they we're mar
ried. His mother and father ARA lged
their marriage one might dray UP any
business contract. James Jerome Hill
was struck with the appearance of u
waitress in Z St. Louis restaurant. and
asked her uC marry him. She being un-
educated, he sent her to a convent in St
Louis for five years and betrayed the ex-
penses of a splendid education. They
were then married. and his wife has been
in large measure the cause of his sue
cess.
He bought Land.
THE nucleus of Hits wealth was OBJ
tanned by a shrewd move OF his in buy
ing land He was impressed with a fine
itNtI pAdlcdAA Cli lilS iAtd -NOTln
Dakota, when prospecting there, and
foresaw that some day this land would
be valuable. He paid for the land with
Indian scrip, aEn fifteen years later
when the NorthcrT; Pacific built some
sheds there and tho Government had es-
tablished a fort or military post on his
land, he sold his plateau to the Govern
ment for s3.0O 900. He obtained s5OO,O0O for
the rest Of the land from various sources
Valuable Wedding Presents.
''To show his shrewdness, he took a
large sum of this money and invested ii
in wedding presents for the daughter of a
powerful friend in Montreal. His future
deals in Montreal We're largely the result
of this move. Mr.. Hill has always been
liberal with the church. He attributes the
absence of strikes and other troubles on
his properties to his liberality in this d.