| 1. | Dr. Henry Hall, M.D. died in Unknown. Notes:
His ancestor was Richard Hall of Mount Welcome, one of the earliest settlers of the Head of the Elk, apothecay in Harrisburg, PA.
http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?1360,571441
Carol Eddleman
Hall Family
September 22, 2008 01:24PM Admin
Registered: 7 years ago
THE HALL FAMILY.
The early history of this family, like that of many others, is involved in obscurity. There is reason, however, to believe that Richard Hall, from whom the distinguished family of that name in this county have descended, patented a large tract of land called "Mount Welcome," on the east side of the Susquehanna River, about a mile above the mouth of the Octoraro, in 1640. He is believed to have been a son of Bishop Joseph Hall, of England. The earliest authentic record extant shows that Elisha Hall and Sarah Winfell (or Wingfield) were married September 16th, 1688. This Elisha Hall was the son of the Richard before mentioned. Sarah Wingfield is believed to have been a granddaughter or niece of the Mr. Wingfield who was President of the Council of Virginia very early in the history of that colony.
The tract of land called "Mount Welcome" probably extended from the Susquehanna to the Octoraro, for at the time of the Revolutionary war the plantation now owned by P. S. P. Conner, Esq., was in possession of Colonel Elihu Hall, who entertained General Lafayette at his mansion, which then occupied the site of the one now used by Mr. Conner. Part of the original dwelling-house, which was built of brick brought from England and landed from scows at the mouth of Octoraro, is now (1881) standing. It is on an elevation near the Susquehanna, and was a famous mansion in the palmy days of the family, and was of such importance as to be located on a map of Pennsylvania, made a few years after the location of Mason and Dixon's line, though it is more than three miles south of it.
But little is known of the history of Richard Hall and Elizabeth (Wingfield) Hall, except that they were the parents of one son, Elisha, who was born in 1663. He married and was the father of three children, as follows: Richard, born 1690; Elihew, born 1692; and Sarah, born 1694. No information concerning Richard and Sarah has been obtained. Elihew was the father of four children: Elihu, Elisha, Sarah, and Elizabeth. He probably died in 1753, at least his will was proved in that year. He devised his mill, which he built on twenty acres of land condemned for that purpose at the mouth of Beason's Run or Bastard Creek (now called Basin Run) in Rowlandville, to his son Elihu; his lands on the Susquehanna River to his son Elisha; and to his daughter Sarah, who had married a Mr. Bay, and then resided in South Carolina, a lot of negro slaves and other personal property.
His son Elisha was a doctor of medicine. He subsequently removed to Virginia and married a daughter of Charles Carter, of that State.
Elihu Hall Bay, a descendant of Sarah Bay, became a judge of some distinction in South Carolina. Nothing is known of his daughter Elizabeth, but inasmuch as her name is not mentioned in her father's will, it is probable that she died before it was made.
Elihu, the second person of that name, and the great-grandson of Richard, the founder of the family, married Catharine Orrick, of Baltimore County, June 16th, 1757. They were the parents of thirteen children as follows: Elihu, John, James, Elisha, Susanna, Charles, Samuel Chew, George Whitefield, Elizabeth, Henry, Catharine Orrick, Washington, and Julia Reed, all of whom were born between 1758 and 1778. Elihu Hall, the father of this numerous family, was one of the most conspicuous patriots of this country during the Revolutionary war, and was appointed second major of the Susquehanna Battalion of Maryland militia, by the provincial government of his native State, on the 6th of June, 1776. The same year, he named his son in honor of General Washington. Such was the prominence and popularity of the man, that this bold and patriotic action, was highly commended by the editor of one of the leading Philadelphia newspapers of that time. He probably died in 1791, as his will was proved in that year.
It is not within the scope of this work to give the history of all the descendants of this illustrious man, but the family of his son John has occupied such a prominent place in the politics and literature of the country, that it demands something more than a passing notice. In 1782, John Hall married Sarah Ewing, a daughter of Rev. John Ewing, a member of the Ewing family of this country, which settled on the banks of the romantic Octoraro, early in the last century. Mr. Ewing was a native of this county, and received his education at New London Academy, then in charge of Rev. Francis Allison, and became one of the most eminent scholars and Presbyterian divines of his time.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Hall spent many years at the family homestead, which he inherited from his father, on the banks of the Octoraro. While residing there in 1806, she wrote a "Sketch of a Landscape," which so well describes the beauties of that romantic section of country, that we make the following extract:
"The wide extended landscape glows with more
Than common beauty hills rise on hills—
An amphitheatre, whose lofty top,
The spreading oak, or stately poplar crowns—
Whose ever-varying sides present such scenes
Smooth or precipitous— harmonious still—
Mild or sublime,— as wake the poet's lay;
Nor aught is wanting to delight the sense,
The gifts of Ceres, or Diana's shades.
