James Hill (Mississippi politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see James Hill.
Mississippi secretary of state and state representative James Hill. Detail of monument in Mount Olive Cemetery, Jackson, Mississippi.
James Hill
23rd Secretary of State of Mississippi
In office
January 4, 1874 – January 1878
GovernorAdelbert Ames
John M. Stone
Preceded byHannibal C. Carter
Succeeded byKinloch Falconer
Personal details
Born1837/1838
Marshall County, MS
Died (aged 65)
Political partyRepublican

James Hill (died June 12, 1903)[1] was a Republican[2] politician and government official in Mississippi. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives, including as Sergeant at Arms and as Speaker, and was Secretary of State of Mississippi during the Reconstruction era.[2] He served as Secretary of State of Mississippi from January 4, 1874, until January 1878.[3][4] He was the last African American to hold statewide office in Mississippi.[5]

He was born in Marshall County, Mississippi in the late 1830s.[6] Hill was a slave owned by James Hill and was described as being a light mulatto.[2] He apprenticed as a machinist and became a "first-class mechanic".[6]

After his time as Secretary of State he served as postmaster and collector of internal revenues; he also campaigned for a congressional seat.[2] He never married.[2]

Around February 1903 he started a weekly paper called the Mississippi State Register aimed at both blacks and whites and to be an "olive branch of peace".[7]

He died suddenly June 12, 1903 from heart disease aged 65.[1] A statue of him is at Mount Olive Cemetery in Jackson, Mississippi. An elementary school was named for him[8] and later became Jim Hill High School.

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Death of James Hill". Vicksburg Evening Post. 12 June 1903. p. 1. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e Sewell, George A.; Dwight, Margaret L. (November 19, 1984). Mississippi Black History Makers. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781604733907 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "History of the MS Secretary of State". www.sos.ms.gov.
  4. ^ Mississippi Official and Statistical Register. 1924. p. 31.
  5. ^ "Gone But Not Forgotten in Mt. Olive Cemetery | JFP Mobile | Jackson, Mississippi". m.jacksonfreepress.com.
  6. ^ a b "marshall county". Natchez Democrat. 13 June 1903. p. 4. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Politics-Feb-26-1903-2350070 | NewspaperArchive®". newspaperarchive.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Statues – Mt. Olive Cemetery".
Retrieved from ""