James B. Hill (born November 29, 1856, near Fremont, Sandusky County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, died in 1945 in

Raceland, Louisiana Raceland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on Bayou Lafourche in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 9,768 in 2020. It is part of the Houma– Bayou Cane–Thibodaux metropolitan ...

) was an American

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

Hill worked as a drainage tiler in northwestern Ohio in the 1870s and 1880s, during which time he devised a machine that he later named the Buckeye Traction Ditcher (U.S. Patent 523-790; July 31, 1894). The Buckeye allowed for the quick placement of drainage tiles to aid in cultivation. After ridding northwest Ohio of its

Great Black Swamp The Great Black Swamp (also known simply as the Black Swamp) was a glacially fed wetland in northwest Ohio, sections of lower Michigan, and extreme northeast Indiana, United States, that existed from the end of the Wisconsin glaciation until th ...

, Hill’s invention, produced by the Buckeye Traction Ditcher Company of

Findlay, Ohio Findlay ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Ohio, United States. The second-largest city in Northwest Ohio, Findlay lies about 40 miles (64 km) south of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo. The population was 40,313 at the 2020 United St ...

, went on to drain large parts of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. Finding his early machines bogged down by the mud of

, Hill designed wheels that could travel over soft, wet earth. He termed this style of wheel "apron traction", and it became the forerunner for modern tank wheels (U.S. Patent 866-647; September 24, 1907 ). Hill spent his last years breeding new varieties of

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

which could flourish in Louisiana, most notably "Hill’s White Cob Yellow Dent". While visiting business associates in Florida at the turn of the 20th century, Hill designed an early

amphibious vehicle An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian), is a vehicle that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious bicycles, ATVs, cars, buses, trucks, railway vehicles, combat vehicles an ...

. The

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

designated an original Buckeye Steam Traction Ditcher as an "International Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark" in 1988. This organization also maintains Hill's gravestone at Maple Grove Cemetery in Findlay, on which a ditcher is engraved. An antique ditcher can be seen today at the Hancock County Historical Museum in Findlay.

Family

Hill and his first wife Ella MacDonald had 10 children. Near his death, he boasted of having more than 100 descendants. These descendants are scattered throughout the United States, with the majority living in southern Louisiana (centering on Raceland) and northwest Ohio (centering on Toledo). He also married Elizabeth Christian (her 3rd marriage) in Raceland, Louisiana. His son, Cloyse Adrian (aka Butch), married Elizabeth's daughter, Ada Jurgens. They had 2 children: Wayne and Arta Hill.

References

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External links

James B. Hill Biography and Genealogy
H e a r t l a n d S c i e n c e - - The Ohio Academy of Science -
at www.heartlandscience.org
#133 Buckeye Steam Traction Ditcher (1902) - Landmarks
at www.asme.org

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Steam Traction {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, James B. 1856 births 1945 deaths People from Sandusky County, Ohio American inventors People from Raceland, Louisiana