BIOGRAPHY - James D. Hall
JAMES D. HALL is an honored pioneer of what is now Ford County and
resides in Paxton. He came to the county in February, 1852, and soon after
his settlement here, the Tax Collector called at his house and told him that
there were then but eighteen settlers' cabins in the region now embraced in
Ford County, that was set off from Vermilion.
Mr. Hall was born in the town of Adelphi, Ross County, Ohio, April 10, 1821,
and is a son of James and Hester (Hillery) Hall. His parents were from
Cumberland County, Md.,and settled in Ohio prior to the War of 1812, in
which his father and uncles took part. In his youth, our subject learned the
blacksmith's trade and in 1839 worked in Indiana, locating near Attica,
where he engaged in farm work and teaming, receiving for one year's services
only $100. Two years later, he removed to Warren County of the same State,
where he rented a farm for two years. In the summer of 1844, in company with
nine others, he entered eleven hundred acres of Government land on the
prairie by pre-emption, and the first year a part of this was broken and
planted in crops. The following year, Mr. Hall had his share separated and
afterward added to his farm by subsequent purchase. In a small way, he began
dealing in cattle and continued buying, raising and selling until he did an
extensive business in that line. In 1851, he took a drove of cows through to
Northern Wisconsin, selling them in Oshkosh, that State. On his return, he
prospected for a location in Illinois, and in February, 1852, settled in
what was known as Henderson's Grove, then in Vermilion but now in Ford
County. There he engaged in farming and stock-raising.
Mr. Hall was married in Fountain County, Ind., in 1841, the lady of his
choice being Miss Eliza A. Wisman, a native of Virginia, and a daughter of
John Wisman. Five children were born of their union, but only two are now
living. Henry C., the eldest, wedded Miss Mary Pierpont and is engaged in
the grain business in Paxton; Hester died in infancy; William F. was drowned
in the Mississippi River when eighteen years of age; and Rebecca, widow of
David H. Snyder, resides in Paxton.
Mr. Hall made his home in Henderson's Grove until the spring of 1854, when
he bought a tract of land on section 33, Patton Township. He is said to have
built the first frame house north of the Vermilion River, in what is now
Ford County. His farm contained two hundred and eighty-six acres and was one
of the best in the county. In 1860, he was elected Sheriff of Ford County
and served a term of two years in that office. On his election to the
position, he removed to Paxton, returning to his farm at the close of his
term of service and in 1865 again came to Paxton, where, in company with his
son, Henry C., he engaged in the grain trade. In 1869, we again find him
upon the farm but he also continued business as a grain dealer. Since 1885,
he has resided in the city. He exercises his right of franchise in support
of the Republican party, and in his views on the subject of religion is an
avowed atheist. Mr. Hall is one of the oldest surviving pioneers of Ford
County and well deserves mention among her early settlers.
Extracted 04 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from Portrait and Biographical Record of Ford County, Illinois, published in 1892, pages 236-237.
