Junius Hillyer

Junius Hillyer, Congressman from Georgia

Junius Hillyer (April 23, 1807 – June 21, 1886) was an American politician and lawyer who served two terms in the United States Congress.

Hillyer was born in Wilkes County, Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia in Athens and graduated in 1828. Hillyer then studied law, attained admission to the bar, and began to practice in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

He was elected as the Solicitor General of the Western Circuit of the state in 1834. he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1836 and 1838. In 1841 he became Judge of the Superior Courts of Georgia's Western Circuit. From 1841 to 1845, he presided as a circuit judge.

Initially elected to U.S. House of Representatives in 1850 as a Unionist, Hillyer was re-elected in 1852 as a Democrat, and he served from March 4, 1851 to March 3, 1855. In his second term Hillyer was chairman of the Committee on Private Land Claims.

After his congressional career, Hillyer was appointed by President James Buchanan as Solicitor of the United States Treasury, and he served from 1857 to 1861.

Hillyer died in Decatur, Georgia, in 1886 and was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta.

His son, George Hillyer, was a prominent Georgia politician who led a regiment in the Confederate States Army at the Battle of Gettysburg and later as Mayor of Atlanta.

References

• United States Congress. "Junius Hillyer (id: H000625)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 
• History of the University of Georgia, Thomas Walter Reed, Imprint: Athens, Georgia : University of Georgia, ca. 1949 p.247
• Junius Hillyer at Find a Grave