The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 68, July 1964 - April, 1965 Page: 28

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered in North Carolina on
April 14, 1865, but Judge Hill convened a new grand jury at
Houston, with B. A. Shepherd as foreman, and set all criminal
cases for May 24, giving notice that everyone should get ready for
trial."" On May 24, a distinguished visitor, Confederate States
Judge Thomas J. Devine of the Western District, came to Hous-
ton and discussed "official business" with Judge Hill. Three days
later, on Saturday, May 27, Hill dismissed all criminal cases.67
The conclusion is almost inescapable that Hill recognized the
Confederacy could not hold out longer, even in Texas, and dis-
missed the suits so that a plea of "former jeopardy" would not be
good if any of these individuals should be re-indicted by the
United States court.
After the close of the war he made his home in Galveston.
In 1866 he was nominated for the Supreme Bench of the State,
by the conservative members of the constitutional convention, but
declined to run because his private affairs required his attention.
Had he accepted, he would have been elected by an immense majority
and would no doubt have been chosen Chief Justice.88
In 1869, he went to Washington to represent the bondholders
against the Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railway Com-
pany in a suit then pending in the Supreme Court. He became
ill, went to the mountains of Tennessee to recuperate, removed
thence to his native state, and on April 30o, 1870, he died at the
home of his brother, Ben Hill, in Athens, Georgia.6"
In Galveston an unknown hand drew a line across the page of
the Confederate States Admiralty Docket and wrote, "U. S. Crim-
inal Docket now."70
66Galveston News, May 17, 1865.
67Criminal Docket, Confederate States District Court, Eastern District of Texas
(United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division).
88Galveston News, May 1, 187o.
oIbid.
7oAdmiralty Docket, Confederate States District Court, Eastern District of Texas
(United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division).