James Hall (1793-1868)

 

James Hall was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1793. He came from an upper class family who were highly intelligent people. His mother was the daughter of Rev. John Ewing and was constantly surrounded by learning. She taught Hall and his brothers to read and write and instilled a love for literature that would last the rest of Hall's life. At age eighteen he began to study law but with the coming war of 1812 he halted his studies and joined the Washington Guards. After a year of service Hall was commissioned third lieutenant in the second artillery regiment commanded by Winfield Scott. Throughout his military career he fought in the battles of Chippewa, Lundy's Lane, Niagara, and Fort Erie. He resigned from the from the military in 1818 and resumed his studies in law. By 1820 he was a practicing lawyer in Shawneetown, IL and was soon appointed prosecuting attorney for a circuit of ten counties in Illinois.

At the same time James Hall never forgot his love of literature. He often wrote in and edited for the local papers were he lived. While he lived in Shawneetown he worked on the "Illinois Gazette." After he was elected state treasurer of Illinois in 1828, Hall moved to Vandalia, where, during the interim of his official duties, he would edit and write for the "Illinois Weekly Intelligencer."

Hall is best known, however, for his work in creating the first literary review in Illinois, "The Illinois Monthly Magazine," and the first historical society in Illinois, " The Antiquarian and Historical Society of Illinois." Sadly though, the historical society only formally met for about two years and with Hall's other duties, including the running of the "The Illinois Monthly Magazine," the society became too much work to keep going. Hall contributed so much of his time to the "The Illinois Monthly Magazine" that he ended up contributing most of the writings in it. Not being able to find enough authors to contribute to the magazine, he decided to move the publication to Cincinnati, OH. He changed the name of the magazine after the move in 1833 to "The Western Monthly Magazine," and continued as editor until 1836.

Some of Hall's other works include "Legends of the West"(1832), "The Soldier's Bride, and Other Tales"(1832), "Harpe's Head, a Legend of Kentucky"(1833), "Tales of the Border"(1835), "Sketches of History, Life and Manners in the West"(1836), "Notes of the Western States"(1839), "A Memoir of the Public Services of William Henry"(1836), "The Wilderness and the War Path"(1845), and "Romance of Western History"(1847).

James Hall passed away on July 5, 1868 in Cincinnati, OH.

 

Information from The National Cyclopedia of American Biography under Flint, Timothy. pages 364-365.

 

Biography of some of James Hall's works and links to digitized works online

 

Secondary Sources for James Hall

 

Burtchi, Mary. James Hall of Lincoln 's Frontier World. Vandalia , IL : Little Brick House, 1977.

Flanagan, John Theodore. James Hall, Literary Pioneer of the Ohio Valley . Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 1941.

Randolph, Randal C. James Hall, spokesman of the New West. Columbus : Ohio State University Press, 1964.

Primary Sources for James Hall

Letters from the West. London : Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street , 1828. Digitized online at Library of Congress's The First American West: The Ohio River Valley , 1750-1820 . http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/icuhtml//fawhome.html

Harpe's Head: A Legend of Kentucky . Philadelphia : Key & Biddle, 1833.

Kentucky . A Tale. London : A.K. Newman and Co., 1845.

The Soldier's Bride; and other Tales. Philadelphia : Key & Biddle, 1833.

The Western Souvenir, a Christmas and New Year's gift for 1829 . Cincinnati : N. And G. Guilford, 1828.