Bellevue, Home of Sen. Benjamin Harvey Hill
LaGrange, Troup County, Georgia
Marker Inscription
Bellevue, Home of Sen. Benjamin Harvey Hill. 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 honor 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 succession 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. 141-9 GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1955
Erected by Georgia Historical Commission
The Story
Benjamin Harvey Hill rose from a Troup County farm to become one of Georgia's foremost orators — a Whig legislator who opposed secession yet became a staunch defender of the Confederacy in its Senate. After the war he vigorously fought the Reconstruction Acts and, with Senator John B. Gordon, pressed President Hayes to remove federal troops from the South, later serving in the U.S. Senate until his death in 1882. His home, Bellevue, was built in 1854–55.
Why it matters
Hill's career traces the arc of a Southern moderate swept into the Confederate cause and then into the politics of Reconstruction, giving voice to the emerging idea of a "New South" built on industry.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Harvey Hill
- · Jefferson Davis
- · John B. Gordon
- · Rutherford B. Hayes
- · Alexander H. Stephens
Related events
- · Reconstruction
Themes & tags
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Bellevue
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Bellevue, completed in 1855, was the Greek Revival home of U.S. Senator Benjamin Harvey Hill, a leading orator who hosted Jefferson Davis and other Confederate figures. Hill became a fierce champion of the South during Reconstruction, and it was partly at his urging that President Hayes withdrew federal occupation troops. The LaGrange Woman's Club has maintained the house since 1942.
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