By Ray Hill Walter Evans Edge was the very definition of a self-made man, turning a borrowed $500 into a thriving business which, in turn, made him quite wealthy.  Edge was also lucky in politics, being twice elected governor of New Jersey in two nonconsecutive...

By Ray Hill Harold G. Hoffman was a young man in a hurry, climbing the ladder of both the business and political worlds simultaneously.  Hoffman was successful, walking the halls of the mighty in the U.S. House of Representatives and being elected to a three-year term...

By Ray Hill Arthur Harry Moore is not a name familiar outside of New Jersey, but in his time, Harry Moore was one of the best vote-getters in the Garden State’s history.  Three times Moore was elected to nonconsecutive terms as governor of New Jersey and was also...

  By Ray Hill Charles Edison was the son of one of America’s foremost innovators and entrepreneurs, Thomas Alva Edison.  Thomas A. Edison is perhaps the best remembered inventor in American history.  Yet when Charles Edison died, the Paterson Morning Call...

By Ray Hill Some years ago, both political parties in Connecticut were careful to bolster their respective tickets with ethnically balanced tickets.  Aside from the old “Yankee” population, there were Jews, Italians and a substantial Polish population to think about. ...

By Ray Hill Among Tennessee’s most colorful characters is Harvey Horatio Hannah. Doubtless, few readers today recognize Hannah’s name, but during his lifetime, he was one of Tennessee’s most notable public figures, a man widely renowned for his speaking ability....

By Ray Hill James Davis Porter served two terms as governor of Tennessee and remained one of the most notable of the Volunteer State’s citizens.  Lawmaker, judge, chief executive, highly successful businessman and college president, James D. Porter lived a full and...

By Ray Hill There was a time when John H. Savage was one of the most prominent men in Tennessee.  With his long, wavy locks of hair and a moustache that drooped below his chin, Savage resembled a mix between an outlaw and a Chinese Mandarin, especially with his dark,...

By Ray Hill Warren Robinson Austin served in the United States Senate before resigning his seat to accept an appointment from a president of the other political party to become America’s ambassador to the United Nations. Prior to his election to the Senate, Austin had...

By Ray Hill Readers will likely be surprised to learn that I frequently write columns well in advance of their publication. As this is written, President-elect Donald Trump is naming various nominees to the sundry offices and departments of the federal government....