# Junius Hillyer > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Junius_Hillyer > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Junius_Hillyer.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junius_Hillyer > Source revision: 1354055675 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American politician (1807–1886)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Junius Hillyer | image = Junius Hillyer.jpg | alt = | state = [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(U.S._state)) | district = [6th](/source/Georgia's_6th_congressional_district) | term_start = March 4, 1851 | term_end = March 3, 1855 | predecessor = [Howell Cobb](/source/Howell_Cobb) | successor = [Howell Cobb](/source/Howell_Cobb) | office1 = [Solicitor of the United States Treasury](/source/Solicitor_of_the_United_States_Treasury) | term_start1 = 1857 | term_end1 = February 13, 1861 (resigned) | office2 = Judge of the Superior Courts of Georgia's Western Circuit | term_start2 = 1841 | term_end2 = 1845 | office3 = Solicitor General of the Western Judicial Circuit of Georgia | term_start3 = 1834 | term_end3 = 1841 | birth_date = {{birth date|1807|4|23}} | birth_place = [Wilkes County, Georgia](/source/Wilkes_County%2C_Georgia), U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1886|6|21|1807|4|23}} | death_place = [Decatur, Georgia](/source/Decatur%2C_Georgia), U.S. | party = [Union](/source/Union_Party_(United_States%2C_1850)) (1850) {{br}} [Democratic](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) (1852) | relations = [Ethel Hillyer Harris](/source/Ethel_Hillyer_Harris) (granddaughter) | spouse = Jane Selina (Watkins) Hillyer | children = five sons (including [Eben Hillyer](/source/Eben_Hillyer) and [George Hillyer](/source/George_Hillyer)); three or four daughters | alma_mater = [Franklin College](/source/University_of_Georgia) | occupation = [Lawyer](/source/Lawyer) and [Judge](/source/Judge) }} '''Junius Hillyer''' (April 23, 1807 – June 21, 1886) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician who served two terms in the [United States Congress](/source/United_States_Congress). ==Early years and education== Junius Hillyer was born in [Wilkes County, Georgia](/source/Wilkes_County%2C_Georgia), on April 23, 1807, the second son of Shaler and Rebecca (Freeman) Hillyer.{{cite book|author1=William J. Northen|author2=John Temple Graves|title=Men of Mark in Georgia: A Complete and Elaborate History of the State from Its Settlement to the Present Time, Chiefly Told in Biographies and Autobiographies of the Most Eminent Men of Each Period of Georgia's Progress and Development|url=https://archive.org/details/menmarkingeorgi00nortgoog|year=1910|publisher=A. B. Caldwell|pages=[https://archive.org/details/menmarkingeorgi00nortgoog/page/n436 357]–359}} His father died when Junius was fourteen, prompting his mother to move the family to [Athens, Georgia](/source/Athens%2C_Georgia). Junius attended Franklin College (later the [University of Georgia](/source/University_of_Georgia)) in Athens, graduating in 1828. He had studied the law during his senior year, and was admitted to the [bar](/source/Bar_association), one month after graduation from college. Hillyer began a law practice in [Lawrenceville, Georgia](/source/Lawrenceville%2C_Georgia), but returned to Athens after one year. It was a judicial circuit containing some of the best legal minds of antebellum Georgia, including [T.R.R. Cobb](/source/Thomas_Reade_Rootes_Cobb) and William Hope Hull (founders of the [University of Georgia School of Law](/source/University_of_Georgia_School_of_Law)), [Alexander H. Stephens](/source/Alexander_H._Stephens) (later [Vice President of the Confederate States of America](/source/Vice_President_of_the_Confederate_States_of_America)), as well as [Robert Toombs](/source/Robert_Toombs) (first [Confederate States Secretary of State](/source/Confederate_States_Secretary_of_State) and Brigadier general). Hillyer maintained his law practice in Athens for nearly 20 years, before moving to [Monroe, Georgia](/source/Monroe%2C_Georgia) in 1848.{{cite book|author=Lucian Lamar Knight|title=A Standard History of Georgia and Georgians|url=https://archive.org/details/astandardhistor00kniggoog|year=1917|publisher=Lewis publishing Company|pages=[https://archive.org/details/astandardhistor00kniggoog/page/n98 1910]–1912}} After the Civil War, Hillyer moved to [Decatur, Georgia](/source/Decatur%2C_Georgia), where he maintained a residence for the rest of his life.{{cite book|author=Junius Hillyer|title=The Life and Times of Judge Junius Hillyer: (from His Memoirs).