Ohio History Journal

JUDGE JAMES HALL,

A Literary Pioneer of the Middle West.

 

DAVIS L. JAMES.

In the preparation of this sketch, acknowledgment should be made

of the writer's indebtedness to the "Beginnings of Literary Culture in the

Ohio Valley" by our fellow member Dr. W. H. Venable. This volume

published in 1891 is of the greatest importance and value to the student

of early literary history and an indispensable book of reference. It is a

matter for much regret that it is out of print, and only to be found with

difficulty. The materials for a revised edition are in the author's hands,

and it is hoped that he may feel justified in giving it to the public ere

long.

The Golden Age of Cincinnati was the decade of 1830-1840.

Her fame as a growing town was spread over the civilized world

by visitors from abroad. The beauty of her site, was the theme

of traveller and poet. The satire and ill-natured gossip of the

tribe of Trollope and Hall, failed to lessen the good name which

sympathetic and appreciative writers freely accorded to her

buildings, her regular streets, her enterprise, her society and her

literature.  Her people were industrious, "They seem," says

Chevalier "to have adopted Poor Richard's maxims as a Fifth

Gospel."  "Her business," writes the same acute observer "was

founded on sharp-sighted, wakeful and untiring industry. The

only patrimony which was inherited from their New England

fathers."  Her position in relation to literature is evidenced by

the publication of several magazines, literary journals and many

books; by the extensive, for those days, enterprises in publishing

and in bookselling, and in a host of literary men making for

Western Literature, who had chosen Cincinnati as their home.

But one city west of the Alleghanies, that near the mouth of the

Mississippi, exceeded her in population.  Nearly one hundred

steamboats belonged to the district controlled by the port of

Cincinnati in 1840. Her skies were clear, her atmosphere un-

defiled by the smoke of many railways, and factories, her streets

beautiful with rows of trees; her hillsides still clothed with the

primitive vegetation.         468

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Judge James Hall.                469   All these things made the fifth decade of the history of our city, one to permit calling it "The Golden Age of Cincinnati." Into this community in the first half of the period, a man, now in middle life, came to take his place. The forty years of his career had seen him successively, a soldier in the army of

the United States, who had done active service in the war of 1812; an officer in the regular army; a lawyer; an active prac- titioner; a prosecuting attorney; a judge; treasurer of the State of Illinois; an editor of several newspapers and magazines, a prolific writer and a correspondent for Eastern journals; the

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470      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

author of several volumes, one of which was published in Lon-

don. After twelve years' residence in Illinois, he turned his face

toward the Central City of the west, and Judge James Hall be

came one of her most active and useful citizens.

His work deserves more than a passing notice, and I have

thought a brief account of his varied career would be worthy a

paper for publication in the Quarterly.

James Hall was born in Philadelphia in 1793. His educa-

tion and culture were entirely of environment.  He had but

little scholastic instruction. His health was bad and his hatred

of teachers and curricula was as great a deterrent as his physical

weakness. He learned but little in the schools. Like many other

men of affairs and successful lives, he owed his literary taste

and culture to the society into which he was born, where learning

was in the air and where conversation is the great teacher.

Such a society may not give the breadth of view to be obtained

in Academic Halls, but it gives a depth and strength of mind and

of culture which no school or college alone can impart.

Mrs. Sarah Ewing Hall was the daughter of the Rev. John

Ewing, provost of the University of Pennsylvania, and pastor of

the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. Her education,

like that of her son, came solely through contact with the social

circle in her father's home. She learned Greek and Latin, from

hearing her brothers recite their lessons in the pastor's study.

She read everything that came in her way. Her marriage to Mr.

John Hall, a revolutionary soldier and a son of a Maryland

planter, with the sequence of varied domestic responsibilities did

not prevent a continuance of her study and writing. Her con-

versation was brilliant and always tended toward some end.

She wrote for the Portfolio, long the best known American

periodical, and at fifty published a volume, "Conversations on

the Bible," which passed through several editions and enjoyed

the distinction of being reprinted in England.

