John Boynton Philip Clayton Hill (May 2, 1879 – May 23, 1941) was a

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from the 3rd Congressional district of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, serving three terms from 1921 to 1927.

Early life

John Boynton Philip Clayton Hill was born on May 2, 1879, in Annapolis, Maryland, to Kate Watts (née Clayton) and Charles Ebenezer Hill. He attended common schools and graduated from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

in 1900 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1903 with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in Boston in 1903 and commenced practice in Boston, Massachusetts, in the office of Ropes, Gray & Gorman.

Career

Hill returned to

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and was admitted to the bar in Boston in 1904. He then practiced law there. Hill was a candidate for the 12th ward in the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

in 1905. He was a candidate for the 2nd ward in the House of Delegates in 1907. Hill was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the Sixty-first Congress in 1908. He served as

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the district of Maryland from 1910 to 1915. In 1915, Hill was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Baltimore, and served as delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1916. He served as judge advocate for the Fifteenth Division, and attached to the Fourteenth Cavalry, Mexican border service, from August 26 to December 15, 1916. Hill also practiced law with Hill, Ross & Hill. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he was major and lieutenant colonel in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

in 1918 and 1919. After the war, Hill was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the Sixty-seventh, Sixty-eighth, and Sixty-ninth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1921, to March 3, 1927. To date, he is the last Republican to represent a significant portion of Baltimore in the House. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in 1926, an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1928 to the

Seventy-first Congress The 71st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislature of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1929, to Ma ...

, and again in 1936 to the

Seventy-fifth Congress The 75th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1937 ...

. Hill moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1937 and continued the practice of law until he returned to Annapolis in 1940. Hill was the only representative from Maryland, and one of only 62 House members, to vote against the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act, the law that placed severe quotas on immigration to the United States During

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

, Hill planted some grape vines and apples trees in his yard, and renamed his house "Franklin Farms", since farmers were allowed to make wine and cider. He was arrested and charged with the illegal manufacture of liquor, but the jury pronounced it "not intoxicating in fact", even though its alcohol content was more than 12%.

Personal life

Hill married Suzanne Howell Carroll, the great-great-great granddaughter of

Charles Carroll of Carrollton Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an Irish-American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic sign ...

, on October 28, 1913. Hill died in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and is interred in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

References

Retrieved on 2009-02-22

External links

* 1879 births 1941 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army officers Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Johns Hopkins University alumni Harvard Law School alumni United States Attorneys for the District of Maryland Politicians from Annapolis, Maryland Military personnel from Maryland Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland {{Maryland-politician-stub