James Hill

James Hill (c. 1838 – June 12, 1903)

Biography Hill was born in Marshall County, Mississippi, in the late 1830s. Hill was enslaved by James Hill and was described as being a light mulatto. He was the last African American to hold statewide office in Mississippi. He was one of several African Americans who served as Mississippi Secretary of State during the Reconstruction era.

After his service as Secretary of State, Hill served as postmaster and collector of internal revenues for the city of Vicksburg; he also campaigned for a congressional seat.

Around February 1903 he started a weekly paper called the Mississippi State Register aimed at both Black and white readers and intended to serve as an "olive branch of peace" amid racial conflict.

Hill died suddenly June 12, 1903 from heart disease aged 65. He never married. and later became Jim Hill High School.