Such was the mother of the subject of our sketch. She

sympathized with her son's dislike of teachers and schools. She

took upon herself his training, and allowed his extravagant fond-

ness for reading to have free rein in the home library, where

like Bridget Elia, he was "tumbled early by design into a spacious

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Judge James Hall.                 471

 

closet of good old English reading  * *  * and browsed at will

upon that fair and wholesome pasturage."

The family met with financial misfortune early in Hall's

life, and he was placed in a counting house in Philadelphia for

two years. He studied law during this time and then left busi-

ness to finish his course. But the war spirit was strong, and in

1812 the Washington Guards enrolled him as a member. After

some camp service he was commissioned lieutenant, in the regular

army, under Col. Winfield Scott. A brief period of coast duty

was followed by orders to join the western army and Capt. Hall

fought bravely under Gen. Brown at the battles of Chippewa,

Niagara Falls and Lundy's Lane. He remained in commission

at the close of the war, and was sent to the Mediterranean with

Commodore Decatur. After this brief campaign he returned

home, and performed garrison duty in Rhode Island. He was

ordered to Pittsburg on ordnance service, and while here he re-

sumed the study of law, resigned his commission and was ad-

mitted to the bar in 1818.

He wrote for the Portfolio, now under the editorial charge

of his brother and assisted Morgan Neville in work on the

Pittsburg Intelligencer.

In 1820 he left Pittsburg to find new fields of adventure and

experience in Illinois. The story of his journey down the Ohio

on a flat boat is told in "Letters from the West" which originally

appeared in the Portfolio. These articles were collected and

sent to London to find a publisher. Bentley finally accepted them

and the volume appeared as "Letters from the West, by the

Honorable Judge Hall."  The original title which read, "By a

Young Gentleman from the West," was changed by some friend.

who thought the revised title would give dignity and importance

to the work. Quite the contrary was the effect, for the subject

matter of the book, full of witty and amusing anecdotes, with

many trenchant criticisms upon travelers' tales of the New

Country, seemed out of keeping with the "dignity of the bench."

"This," says Capt. Meline, "made the book the subject of ridicule

by the Quarterly. Judge Hall was so mortified by the circum-

stance that the book was never reprinted."

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472      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

The letters vary much in interest and value, but much of

Judge Hall's later work may be found in embryo in these chatty

records. He tells of the life on the flat boat, and describes the

beauties of the Great River. He gives an account of the settle-

ments in Illinois and describes the manners and life in the back-

woods, from personal observation and contact. He writes inter-

estingly of the Regulators and the lawless people of that early day

in Illinois, and some of his sketches are both interesting and

thrilling. The story of the "Harpes" a family of reckless and

infamous robbers and murderers, who lived in Kentucky, is told

circumstantially. This was made the subject of a long story pub-

lished later in a book called "The Harpe's Head." His criticisms

of English travelers are very severe. His feeling was that the

people of the west were made of such sturdy stuff and were

cast in such different moulds from their critics, that the average

traveler could not understand them. He foresaw a new civiliza-

tion coming rapidly out of the crude lives of these hardy pioneers

of the wilderness.

His note on Cincinnati (18₂₀) is very brief. He says, "We

arrived at Cincinnati in the morning, but when I inform you

that we remained here only a few hours, and that the greater

part of this time was spent with a friend and that friend a lovely

female, a companion of my dancing days, you will not be sur-

prised if I add, that I have nothing to relate concerning this

town." That he failed to record material for future generations,

he apologizes for, saying in the "language of a merry neighbor of

mine Hang posterity! What did posterity do for me. So I

shall write when I please and court the girls when I can."

The scenery of the river was impressive and he has left us

a picture of pristine beauty nearly one hundred years ago. The

spring was coming and the May of 1820, and notwithstanding the

cry of a change in climate, was not very different from that of

our day.

