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John Hall

Lowndes County records distinguish two adult John Halls by 1840. The older household head was born between 1791 and 1800. The younger man, written as John Hall Jr. on the original census schedule, was born about 1812–1814. The suffixes distinguish the men but do not by themselves prove that they were father and son.

John Hall Sr.

Folks Huxford's Morven postmaster list identifies John Hall Sr. as postmaster beginning April 1, 1836. An 1841 sheriff's-sale notice separately calls him “John Hall Sen'r” and places his residence on 343 acres in District 12, Land Lot 270. Huxford also reports a John Hall commissioned second lieutenant of the 660th District in 1831. John Sr. is the better chronological candidate, but the original commission has not been inspected.

A 1925 obituary says Lottie Hall was a niece of Sion Hall and identifies her father as John Hall. This explicitly makes that John a brother of Sion. Chronology favors John Sr., but the obituary supplies no suffix or original parentage source. John Sr. as Sion's brother is therefore secondary-supported and probable, not verified.

John Hall Jr.

John Jr.'s 1840 household contained a man and woman ages twenty to twenty-nine and three boys under five. In 1850 and 1860, the continuing Lowndes household included William Hall at the expected age. This makes John Jr. William M. Hall's strong-probable father, although no inspected record states the relationship directly.

Elizabeth was nineteen in 1850 and was not the woman in John Jr.'s 1840 household. Francis Pearson Hall's 1938 Georgia death certificate names his parents as John Hall and Elizabeth Easter. The census also places Roxanna, Instant, and Sarah Easters in John and Elizabeth's 1850 household. Elizabeth Easter was John Jr.'s later wife and Francis's verified mother. She was William M. Hall's probable stepmother; William's biological mother remains unresolved.

Militia and land records

The original 1836 Lowndes general-militia return lists an unsuffixed John Hall as a private in the 660th District. John Jr., then about twenty-two to twenty-four, is the stronger candidate. The manuscript does not distinguish him from John Sr., and a militia return is not proof of active Creek War service.

An 1845 legal notice names John Hall with Enoch and Sion Hall as securities in Drury Vickers v. Enoch Hall. It verifies association, not kinship. Later deed transcriptions use John Hall's millpond as a boundary and report an 1877 conveyance from “heirs of John Hall” to Rebecca Hall. The original deed images are not available online, the heirs are unnamed in the transcription, and a separate William G. Hall had held the relevant Lot 132 in the 1840s. Those deeds cannot yet be assigned safely to John Sr. or Jr.

Evidence status

  • Verified: two adult John Hall households in 1840; John Sr.'s 1841 Lot 270 residence; John Jr.'s continuing 1850–1870 household.
  • Strong probable: John Jr. was William M. Hall's father.
  • Secondary-supported/probable: John Sr. was Sion Hall's brother.
  • Unresolved: John Sr. as John Jr.'s father; William's biological mother; the 1831 officer and 1836 private identities; the heirs in the 1877 Lot 132 deed.

Sources

  1. “Lowndes County General Militia, 1836,” original manuscript, 660th District, Valdosta State University Archives, https://vtext.valdosta.edu/handle/10428/1219.
  2. Southern Recorder, 8 April 1845, p. 4, sheriff's sale, https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82016415/1845-04-08/ed-1/seq-4/.
  3. 1840 U.S. census, Lowndes County, Georgia; Ancestry collection 8057, records 1792611 and 1792786, images 4411334_00499 and 4411334_00509.
  4. Folks Huxford, History of Brooks County, Georgia (1948), pp. 29–33 and militia roster p. 56. Used as a retrospective lead.
  5. 1850, 1860, and 1870 U.S. censuses, Lowndes County, Georgia, John Hall household.
  6. Georgia death certificate for Francis Pearson Hall, 1938, naming John Hall and Elizabeth Easter as parents; FamilySearch record QJX9-C8M1, image 939F-MBS5-1T.
  7. Valdosta Daily Times, 1925 obituary identifying Lottie Hall as Sion Hall's niece and John Hall's daughter; later kinship evidence.
  8. C. E. Hightower, Lowndes County deed transcriptions, Book C, pp. 101–102 and 201–202; Book L, p. 37. Original deed images not available online.