HILL, Leonidas Carrington Family

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Leonidas Carrington Hill, Sr. (1862-1935) was a lawyer, politician, farmer, and water and land developer born in Gilleland Creek in Travis County, Texas, on July 31, 1862.

He attended Add-Ran Male and Female College before marrying Eustacia Dabney in 1882. After managing a general store in Manor, Texas, he studied law at the University of Texas and completed his degree at the University at Virginia. He moved to Beeville, Texas, in 1891. He practiced law and quickly rose to become a leading Democratic leader.

Hill developed an interest in the lower Rio Grande Valley area while traveling.

He started a rice plantation in the Brownsville area while still practicing law in Beeville. After acquiring 300,000 acres of land in the Hidalgo-Cameron County area, he founded the city of Harlingen on land that had been school lands and part of the King Ranch. Hill raised money for the construction of a railroad while operating a hardware and impellent store in Brownsville.

Hill chartered both the Lon C. Hill Town and Improvement Company and the Capisallo Town and Improvement Company, which laid out the town of Lonsboro (later sold and renamed Mercedes).

In 1904, Hill also helped incorporate McAllen. He chartered the Harlingen Land and Water Company in 1907, which operated 36 miles of canals and had 75,000 acres. Hill participated in passing the original state law governing irrigation districts and worked with the Texas rangers as a border scout to fight Mexican bandits, some of who burned the Hill Sugar Mill in 1917.

Red Beach used Hill as the model for the main character of the 1915 novel "Heart of the Sunset". Hill befriended William Jennings Bryan and bought some land in South Texas from him. The Lon C. Hill Park was dedicated in 1950 in Harlingen, Texas, and designated a state historical landmark twelve years later. By the early 1990s, Hill's home, the first residence in Harlingen, had become a museum.

Source:

McKenna , Verna J. Handbook of Texas Online. "Hill, Leonidas Carrington, Sr." Accessed May 25, 2010. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhi25.

From the description of Hill, Leonidas Carrington, Family Papers, 1853-1970 (University of Texas Libraries). WorldCat record id: 749890844

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf HILL, Leonidas Carrington Family. Hill, Leonidas Carrington, Family Papers, 1853-1970 University of Texas Libraries
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith 2nd Cavalry, Texas National Guard. corporateBody
associatedWith Allhands, James Lewellyn. person
associatedWith Carrico, Homer E. person
associatedWith Dougherty, James R. person
associatedWith Eidman, C. S. Jr. person
associatedWith Gammon, Edgar Graham. person
associatedWith Harlingen Ice and Gin Company (Harlingen, Tex). corporateBody
associatedWith Hill, Eustacia. person
associatedWith Hill, Gordon. person
associatedWith Hill, Ida. person
associatedWith Hill, John A. person
associatedWith Hill, Kate Adele, 1900-1983. person
associatedWith Hill, Leonidas Carrington, III person
associatedWith Hill, Leonidas Carrington, Jr. person
associatedWith Hill, Leonidas Carrington, Sr., 1862-1935. person
associatedWith Hill, Owsley. person
associatedWith Hill, Paul. person
associatedWith Hill Sugar Company (Harlingen, Tex). corporateBody
associatedWith Hill, William Hickman. person
associatedWith Kleberg, Robert Justus, 1896-1974. person
associatedWith Leonidas family person
associatedWith Lon C. Hill Town and Improvement Company (Harlingen, Tex). corporateBody
associatedWith Lott, Uriah. person
associatedWith McBee, Francis Wilkins. person
associatedWith Robertson, Samuel Arthur. person
associatedWith Robinson, G. C. person
associatedWith San Jacinto Life Insurance Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Santa Cruz Mining Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Seabury, Frederick Wheaton. person
associatedWith Walker, George F. person
associatedWith Wells, James B., Jr. person
associatedWith Wheaton, W. H. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Port Isabel (Tex.)
San Benito (Tex.)
Bexas County (Tex.)
Cameron County (Tex.)
Harlingen (Tex.)
Mercedes (Tex.)
Corpus Christi (Tex.)
Padre Island (Tex.)
Rio Hondo (Tex.)
Starr County (Tex.)
Brownsville (Tex.)
Runge (Tex.)
Texas
San Antonio (Tex.)
Beeville (Tex.)
Manor (Tex.)
Rio Grande Valley (Tex.)
Austin (Tex.)
Travis County (Tex.)
Subject
Argiculture
Business
Commerce
Land and water development
Law
Occupation
Activity

Family

Active 1853

Active 1970

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