 One of his sons, George Hillyer, was a prominent Georgia politician who led a regiment in the Confederate States Army at the Battle of Gettysburg and later served in the state legislature, as a Judge, and as Mayor of Atlanta.Junius Hillyer's interest in the economic growth of his boyhood home of Athens prompted him to invest, at an early age, in the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company, which was first chartered in 1833.It was the first railroad built in the state.