"As the season advances," he writes, "the forest is seen

rapidly discarding the dark and dusky habiliments of winter, and,

assuming its vernal robes, it blooms forth with renovated life

and lustre. The gum tree is clad in the richest green; the dog-

wood and redbud are laden with flowers of the purest white and

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Judge James Hall.                 473

 

deepest scarlet; the locust bends with the exuberance of its odor-

ous blossoms. On the southern sides of the hills the little flowers

are peeping forth, while winter barely retains a semblance of her

recent dominions over the northern exposures. The oak, the

elm, the walnut, the sycamore, the beech, the aspen, the hickory,

and the maple, which here tower to an incredible height, have

yielded to the sunbeams, and display their bursting buds and

expanding leaves. The tulip-tree waves her long branches, and

her yellow flowers high in the air. The wild rose, the sweet-briar

and the vine, are shooting into verdure; and, clinging to their

sturdy neighbors, modestly prefer their claims to admiration,

while they give early promise of fruit and fragrance * * *

Blame me not for yielding, amid such scenes, to the influence

of feeling, and giving up my whole soul to wild, and warm,

and visionary fancies * *   * I would rather glide silently

along the smooth current of the Ohio, lie extended upon the

deck at eve, gazing at the last rays of the sun, dimly discovered

on the tops of the tallest trees, or behold the morning beams of

the great luminary sparkling among the dew-drops, than sit

upon a throne and be debarred of such exquisite enjoyments !"

While unwilling to acknowledge the extreme unhealthiness

of Shawneetown and southern Illinois, he is quite free to admit

that the mosquitoes "are quite as numerous as the worst enemies

of repose and pleasant dreams could desire; as large and vigorous

and as musical as any other mosquitoes, grow where they may."

He facetiously quotes a traveler who "tells of an audacious mos-

quito who bit General Washington through the sole of his boot,"

and of a host of the same ravenous prowlers who ate a canoe

down to the water's edge in search of the "blood of an English-

man sweating under a load of blankets within the narrow vessel."

In Shawneetown he began the practice of the law, and edited

the Illinois Gazette. As an attorney he traveled incessantly

through nine or ten county circuits, "in search of adventure," he

writes in later years, "rather than actions at law." "The Legends

of the West * * * were more alluring than imaginary clients

or prospective fees." He thus amassed much material from

original sources of which he made good use in after years, and

which makes his writings of value to the historian of the West.

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474      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

He was active in the prosecution and suppression of the

bands of outlaws which infested the country, and showed the

courage of a soldier in meeting unflinchingly the perils of a

prosecutor of lawless and reckless men. Venable recites several

incidents which prove his coolness and indifference to danger

when engaged in this perilous work.

"For four years," says Col. Meline, "he fought for the dig-

nity of the law against the regulators, who would take the pun-

ishment of the lawless into their own hands, and the criminals

themselves who often had the sympathy of neighbors as bad as

themselves."

He served for three years as Circuit Judge, making his way

around on horseback carrying "slender wardrobes, and slenderer

libraries packed in saddlebags."

When the legislature legislated him out of office he was

elected by that body treasurer of the state, and he moved to

Vandalia, then the State Capital, to administer his office. Here

he started the Illinois Monthly Magazine, a journal devoted to

Western History and Literature, and edited a local newspaper,

"The Illinois Intelligencer."

The early decades of the nineteenth century were prolific in

a species of literary output, among which The Atlantic Souvenir,

The Token, The Pearl, Friendship's Offering, were conspicuous.

They were much sought for as holiday gifts and Christmas re-

membrances. The reading matter consisted of poems, stories and

essays and in their pages may be found the first works of many

of the literary lights of the later years of the century. They

were "embellished" with fine engravings, after pictures by the

best artists, and bound in choicest morocco or finest silk with

burnished gold edges, they ornamented every parlor and lady's

boudoir.

As to whether the enterprise of Nathan Guilford, or the

enthusiasm of James Hall is responsible for the Western Souv-

enir, history is silent. It is certain that Hall was keenly alive to

every means of bringing forward the West and Western Writers,

and to give both the place they deserved in the estimation of the

Literary east. But however it was, the Western Souvenir, a

little book of 3½ x 5 3/4 inches was launched in 1829. It is a rarity

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Judge James Hall.                      475

 

in Western Bibliography. It was bound in silk, with gilt edges all

round and illustrated by, or embellished with, six plates and an

engraved title page. The drawings were by Cincinnati artists,

and engraved by artisans of the City. A veritable Western prod-

uct.  The contributors were all western men, and the editor

was responsible for the greater part of the contents. He was as-

sisted by Timothy Flint, Benj. Drake, Otway Curry, Nathan Guil-

ford (a literary bookseller and publisher of the book), Morgan

Neville, whose contribution on "Mike Fink the last of the boat-

men" is called by Mr. Venable the "gem of the collection," and

has been quoted or used by all later writers on that remarkable

character.

