Horace Dudley Hall.
Horace Dudley Hall was the son of Dudley and Hepzibah Jones (Fitch) Hall, and was born in Medford, September 15, 1831.
As a boy he attended the private schools in the town, which were at that time common, and later at Jamaica Plain and Concord, Mass. In the latter he pursued a course to fit himself for college, but his desire to see the world led him to abandon the pursuit of education and take a trip to Smyrna in one of the vessels owned by his father.
Years afterwards, on a visit to Concord, he called on Miss Emeline Barrett, who had kept the school he had attended—a circumstance he was fond of relating—and endeavored to have her recognize him without disclosing his identity.
Not being able to do so, he asked her if she could recall the worst boy she had ever had in the school.
‘Why, this is n't Horace Hall!’
and recognition immediately followed.
He was married on November 16, 1853, to Miss Abbie Allen of Medford, daughter of Kingsley and Abigail Fuller (Smith) Allen, in Grace Church, by the rector, Rev. Justin Field, it being the first marriage solemnized by him after he assumed that position.
Five children blessed this union, three of them being sons.
At the age of twenty-one he went into the business of tea importer and dealer, with Robert B. Williams of Boston, under the firm name of Williams & Hall, a partnership which existed until after the death of his father, in 1868, when he retired from business, an action for which he frequently expressed regret.
He died in Medford, December 28, 1904.
He was a man of a bluff, outspoken manner, upright and honorable in all his dealings, and of an extremely kindly and generous disposition.
The social meetings of the Historical Society were frequently enlivened by his original conversation and witty stories.
His interest in historical and genealogical matters is well known to those associated with him. The [p. 45] writer was invited to his home a few years ago to receive from him a gift of valuable papers, consisting of old deeds, letters, etc., pertaining to Medford, which have since been loaned to the society and are known as the ‘Hall Papers.’
His familiar face is gone, but the memory of his benevolence and good qualities will ever be a pleasant recollection, and particularly so to many of our citizens who received the benefit of his kindness frequently shown in a manner peculiar to himself.—
A. P. J.
