Junius Hillyer was a political leader and attorney who served two terms in the United States Congress. Born in Wilkes County, Georgia in 1807, he graduated from the University of Georgia in 1828 and began a law practice 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, Hillyer was re-elected in 1852. 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.