Venable says the volume was not a financial success and its

promised continuance failed for want of patronage.      It is very

interesting as a first and last venture in the west of a literary

annual.

"The New Souvenir" is thus prefaced in verse, by the

editor, with no thanks to the author of Waverly:

 

"Oh! a new Souvenir is come out of the west,

Through all the wide borders it flies with a zest;

For save this fair volume, we Souvenir had none-

It comes unpreceded, it comes all alone;

So glossy in silk, and so neat in brevier,

There never was book like our new Souvenir!

 

It stays not for critic, and stops not for puff,

Nor dreads that reviewers may call it 'poor stuff!'

For ere the dull proser can rail, or can rate,

The ladies have smiled, and the critic comes late,

And the poets who laugh, and the authors who sneer,

Would be glad of a place in our new Souvenir.

 

So boldly it enters each parlour and hall,

'Mong Keepsakes, Atlantics, Memorials, and all,

That authors start up, each with hand on his pen,

To demand whence it comes, with the wherefore, and when;-

'Oh come ye in peace, or in war come ye here,

Or what is the aim of your new Souvenir!'

 

We've long seen your volumes o'erspreading the land.

While the west country people strolled rifle in hand;

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476       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

And now we have come, with these hard palms of ours,

To rival your poets in parlours and bowers.

There are maids in the West, Bright, Witty, and fair.

Who will gladly accept of our new Souvenir.

 

One hand to the paper, one touch to the pen,

We have rallied around us the best of our men:-

Away with the moccasin, rifle, and brand!

We have song, picture, silk, and gold-leaf at command--

Tis done!-Here we go with the fleet foot of deer--

They'll have keen pens that battle our new Souvenir."

The periodical literature of the Central West began with

the publication of Wm. Gibbs Hunt's "Western Review and Mis-

cellaneous Magazine" in Lexington, "the Athens of the West,"

in 1819. A few unimportant ventures preceded it, interesting

only to the Bibliographer. Next to this in interest came the

Western Quarterly Review, changed after its second number to

the "Western Monthly Review," published in Cincinnati, 1827-29,

and edited by the Rev. Timothy Flint, whose name is written

large upon the roll of Pioneers of Western Literature.

Third among the more important magazines of the early days

was the Illinois Monthly Magazine, edited by James Hall. Two

volumes covering two years were issued bearing the imprints of

Vandalia and Cincinnati. The files of this journal are very scarce,

and no copy of the second volume is to be found in the down-town

libraries. The Historical Society has a copy and I believe there

is a set in the Robert Clarke collection of Americana in the Van

Wormer Library. It contains much of value and interest to the

historian and antiquary. The editor stood manfully for Western

writers, encouraging them by using their effusions, both in prose

and verse, and adding not a little to the value of the Monthly

by contributions from his own store of facts, gathered during

his circuits in the state.

At the same time Judge Hall was editing a weekly paper in

Vandalia, and getting out the Monthly often under discouraging

conditions of publication.  Paper and type were hard to get,

supplies from Cincinnati were uncertain and slow in arriving.

In the March number, 1831, we find apology for delay in publica-

tion now two months late. "The paper for the present number,"

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Judge James Hall.                  477

 

writes the editor, "was shipped from Cincinnati December last,

and did not reach us until April, having been frozen up or other-

wise delayed for nearly three months." A printer will detect a

deplorable lack of "sorts" in the capital letters scattered through

the pages. These mechanical defects do not detract from the in-

terest and value of the articles, which include not only essays

upon general topics, but valuable sketches of early history gleaned

from original sources and often from the lips of living witnesses

of the events recorded. Reviews of Western books and writers,

articles upon local history, and upon the geology of the state, all

add to the value of the volumes.

