John Boynton Philip Clayton Hill (May 2, 1879 – May 23, 1941) was a U.S. representative from the

3rd Congressional district Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * High ...

of Maryland, serving three terms from 1921 to 1927.

Early life

John Boynton Philip Clayton Hill was born on May 2, 1879, in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

, to Kate Watts (née Clayton) and Charles Ebenezer Hill. He attended common schools and graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1900 with a Bachelor of Arts. He graduated from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1903 with a Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to the bar 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 most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

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 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 for the district of Maryland from 1910 to 1915. In 1915, Hill was an unsuccessful candidate for

mayor of Baltimore The mayor of Baltimore is the head of the executive branch of the government of the City of Baltimore, Maryland. The Mayor has the duty to enforce city laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills, ordinances, or resolutions passed by the ...

, and served as delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

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, he was

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the United States Army in 1918 and 1919. After the war, Hill was elected as a Republican 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 in 1926, an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1928 to the Seventy-first Congress, and again in 1936 to the Seventy-fifth Congress. Hill moved to New York City 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, 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, on October 28, 1913. Hill died in Washington, D.C., and is interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

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