Augustus Hall (April 29, 1814 – February 1, 1861), a lawyer, was a one-term Democratic

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Iowa's 1st congressional district Iowa's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its northeastern part, bordering the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, and the Mississippi River. The district includes the cities o ...

, and chief justice of the

Nebraska Territory The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebrask ...

Biography

Born in Batavia, New York, Hall was the son of Samuel Hall, who commanded a colonial company in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

and was a member of the Whig Party.Julius Sterling Morton, Albert Watkins, George L. Miller,
Illustrated History of Nebraska
" Vol. 1. pp. 348 n.5, 413 (Cedar Rapids: Torch Press 1911). He attended the common schools and Middleburgh (New York) Academy, and studied law. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1836 and commenced practice in

Mount Pleasant, Ohio Mount Pleasant is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in southern Jefferson County, Ohio, Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. The population was 394 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville met ...

(according to some sources) or

Mount Vernon, Ohio Mount Vernon is a city in Knox County, Ohio, United States. It is located northeast of Columbus. The population was 16,990 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Knox County. History The community was platted in 1805, and named after M ...

(according to his congressional biography). Hall served as assistant United States marshal in 1839, and

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...

of Union County from 1840 to 1842. In 1844 he moved to Keosauqua, a settlement in the southeast area of what was then

Iowa Territory The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Iowa. The remain ...

, and later the state of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

when Iowa was admitted to the Union in 1846. In 1852 he was chosen by the Democrats as one of the presidential electors and cast his vote for Franklin Pierce, who had carried Iowa.Benjamin F. Gue, " History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," Vol. 4 (Augustus Hall), pp. 114-15(1902). In 1854, Hall was elected as a Democrat to represent Iowa's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House, defeating Whig candidate R. L. B. Clark. He served in the Thirty-fourth Congress, from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1857. The 1854 election was the last before the establishment of the Iowa Republican Party, which for decades thereafter dominated most congressional elections in Iowa. In 1856 Hall won the Democratic nomination, but was defeated in the general election by Republican

Samuel Curtis Samuel Curtis (born in Walworth, Surrey on 29 August 1779-died at La Chaire, Rozel Bay, Jersey, on 6 January 1860

. In 1858,

President Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

appointed Hall as chief justice of the Nebraska Territory, which then encompassed a vast area west of the Missouri River (to the western edge of the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

) and north of Kansas Territory (to the Canada–US border). Upon his appointment he immediately moved to Bellevue, Nebraska. He was Chief Justice until his death in Bellevue on February 1, 1861. He was interred in Prospect Hill Cemetery in

North Omaha North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River and Carter Lake, Iowa on the ...

. Hall and his wife, Jane B. Smith Hall, were the parents of Richard Smith Hall, who became a leading Omaha attorney. Hall was also the father of the horticulturalist Theodosia Burr Shepherd.

Hall County, Nebraska Hall County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 58,607, making it Nebraska's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Grand Island. The county was formed in 1858; it was name ...

, where Grand Island is located, was reportedly named for Chief Justice Hall, although some attribute the name to a local citizen.August F. Buechler, Robert J. Barr, Dale P. Stough, Bayard H Paine,
History of Hall County, Nebraska
" p. 183 (Lincoln, Neb. : Western Publishing and Engraving Co., 1920).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Augustus 1814 births 1861 deaths People from Batavia, New York Politicians from Omaha, Nebraska Burials at Prospect Hill Cemetery (North Omaha, Nebraska) County district attorneys in Ohio United States Marshals Nebraska Democrats Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa People from Keosauqua, Iowa 19th-century American politicians People from Bellevue, Nebraska

Biography

See also

References