In the midst of this activity came the political shift which

threw Judge Hall out of office, and he turned to Cincinnati as a

haven of rest, and here he spent the rest of his days.

The Directory of 1834 records the name of "James Hall,

Attorney-at-Law, boards Pearl Street House," a later one names

him as editor of the Western Monthly Magazine. This journal

the successor of the Illinois Monthly Magazine was ushered into

existence in January, 1833, very soon after its editor came to the

city. It was an immediate success, not such as would command

advertising at $2000 a page, but a success, independent of the

advertisements. A note to subscribers April, 1833, reads, "Nos.

I and 2 have been exhausted owing to the large demand. The

editor thought 700 copies a liberal provision, a second edition is

promised soon."

Time does not permit extended mention of this interesting

periodical, which remained the popular Western magazine for

about four years. Contributions were received from many writ-

ers; James H. Perkins, Morgan Neville, Benjamin Drake, W. D.

Gallagher, Rev. J. M. Peck, John H. James, were prominent

among them. All Western States were represented, Kentucky,

Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, Michigan, Mis-

sissippi, Ohio, furnished material for the pages of the new ven-

ture. Six ladies were among the writers for "The Magazine."

"And it is due to them to say, (writes the gallant editor) that

some of the most vigorous and popular articles which have

adorned our periodical have been the production of highly gifted

females."

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478       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

Reference is here made to Hannah F. Gould, the poetess,

Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz, whose stories were very popular, sixty

or seventy years since, and Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, a name

quite familiar to our generation.

The editor and publisher seem not to have pulled well to-

gether; misunderstanding between the financial backers was the

rule, and in 1836, the magazine passed entirely from the control

of Judge Hall. It continued one year longer under the editor-

ship of Joseph Reese Fry and with a circulation fallen to 1ooo

was sold to the Literary Journal and Review of Louisville and

so passed off the field.

The retirement of Judge Hall was precipitated by his inde-

pendent stand upon the Catholic question, brought out by a review

of Lyman Beecher's "Plea for the West"; the popular prejudice

against the Roman Church could not abide a defender, and sub-

scribers withdrew so rapidly and so generally that a subscription

list of 3000 dropped to under a thousand.

The year 1833 was a most fertile one in books published by

Judge Hall, "The Legends of the West," "The Harpe's Head,"

"The Soldier's Bride," "The Tales of the Border," "The Selec-

tions from the Writings of Mrs. Sarah Hall," all were issued

from Philadelphia presses, one bearing the imprint of his brother

Harrison Hall.

In the same year, a unique publication, to be placed beside

the Western Souvenir, as a Western Enterprise, appeared. Its

title page read: "The Western Reader; a series of useful les-

sons, designed to succeed Corey & Fairbank's Elementary Reader,

selected and arranged by James Hall" Cincinnati, 1833.

The preface apologizes for a new reading book. Changes

and improvements in our educational system demanding that

"books shall be remodeled to keep alive the interest of the young."

No sentiment is admitted which would be pernicious to the young

mind. About one quarter of the 106 selections are by Western

writers. The preface further states, "The work is of Western

origin, and manufacture; having been prepared in this city ex-

pressly for the use in our schools, and published here by means

of our own workmanship and materials." It was a veritable Cin-

cinnati product and is now a rarity sought for by collectors.

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Judge James Hall.                 479

 

"Sketches of History, Life and Manners of the West," in

two volumes, was published by the author's brother, Harrison

Hall in 1835. It is one of the most important of Hall's writings,

and of much interest and value to the historian. It contains a

fund of information relating to the early settlements, and many

scattered records of the generation of pioneers then passing. He

states that in these volumes "nothing farther is attempted, than

a collection of facts-some of which are the result of the writer's

own observation." He disavows any intention of writing a con-

nected history, but he has nevertheless left us a quite complete

account of the settlements and Indian Wars of the region em-

braced in the Northwest Territory and Kentucky. The book

was severely criticised by the North American Review, and the

author charged with gross inaccuracy. He was prompt to reply

to his critics, and in the preface to "Statistics of the West, at the

close of the year 1837," he defends himself both vigorously and

effectively.

