Irving Hill, of this sketch, is one of the citizens of prominence in Lawrence, who is identified with the younger generation in the promotion of its industries, its finances and its civic affairs. He is of good Scotch blood, and comes naturally by his traits of intellectual and business acumen. William Hill, his father, was born in Greenock, a suburb of Glasgow, and when a boy came with his parents to the United States and settled at Baraboo, Wisconsin. There he followed newspaper work, became owner of a paper in that place, and later corresponded for the Chicago Tribune and a newspaper published in Nashville. In the Civil war he served as captain of a company in the Eighth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, and subsequently was on the staff of Gen. Giles Smith. In 1870 he came to Kansas and founded the Neodesha Savings Bank, now the First National, of which he is president. His wife was Ellen Clark Maxwell, and their marriage resulted in the birth of four sons and a daughter, of whom Irving Hill is the youngest.
Mr. Hill was born at Neodesha, Wilson County, Kansas, on December 23, 1876, and received his earlier education in the grammar and high schools of that place. He then completed a course at the state university, from which he was graduated in 1896 with the degree of B. A. After leaving the university, his first employment was in the production work of the Standard Oil Company in Kansas, which occupied him until 1897, when he went to Parkersburg, West Virginia, and engaged in the oil-well supply business. He also followed the same line at Bradford, Pennsylvania.
In 1898 Irving Hill located at Lawrence as an employe of J. D. Bowersock, perhaps the leading citizen of the place, and had ever since been identified with some of his many interests. At present he is manager of the Lawrence Paper Manufacturing Company and Mr. Bowersock’s general business manager. Mr. Hill is also prominent in various civic organizations and a leading republican. He was appointed postmaster of Lawrence by President Taft, and served four years ending in 1910. As was to be expected, his administration of the local postal affairs was efficient and businesslike. Outside of his important duties in connection with the Bowersock interests, Mr. Hill holds such responsible positions as vice president of the Lawrence National Bank and director in the First National Bank at Neodesha, and vice president of the Kansas Electric Utilities Company, of the Consolidated Electric Utilities Company and of the Corrugated Fibre Company, the last named being a national organization of fiber manufacturers.
In 1899 Mr. Hill married Miss Hortense Bowersock, and they are the parents of five children–Margaret Maxwell, Mary Gower, Justin DeWitt, Ellen Elspeth and Dorcas.