[3][4] He first inherited wealth from his father, made more in the California Gold Rush, and then moved to Memphis, where he became a leading businessman and investor.

Duncan Hill died in 1844, leaving his mother the Marshall County, Mississippi plantation, worth $40,000 at the time.

Successful in California, he returned to Tennessee and by 1857 was living in Memphis, where he built a wholesale grocery business and traded in cotton on commission just before the American Civil War.

His largest investment was Hill, Fontaine and Company, a cotton and wholesale grocery business.

In 1881 Hill built a large mansion in the ornate French Renaissance style at the corner of 3rd and Madison Streets in downtown Memphis.