The New International Encyclopædia/Hill, James J.

HILL, James J. (1838—). An American railway promoter, born near Guelph, Ont. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and left his father's farm for a business career in Minnesota. In 1870 he formed the Red River Transportation Company, which was the first to open communication between Saint Paul and Winnipeg. Eight years afterwards he helped to form the syndicate which, under another name, ultimately built the Canadian Pacific Railway. From 1883 to 1893 he interested himself in the building of the Great Northern Railway, extending from Lake Superior to Puget Sound, with northern and southern branches and a direct steamship connection with China and Japan. Mr. Hill gave $500,000 toward the establishment of a Roman Catholic theological seminary in Saint Paul, Minn.