Hall, James 1744-1826
Military officer; born in Carlisle, Pa., Aug. 22, 1744; graduated at Princeton in 1774; became pastor of the Presbyterian church at Bethany, N. C., in 1778. He belonged to the church militant, and during the Revolutionary War was an ardent patriot. He raised a troop of cavalry, and was at once commander and chaplain. He is the author of a Report of a Missionary Tour through the Mississippi and the southwestern country. He died in Bethany, N. C., July 25, 1826.
Military officer; born in Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 19, 1793; enlisted as a private in 1812; commanded a detachment from his company at the battle of Chippewa in 1814 and at the siege of Fort Erie; received a commission in the army in 1815; and served in Decatur's expedition to Algiers on the United States brig Enterprise. He left the army in 1818; was admitted to the bar the same year; removed to Shawneetown, Ill., in 1820, and to Cincinnati in 1833. He edited at various times the Illinois gazette, the Illinois Intelligencer, the Illinois monthly magazine, and the Western monthly magazine. Among his published works are Life of Thomas Posey; Life of Gen. W. H. Harrison; Notes on the Western States; History of the Indian tribes; The wilderness and the War-path, etc. He died July 5, 1868.
Geologist; born in Hingham, Mass., Sept. 12, 1811; was graduated at the Rensselaer School (now Polytechnic Institute) in Troy, in 1832; was retained there as assistant Professor of Chemistry and Natural Science, and became full professor in 1854. He held this chair till 1876, when he became professor emeritus. In 1836, when the geological survey of New York was organized, and four divisions made of the State, he was appointed assistant geologist in the second division. In the following year he was appointed State geologist. In 1838-41 he explored the western portion of the State and embodied the results in the second, third, fourth, and fifth Annual reports on the work. His final report on the survey of the fourth geological district was issued in 1843 as Geology of New York, part IV. During that year he took charge of the paleontological work of the State survey, the results of which are published in 13 volumes entitled the Natural history of New York. This is considered the greatest work of its kind in the world. It is estimated that the work cost the State more than $1,000,000. It is valuable not only because of the paleontological information which it contains, but also for its details of the researches westward to the Rocky Mountains. These researches form the basis of all the knowledge of geology of the Mississippi Valley. In 1855 he was also State geologist for Iowa, and in 1857 for Wisconsin. In 1866-93 he was director of the New York State Museum. Dr. Hall gave much time to the investigation of crystalline stratified rocks, and he was the discoverer of the persistence and significance of mineralogical character as an indicator to classification. In speaking of this a scholar has said: “It is not too much to say that the method was established by the New York survey, and that it finds its best in the classic fourth district; here it was that American stratigraphic geology was founded.” Furthermore, Dr. Hall originated the rational [203] theory of mountains, which is held to be one of the most valuable contributions made to isostasy. His publications include beside those mentioned: Graptolites of the Quebec group; the paleontological portions of Fremont's exploring expedition, appendix a; Expedition to the Great Salt Lake; United States and Mexican boundary survey; United States Geological exploration of the Fortieth parallel (vol. IV., 1877); Geological survey of Iowa, and chapters on geology, paleontology and physical geography in the Report on the Geological survey of the State of Wisconsin. He died in Echo Hill, N. H., Aug. 7, 1898.