The eye enraptur'd roves o'er woods and dells,
Or dwells complacent on the numerous signs
Of cultivated life. The laborer's decent cot,
Marks the clear spring, or bubbling rill.
The lowlier hut hard by the river's edge,
The boat, the seine suspended, tell the place
Where in his season hardy fishers toil.
More elevated on the grassy slope,
The farmer's mansion rises mid his trees;
Thence, o'er his fields the master's watchful eye
Surveys the whole. He sees his flocks, his herds
Excluded from the grain-built cone; all else,
While rigid winter reigns, their free domain!
Range through the pastures, crop the tender root,
Or climbing heights abrupt, search careful out,
The welcome herb, now prematurely sprung
Through half-thawed earth. Beside him spreading elms
His friendly barrier from th' invading north,
Contrast their shields defensive with the willow
Whose flexile drapery sweeps his rustic lawn.
Before him lie his vegetable stores,
His garden, orchards, meadows— -all his hopes-—
Now bound in icy chains: but ripening suns
Shall bring their treasures to his plenteous board.
Soon too, the hum of busy man shall wake
Th' adjacent shores. The baited hook, the net
Drawn skilful round the watry cove, shall bring
Their prize delicious to the rural feast."
Mrs. Hall was one of the most gifted, accomplished, and versatile writers of her day, and seems to have inherited and transmitted to her children much of the genius and intellectuality of her distinguished father. Her book, entitled "Conversations on the Bible," was so popular as to astonish the author by the rapidity of its sale.
John and Sarah (Ewing) Hall were the parents of eleven children, four of whom were distinguished for great literary ability. Their son, Harrison Hall, was the author of a work on distillation, and for many years the proprietor and publisher of the Portfolio, a periodical of much celebrity in Philadelphia, where it was published, and elsewhere.
Another son, James Hall, studied law early in life, and afterwards distinguished himself in the battle of Lundy's Lane and other battles on the Canadian frontier, in the war of 1812. He subsequently removed to Illinois, and settled at Shawanese town, became judge of the circuit court, and was State treasurer for four years. He was a voluminous writer, and the author of eleven works on the western country.
John E. Hall was admitted to the bar in Baltimore in 1805. He was a distinguished author, and for a time was editor of the Portfolio.
Still another son, Thomas Mifflin Hall, was an author of no mean ability, and published a number of poetical and scientific contributions in the Portfolio. He studied medicine, and while on his way to embark in the service of one of the South American States, was lost at sea.
Henry Hall, the tenth child of Elihu Hall and Catharine Orrick Hall, was a physician, and married Hester Maclay, daughter of Hon. William Maclay, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Maclay and Robert Morris were the first United States Senators from Pennsylvania. William Maclay Hall, son of Henry just mentioned, was a Presbyterian minister. He died at Bedford, Pennsylvania, in 1851. Hon. William M. Hall, son of William Maclay Hall, is president judge of the sixteenth Judicial District of Pennsylvania, composed of the counties of Bedford and Somerset, and resides at Bedford, Pennsylvania. His brother, Hon. Lewis W. Hall, resided at Altoona, Pennsylvania, and represented that district for two terms in the Pennsylvania State Senate, during and after the war. He was twice elected speaker. He now resides at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
A portion of the family homestead is now in the possession of Richard Hall, the son of Washington Hall, and the great-great-great-grandson of the Richard Hall who settled on Mount Welcome in 1640. His brother Charles resides in Harford County, Maryland. Another branch of the family, which are the descendants of Charles, the son of the second Elihu, reside in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.
(Source: History of Cecil County, Maryland and the Early Settlements Around the Head of Chesapeake Bay and on the Delaware River, with sketches of some of the old families of Cecil County, by George Johnston, 1881. Published by the author, Elkton, Md., 1881. Chapter 28.)
Family/Spouse: Esther Maclay. Esther died in Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Children:
- 2. Rev. William Maclay Hall
 was born on 16 Feb 1801 in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; died on 28 Aug 1851 in Bedford, Bedford County, Pennsylvania.
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