Hill, James Jerome (1838–1916)

US railway president. He defeated E H Harriman in the struggle to gain control of the Northern Pacific, a competitor with the Great Northern Railway for the traffic from the Middle West to the North-West. He was president of the Great Northern Railway 1895–1907.

Hill was born near Guelph, Ontario. He graduated at Yale University and then worked in railway offices in St Paul, Minnesota. In 1870 he began as commission agent and general contractor. Six years later he was one of a syndicate which ultimately built the Great Northern Railway.