Napoleon Hill (1830–1909) was an American businessman of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, tagged as "the merchant prince of Memphis" by his contemporaries. He first inherited wealth from his father, made more in the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

, and then moved to Memphis, where he became a leading businessman and investor. Hill was the second of eleven children of Duncan Hill, a physician and

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

owner, and Olivia L. Bill. Duncan Hill died in 1844, leaving his mother the

Marshall County, Mississippi Marshall County is a county located on the north central border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,144. Its county seat is Holly Springs. The county is named for Chief Justice of the United States ...

plantation, worth $40,000 at the time. She remarried to Josiah Deloach in 1848 and she and the children continued to live on the plantation. At age sixteen Hill left home and worked as a store clerk for a time, but left Tennessee for the 1849

. Successful in California, he returned to Tennessee and by 1857 was living in Memphis, where he built a wholesale grocery business and traded in cotton on commission just before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. Hill prospered in Memphis, and during the post-Civil War period he became a one of Memphis' most significant businessmen. His largest investment was Hill, Fontaine and Company, a cotton and wholesale grocery business. In addition, he invested in banks, real estate, and industrial development. Hill participated in organizing The

Memphis Cotton Exchange The Memphis Cotton Exchange is located in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, downtown Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, United States, on the corner of Front Street and Union Avenue. It was founded in 1874 as a result of the growing cotton market ...

in 1873 and served as its president from 1881 to 1883. In 1885 Hill and other prominent Memphis businessmen started a Memphis streetcar line, later acquired by the Memphis City Railroad Company. Hill was an early investor in the

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, steel industry, and was a major investor in Memphis' Union and Planters Bank, predecessor of

Union Planters Union Planters Bank was a United States financial institution and multi-state bank holding corporation headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee prior to being acquired by Regions Financial Corporation. With over $34 billion in assets, Union Planters B ...

, and served as a bank director. Hill's businesses and investments made him wealthy, powerful, and socially prominent. In 1881 Hill built a large mansion in the ornate French Renaissance style at the corner of 3rd and Madison Streets in

downtown Memphis Downtown Memphis, Tennessee is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south and I-240 to the east, where it abuts Midtown Memphis. It ...

. The central business district location later led to its downfall, as the landmark mansion was torn down by 1930 to build the

Sterick Building The Sterick Building is an office building in Memphis, Tennessee. It was designed by Wyatt C. Hedrick & Co., and was completed in 1930—its name is a contraction of the original owners' names, ''R.E. Sterling'' and ''Wyatt Hedrick''. It is a go ...

. In 1902 he commissioned the

Scimitar Building Scimitar Building, also known as the Memphis Light, Gas, and Water Building, Winchester Building and most recently Hotel Napoleon, is a five-story stone-veneer structure in Memphis, Tennessee. Its architecture features a combination of Beaux-Arts ...

at 179 Madison Avenue and Third Street, directly across from his home.

Personal life and death

During their lives, Hill and his wife, Morton Wood Hill, received extensive coverage in Memphis newspapers, both for his business, civic and political activities, as well as for their social affairs.''In Society.'' The Memphis Appeal-Avalanche, 01 Feb 1891, Page 5. For example, a reception held by Mrs. Hill in 1891 received detailed coverage, "''The event of the week in society circles was the afternoon reception given by Mrs. Napoleon Hill Wednesday afternoon....''" Hill died in 1909 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis. At the time of his death, his estate was considered the largest in Tennessee.Obituaries: Napoleon Hill
Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock, Arkansas) · 2 Nov 1909, Tue, Page 6. Newspapers.com. Accessed: 21 August 2019.

References

External links

* *Elmwood Cemetery Photos on Facebook:
Napoleon Hill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Napoleon 1830 births 1909 deaths Businesspeople from Memphis, Tennessee 19th-century American businesspeople Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Memphis, Tennessee)