Year Erected: 1955

Marker Text: Benjamin Harvey Hill, one of the first to proclaim the New South industrial rather than agricultural, was born at Hillsborough, Jasper County, Sept. 14, 1823. Reared on a farm at Long Lane, Troup County, graduated with first honors at the University of Georgia and married to Miss Catherine Holt of Athens, he came to LaGrange to practice law. He was elected to the legislature on the Whig ticket in 1851. With Alex. H. Stephens, Herschel V. Johnson and others, Senator Hill opposed secession but became one of the foremost champions of the cause of the Confederacy. A member of the Confederate provisional congress and the Confederate Senate, he was regarded as the ablest supporter of the policies of Jefferson Davis. Arrested but soon paroled after the surrender, Senator Hill, "foremost orator of the state," resumed his activities in politics and vigorously opposed the Reconstruction Acts of Congress. With Senator John B. Gordon he prevailed on President Hayes to remove Federal troops from the South. After serving in Congress he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1877 and served until his death, August 16, 1882. Senator Hill's home, Bellevue, built in 1854-1855, was acquired by the Fuller E. Callaway Foundation and presented to the LaGrange Woman's Club.