The last named volume is really a supplement to the

"Sketches," and contains a description of the physical conditions

of the country and a full account of its commerce and navigation.

A list of the early steamboats found in the end of the volume is

very interesting. The volume first issued as the "Statistics of the

West," was twice reprinted, with additions. In 1838 as "Notes

on the Western States, containing descriptive sketches of their

climate, soil, resources and scenery" and again in 1848, bearing

the title of "The West; its commerce and navigation."

The "Sketches" and "The Legends of the West," as his col-

lection of Western stories was called, were both reprinted in the

50's. The former as the "Romance of Western History" in 1857,

and the latter under the same title, appeared in several editions

in New York and in Cincinnati. Venable remarks that these two

books contain "the salt and substance of Judge Hall's work."

But in making this statement, I think he overlooked one of

Hall's valued writings-namely, the literary and historical part

of McKenney & Hall's "History of the Indian Tribes of North

America." This great work, said by the North American Review

to be second to Audubon's Birds for completeness and value, was

projected and carried on by Thomas L. McKenney, the superin-

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480       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

tendent of Indian affairs in Washington. About 1824 Col. Mc-

Kenney began a collection of portraits of noted Indians who

came to Washington on affairs relating to treaties and other

business with the government. An artist of some repute named

King was engaged for the work and his portraits were thought to

be faithful and lifelike.

The reproduction of these portraits by lithography was be-

gun in 1836 or '37, and Judge Hall was to write the historical

sketches and biographies. The engraving was done in Phila-

delphia, and the plates colored by hand. The first volume issued

in parts was completed in 1838, and the third bringing the number

of plates up to 120 was not finished till 1844. The whole form-

ing three large folio volumes.

The difficulties in getting the matter for the historical

sketches, were much greater than had been anticipated, for when

the work was begun, it was thought that the records of the War

Department would furnish ready to hand all that would be needed.

This expectation was not fulfilled, and Judge Hall undertook to

gather the necessary information from original sources. The

work contains a vast amount of anecdote, and numerous sketches

of Indian character, making it a valuable and original contribu-

tion to the history of the American Indian.

The expense of the enterprise, notwithstanding the price

was $120 was so great that several publishers failed in the en-

deavor to get the work out, and when it finally was finished

there was nothing left for the authors but glory, their share of the

profits being absolutely nothing.

It is not necessary to more than mention a campaign life

of General Harrison which came out in 1836, during first can-

didacy of "Old Tippecanoe," an interesting monograph made up

of material gathered when the Sketches of the West was written.

The writing of the Indian Biographies consumed nearly

eight years of leisure and with the completion of the work, Judge

Hall's original literary labors came to an end, though the new

editions of the Sketches and Legends contain interesting auto-

biographical material. A notable address on "The Dignity of

Commerce" delivered before the Young Men's Mercantile Library

Association in 1846, also deserves mention.

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Judge James Hall.                481

 

This address is a forceful defense of the commercial spirit

and its influence in the conquest of the Great West. In it he

gives a history of the development of the country through the

energy and enterprise of men engaged in commerce and finance.

"The Pioneers led the way to the Wilderness. They bore

back the savage and possessed the country. Their lives were full

of peril and romance. The farmers subdued the soil and have

won the fruitful fields which they possess through toils and

dangers." But what would the country have been without com-

merce. "Commerce has supplied the money to build mills, make

roads, canals and steamboats. It brought the market to the

farmer. Agricultural products without means of marketing them

are not worth the labor of production. They are now sources of

wealth."

In 1835 Judge Hall became the cashier of the Commercial

Bank, a corporation with a million dollars capital, and continued

with the reorganized institution in 1843, acting in the same ca-

pacity till 1853, when he became its president, and filled this

position till his death. His career as a banker was a successful

one. He left the Commercial Bank with profitable business, and

a credit which seemed as solid as the eternal hills.

During his banking career he published but little, and did

little original work. His ideas as to the function of the banker

and merchant were expressed in the address quoted above. "The

acquisition of wealth" he writes, "does not necessarily blunt the

sensibilities or destroy the manliness of a generous character

Money sought by honorable means and with moderation affords

an exercise to the higher and nobler powers of the mind and

heart." "Money should be regarded as the agent and represen-

tation of the good it may be made to perform  * * * in af-

fording the means to promote the public good."

