1925 Biography - John Hill

John Hill, a man of the fine personal characteristics that almost invariably denote the true Scotchman, honored his adopted State of Louisiana by his earnest and worthy life and large achievement, and it is to be recorded that few other citizens of Louisiana have shown as distinct and noble liberality in the support of education and of the ideals that represent the best in the scheme of human existence. Not less a memorial to him than to the loved son to whom he dedicated the memorial is the splendid library building which he gave to the Louisiana State University, this generous donation having represented an outlay on his part of $33,000. Of enduring and increasing value and usefulness, this library is still standing as a lasting monument to his civic loyalty and to the memory of his son in whose memory it was given. John Hill was a man whose character was the positive expression of a strong and noble nature, and it is gratifying to be able to present in this history a tribute to his memory.

John Hill was born in the parish of Old Monkland, Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the 12th of March, 1824, and his death occurred on his fine plantation in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, near Port Allen, June 7, 1910, he having there made the estate, known as Homestead Plantation, one of the finest sugar plantations in Southern Louisiana, his Scottish thrift having been equaled by his progressiveness in both civic and business relations. Of his genealogy the following statements have been written and are worthy of preservation in this connection: "His family is an old one in Scotland, going back in an unbroken line for several centuries. One of his direct ancestors was an officer in the army of the Scottish Covenanters in their famous and fatal struggle at Bothwell Bridge. For about a hundred years his family was engaged in the manufacture of iron and in the operation of coal mines, so that his practical tastes may be looked upon as a natural heritage."

Mr. Hill was reared in his native land and then received in his youth good educational advantages of a practical order. He was an ambitious and self- reliant young man of twenty years when he made the six weeks' voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States on a sailing vessel of the type common to that period, and he landed in the port of New York City on the 4th of July, 1844. Of his initial experiences and impressions the following record has been given: She arrived in the midst of a commercial crisis, when every business was in a depressed state and no money in circulation. In fact, after his traveling a good while in the Northern and Western states and in Canada, the first signs of prosperity he saw were in New Orleans when he came South, in the spring of 1845. He was then on his way to the old home in Scotland, but was attracted by the possibilities of the country. He finally settled in Baton Rouge, in 1849, and there he was engaged in the foundry business until the Federal fleet came up the Mississippi River, in the Civil war period, immediately after the bombardment of Baton Rouge he moved his family to the west side of the river. Nearly everything he had, foundry, saw mill, etc., was destroyed by the Federal forces, so he decided to engage in agricultural enterprise. He began planting sugar cane in 1866, being the first one in the parish to resume the making of sugar after the war, and with this important line of industry he thereafter continued his alliance until the close of his long and useful life."

It was about the year 1867 that Mr. Hill effected the purchase of Homestead Plantation, to the original area of which he subsequently added until he had a valuable estate of 2,000 acres. He made this one of the best plantation properties in the southern part of the state, brought it up to the most advanced standard in improvements and facilities, and was one of the most successful and progressive exponents of the sugar industry in Louisiana. On his plantation he equipped a model sugar refinery, and he had much of leadership in popular sentiment and action in this section of the state, the while he ever commanded the confidence and high regard of all who knew him. He and his wife were zealous members of the Presbyterian Church. He was a son of George and Isabella (Christie) Hill, who passed their entire lives in Scotland, his father having owned and operated iron works at Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, and having thus been associated with a line of industry with which the family name was connected more than a century in Scotland.

From a newspaper article that appeared in l902, several years prior to the death of Mr. Hill, are taken, with minor paraphrase, the following statements relative to his splendid gift to the Louisiana State University, the article bearing date of January 23, 1902:

"In response to the call issued by Governor Heard, the board of supervisors of the State University met in special session today. The purpose of we meeting was the formal acceptance of the Memorial Library Building. In making this offer Mr. Hill was only putting into effect an intention which had been with him for some years. When John Hill Jr., died in the prime of his young manhood, in 1893, the shock to his family was rather intensified than lessened by the general sense of both felt and expressed by the entire community. In particular was his loss felt by the university which he had served so well as a member of the governing board, and it was entirely fitting that his name should be perpetuated in the institution that already owed him so much. Having this in mind, John Hill made his formal gift of $33,000 to the university for the purpose of erecting a library building in memory of his son. John Hill, Jr.

"The event is one of more than local interest. It has been much remarked of late that whereas the Northern colleges were constantly receiving donations, just the reverse was the case in the South. There are many reasons for this other than the mere disinclination to give-one being the rarity of large fortunes in the South--but the fact that this contrast existed was none the less to be deplored. The interest shown by the people in their great educational institutions is a fair gauge of their interest in education, and education in the South today is the most vital problem with which it has to deal.

Mr. Hill comes of a stock with whom the importance of higher education is a traditional belief. Mr. Hill is well known in this community as a gentleman of absolute integrity and the highest purposes, while his generosity and goodness of heart have often spoken for themselves. Although one of the largest planters in the state, Mr. Hill has had little to do with politics, holding that a plantation can best he managed living the planter giving it his undivided attention. Nevertheless, he has always kept closely in touch with current events and has stood uniformly ready to do his part as a citizen. At the time when the question of protection against overflow was in process of solution, by the present system of levee districts, Mr. Hill lent both his influence and his means to placing the Atchafalaya Levee District on a firm financial basis. In public as well as in private life his actions have been above reproach and his word as good as his bond. It is the character of the man as well as the gift itself, therefore, that makes this event noteworthy. Mr. Hill has lived a king and honored life tinder the very shadows of the university oaks. He has seen the University struggle with great handicaps to its present position, and he now stamps it with the seal of his highest approval - the approval of a man who has both deserved success and has attained it."

The year 1851 recorded the marriage of Mr. Hill and Miss Catherine McPhail, of Glasgow, Scotland, and she preceded him to eternal rest, her death having occurred on the Homestead Plantation December 22, 1889, after she had passed the scriptural span of three score years and ten. Of George Hill, surviving son, individual mention is made in the following sketch.

Contributed 2021 Nov 04 by Mike Miller, from A History of Louisiana, by Henry E. Chambers, published in 1925, volume 2, pages 120-121.