Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

esided for ten years, and in Hartford, in
which he spent the latter part of his life,
there was no name in business circles
that carried greater weight for ability and
uprightness than that of John Henry Hall.
He came of the best New England
stock, and himself represented the ninth
generation of that god-fearing, progressive,
and intelligent race which has done
so much to imprint its own character
upon American institutions. The first of
the family in this country was John Hall,
who was born in County Kent, England,
in 1584, and came to Massachusetts, set-
tling in Roxbury, in 1633. In the fall of
that year, he was one of a party who ex-
plored the Connecticut river and the
neighboring region, and their report,
dated January 20, 1834, led to the migra-
tions from Dorchester to Wethersfield
and from Cambridge to Hartford. The
records give his name as having been
made a "freeman" in Boston in 1635. He
went in 1636 with the Hooker and Stone
colony to Hartford, and three years later
brought his family to the place. He
cleared and built a homestead on a tract
of six acres west of the New York, New
Haven & Hartford Railroad, and now
known as the Sigourney (or Catlin) place.
The grandson of this man, Samuel Hall,
of the third American generation, moved
in lyigto Middletown (afterwards known
as Chatham, and still later as Portland)
and ever since that time the family has
been identified with that city.
Alfred Hall, the father of John Henry
Hall, was a descendant of this pioneer,
and was one of the first students to enter
Washington College (now known under
the name of Trinity College), and his eld-
est son, Samuel Hall, was the first son of
a graduate to enter the same college. Alfred
Hall studied law in the Harvard Law
School, completing the course, but at his
father's request he entered upon work in
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
360
the management of the brown stone
quarry in which the latter was interested,
which bore the name of the Shaler & Hall
Quarry Company, which had been organ-
ized during the Revolution by Nathaniel
Shaler and Joel Hall, the latter being the
grandfather of Alfred Hall. Alfred Hall
later succeeded his father in the presidency
of the company, and died Septem-
ber 11, 1873.
Alfred Hall married, September 10,
1833, Maria Lydia, daughter of Seth and
Maria (Ransom) Whiting, of Hartford,
and granddaughter of Amos Ransom, a
Revolutionary soldier. To them were
born eight children, of whom the young-
est son was John Henry, of the present
biographical notice.
John Henry Hall was born March 24,
1849, in Portland, Connecticut, and as a
young boy went to the local public
schools. He was then sent to Chase's
famous school, in Middletown, and later
finished his school work at the Epis-
copal Academy at Cheshire, Connecticut.
Deciding to enter a business life, he
entered the employ of Sturgis, Bennett
& Company, of New York, at that time
one of the largest importers of tea and
coffee in the country. Here he remained
for five years and did good
work, achieving promotions which put
him at the age of nineteen at the head
of the foreign and insurance depart-
ments. In December, 1877, he returned
to Portland, having purchased a share
in the Pickering governor business. He
saw the possibilities in the business
which went under the firm name of T. R.
Pickering & Company, although to a less
shrewd eye they were not so evident. Into
this venture Mr. Hall put his customary
energy and his keen executive ability,
with the result that it was soon in a more
than prosperous condition. In the five
vears of his first association with the firm