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 with an (AB) in 1828 and began the practice of law in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

He was elected as the Solicitor-General of the Western Circuit of the state in 1834 and became Judge of the Superior Courts of the Western Circuit in 1841. 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. After his congressional career, Hillyer was appointed by President James Buchanan as Solicitor of the United States Treasury from 1857 through 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.

References

• Junius Hillyer at the 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