Hill, James Monroe, 1818-1904

Born in Putnam County, Georgia, James Monroe Hill (1818 - 1904) moved to Texas with his family in the spring of 1835, eventually settling in Washington County. In 1836, Hill and his brother John Christopher Columbus Hill volunteered to fight the invasion of Santa Anna’s army. James participated in the battle of San Jacinto, and his brother was a member of the Mier Expedition. After the Revolution, Hill became active in the Texas Veterans Association and served as a commissioner in the state’s 1897 purchase of the San Jacinto battleground.

In 1843, Hill married Jane Hallowell Kerr (1824-1871). Born in Giles County, Tennessee, Kerr and her parents, Hugh and Lucy, came to Texas by steamboat, settling in Washington County before fleeing Santa Anna’s army in 1836 as part of the Runaway Scrape. James and Jane Hill settled in Fayette County, where they lived for 41 years, until moving to Austin. At least one of the couples’ four sons, J. L. Hill, served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

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