Judge Hall was twice married. His first wife Mary Har-

rison Posey, was the daughter of Capt. John Posey, and a grand-

daughter of Gen. Thomas Posey, a revolutionary officer whose

life was written by Hall, and published in the second series of

Spark's American Biography. She died in 1832 leaving five chil-

dren, none of whom are now living.

Vol. XVIII-31.

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482      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

In 1839 he married Mrs. Mary Louisa Alexander, a sister of

the late Governor Charles Anderson and Larz Anderson of this

city. He took up his residence on Symmes street, now East

Third street, and his house still stands, facing the new Lytle

Park.

He was in bad health for several years before his death, and

to get away from the distractions of city life he bought a country

home on one of the hills overlooking the Little Miami river

about a mile east of Loveland. The spot is well known to the

older citizens of Cincinnati. It overlooks the valley, and its

beautiful vistas and broadly extended prospects will live always

in the memories of those whose good fortune it has been to know

it. Here he lived in comparative retirement till he died July 5,

1868. His funeral services were held in Christ Church on the

8th and he now rests in Spring Grove, where a simple monument

without commemorative inscription marks his grave. Four chil-

dren of the second marriage survived him, three of whom still

live. His eldest son was a member of the Cincinnati Literary

Club, and contributed to its list of papers. Under the pen name

of "Timothy Timid" he wrote many letters, but ill health and

failing eyesight have compelled him to give up both business and

literature.

In person Judge Hall was short and stout. His manners

courtly, his habits studious and retiring. A good likeness of him

is to be found in the late edition of Romance of Western History.

He was intensely religious, and found in the Bible and other de-

votional books the consolation and strength, which enabled him

to bear patiently the many years of ill health which came to him

in later life.

By permission of one of the family I am able to quote from

a brief sketch written by one of his daughters, this note on his

character:

"He was a man who could always, and under all circum-

stances be relied upon. He was the very coolest man in time of

danger or in an emergency I have ever seen.

"He had naturally a quick temper, and a warm heart, and he

advocated enthusiastically any cause he espoused; but his en-

thusiasm was always tempered by good taste, and the quick tem-

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Judge James Hall.                 483

 

per was held in check by the coolness of his judgment and by

principle.

"A beautiful trait in his character was his love for children

and his kindness to them and his patience with them at all times.

I never knew him to be so busy, no matter what his occupation,

and no matter how hurried he might be, as not to turn to one of

his own children, kindly, patiently and courteously to answer any

of their questions, if they were ever so foreign to the subject of

his thought.

"He never could have accomplished the amazing amount of

work that he did and of so many different sorts, if he had not

possessed the energy, the courage, perseverance, industry and

the rich fund of humor that carried him through and raised him

above all difficulties. And the dear good heart full of love to

God and man that made a perpetual sun shine within and around

him."

It is perhaps too much to say that Judge Hall's work as

litterateur makes him a candidate for place in America's Hall of

Fame, but as a pioneer, as a consistent, and persistent, champion

of the West in letters, in commerce, and in civilization and as

a herald of the great development which has in all things, per-

haps except in literature, fulfilled his prophecy, he deserves honor

and regard. He contributed largely to the work which Dr. Daniel

Drake enjoined upon his contemporaries, of transmitting "to

posterity a graphic description of the Great Valley as it appeared

in primitive loveliness to the eyes of the pioneers," before civiliza-

tion transformed it. He added to this natural picture a faithful

portrait of the life of the early settlers in their homes and

families, a portrait which enables us to account for the wonderful

changes wrought by their successors in the work of making a

garden out of a wilderness.

Thomson in enumerating the long catalogue of his writings

says, "The West owes him a monument and should do justice in

his memory," and Dr. Allibone adds to a sketch of his career

"That few have done so much for the cause of western civiliza-

tion and intellectual improvement of the country at large. Such

men should be counted worthy of all honor."

Cincinnati, Ohio, June 12, 1909.

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