|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EK2HGQAACAAJ|year=1989|publisher=Boyd Publishing Company}} ==Judicial service== In 1834, at age 27, Hillyer was elected as the Solicitor General of the Western Judicial Circuit of Georgia. In 1836 and again in 1838 he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress. In 1841 he became Judge of the Superior Courts of Georgia's Western Circuit. From 1841 to 1845, he presided as a circuit judge. ==United States House of Representatives== Initially elected to [U.S. House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) in 1850 as a [Unionist](/source/Union_Party_(United_States%2C_1850)), Hillyer was re-elected in 1852 as a [Democrat](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)), and he served from March 4, 1851, to March 3, 1855. In his second term Hillyer was chairman of the Committee on Private Land Claims. ==Later years and legacy== After his congressional career, Hillyer was appointed by [President](/source/President_of_the_United_States) [James Buchanan](/source/James_Buchanan) as [Solicitor of the United States Treasury](/source/Solicitor_of_the_United_States_Treasury), and served from 1857 until February 13, 1861, when, as a result of Georgia's secession from the Union, he resigned his post and returned to Georgia. This marked the end of Hillyer's career in public service. For his remaining years he concentrated on the private law practice. Hillyer served as a Trustee for the [University of Georgia](/source/University_of_Georgia) from 1844 to 1858;{{cite book |editor-last1=Johnson |editor-first1=Rossiter |editor-last2=Brown |editor-first2=John Howard |title=The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, vol. 5 |date=1904 |publisher=Biographical Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=afEUAAAAYAAJ&q=%22trustee+of+the+University+of+Georgia%2C+1844-58%22&pg=PT296 |accessdate=23 April 2019 |ref=JOHNSON-BROWN}} he also served as a Trustee for [Mercer University](/source/Mercer_University). Hillyer died at his home in [Decatur, Georgia](/source/Decatur%2C_Georgia), on June 21, 1886 and was buried in [Oakland Cemetery](/source/Oakland_Cemetery_(Atlanta%2C_Georgia)) in [Atlanta](/source/Atlanta%2C_Georgia). Junius Hillyer married the former Jane Selina Watkins in 1831. They had five sons, one of whom died at age 30 or 31 while the other four, including [Eben Hillyer](/source/Eben_Hillyer), obtained success in their respective fields, and either three or four daughters. One of his sons, [George Hillyer](/source/George_Hillyer), was a prominent Georgia politician who led a [regiment](/source/regiment) in the [Confederate States Army](/source/Confederate_States_Army) at the [Battle of Gettysburg](/source/Battle_of_Gettysburg) and later served in the state legislature, as a Judge, and as Mayor of Atlanta. Junius Hillyer's interest in the economic growth of his boyhood home of Athens prompted him to invest, at an early age, in the [Georgia Railroad and Banking Company](/source/Georgia_Railroad_and_Banking_Company), which was first chartered in 1833. It was the first railroad built in the state. The railroad eventually extended a line to a spot near the old [Creek Indian](/source/Muscogee) village of [Standing Peachtree](/source/Standing_Peachtree).Because it was the end of the line, the community took on the name "Terminus". Several name changes later, Terminus became [Atlanta](/source/Atlanta%2C_Georgia). ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== *{{CongBio|H000625}} *[http://hmfa.libs.uga.edu/hmfa/view?docId=ead/ms76-ead.xml Hillyer family papers - Hargrett Rare Books and Manuscript Library - The University of Georgia] *[http://ahc.galileo.usg.edu/ahc/view?docId=ead/ahc.MSS156f-ead.xml Junius Hillyer memoirs - Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center] *[http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/ebind2html.pl/reed_c03?seq=81 ''History of the University of Georgia'', Thomas Walter Reed, Imprint: Athens, Georgia : University of Georgia, ca. 1949 p.247] *{{Find a Grave|7937340}} {{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state = Georgia | district = 6 | before= [Howell Cobb](/source/Howell_Cobb) | after= [Howell Cobb](/source/Howell_Cobb) | years= March 4, 1851 – March 3, 1855 }} |- {{s-legal}} {{s-bef | before=[Farris B. Streeter](/source/Farris_B._Streeter)}} {{s-ttl | title=[Solicitor of the United States Treasury](/source/Solicitor_of_the_United_States_Treasury) | years=1853-1858}} {{s-aft | after=[Benjamin F. Pleasants](/source/Benjamin_F._Pleasants)}} {{end}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hillyer, Junius}} Category:1807 births Category:1886 deaths Category:Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Category:Franklin College of Arts and Sciences alumni Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Unionists Category:United States Department of the Treasury officials Category:People from Wilkes County, Georgia Category:Unionist Party United States representatives Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta) Category:19th-century Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:United States representatives who owned slaves Category:19th-century United States representatives --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Junius Hillyer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junius_Hillyer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junius_Hillyer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.