David Hall (January 4, 1752 – September 18, 1817) was an American lawyer and politician from

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, in

Sussex County, Delaware Sussex County is located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Delaware, on the Delmarva Peninsula. As of the 2020 census, the population was 237,378. The county seat is Georgetown. The first European settlement in the state of Delaware w ...

. He was an officer in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, and member of the

Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

, who served as

Governor of Delaware A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

Early life and family

Hall was born in

Lewes, Delaware Lewes ( ) is an incorporated city on the Delaware Bay in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population is 2,747. Along with neighboring Rehoboth Beach, Lewes is one of the principal cities of Delawar ...

, son of David and Mary Kollock Hall. His grandfather was Nathaniel Hall, who known as "the Indian Fighter." He came to Delaware from Connecticut in 1700. His father, David Hall, Sr. was a well known farmer from around Lewes, who was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and a frequent member of the Colonial Assembly from 1753 until the

. In 1776, David Jr. married Catherine Tingley, daughter of Samuel Tingley, the Rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church. They had six children: Elizabeth, Mary, Jane, Catherine, Lydia, and Martha. In time he built a home at 107 Kings Highway, across the road from the

Zwaanendael Museum In Lewes, Delaware the Zwaanendael Museum was created to honor the 300th anniversary of Delaware's first European settlement, Zwaanendael, founded 1631. The museum models the former City Hall in Hoorn, Netherlands. It has 17th century Dutch elem ...

. They were members of the Lewes Presbyterian Church.

Military career

Hall studied law and was admitted to the bar in

New Castle, Delaware New Castle is a city in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The city is located six miles (10 km) south of Wilmington and is situated on the Delaware River. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 5,285. History New Castl ...

, in 1773. Already a member of the Sussex County militia under General Dagworthy, he joined the 1st Delaware Regiment at the beginning of the

War of Independence This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence. List See also * Lists of active separatist movements * List of civil wars * List of o ...

and served as captain under Colonel

John Haslet John Haslet ( – January 3, 1777) was an American Presbyterian clergyman and soldier from Milford, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a veteran of the French and Indian War and an officer of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, serving ...

at the battles of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

and White Plains. Following Haslet's death at

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

in January 1777, he became the leader of the regiment, and was promoted to colonel in April 1777. He led the regiment at the

Battle of Brandywine The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the Ame ...

and again at the

Battle of Germantown The Battle of Germantown was a major engagement in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War. It was fought on October 4, 1777, at Germantown, Pennsylvania, between the British Army led by Sir William Howe, and the American Con ...

where he was wounded on October 4, 1777. The following year he spent recovering, recruiting new soldiers in Wilmington and serving on

Courts Martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

. He returned to active service in June 1779 at the

Middlebrook encampment "Middlebrook encampment" may refer to one of two different seasonal stays of the Continental Army in central New Jersey near the Middlebrook in Bridgewater Township in Somerset County. They are usually differentiated by either the date of the encamp ...

, spent the inactive summer with the regiment, but returned home in October 1779, complaining of his wound and lack of provisioning. When the

Delaware Regiment The 198th Signal Battalion is an Expeditionary Signal Battalion in the Delaware Army National Guard. Delaware is known as the "First State," as referenced in their motto "First Regiment of First State." The unit specializes in command post ...

went to South Carolina in April 1780, Hall did not go. Responding to his continuing requests, the General Assembly authorized some payment, but it was never enough, and finally, in April 1782, Hall resigned his commission. Hall was an original member of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

Political career

Meanwhile, Hall pursued his law practice in

and entered politics. He was a Jeffersonian

Democrat-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

, like most Presbyterians, but in Anglican Lewes, he was in the minority. He was badly beaten by

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

Richard Bassett Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

when he ran for governor in 1798. He ran again in 1801 against Episcopalian Nathaniel Mitchell, a professed "Deist," and a person openly critical of Methodists. Hall emphasized his Presbyterian faith, and in spite of losing

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

Counties again badly, he won Presbyterians in

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

by such a large margin that he carried the state by 18 votes. The

Federalists The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

considered using the recently passed

Alien and Sedition Acts The Alien and Sedition Acts were a set of four laws enacted in 1798 that applied restrictions to immigration and speech in the United States. The Naturalization Act increased the requirements to seek citizenship, the Alien Friends Act allowed th ...

to try to nullify some of the recent immigrant

vote, but with their continued control of the General Assembly, they grudgingly "allowed" him to take office. Hall served as governor from January 19, 1802 until January 15, 1805. During this time

Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours ( or ; ; 14 December 1739 – 7 August 1817) was a French-American writer, economist, publisher and government official. During the French Revolution, he, his two sons and their families immigrated to the Uni ...

bought the old

Jacob Broom Jacob Broom (October 17, 1752 – April 25, 1810) was an American Founding Father, businessman, and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. As a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, he was a signer of the United States Constituti ...

cotton mills on Brandywine Creek and began his gunpowder business. This was also the point of the greatest abolitionist sentiment in Delaware, when the General Assembly failed by one vote to enact a gradual emancipation bill. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the

U.S. House 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 ...

in 1805 against

James M. Broom James Madison Broom (1776 – January 15, 1850) was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party, who served as a U. S. Representative from Delaware. Early life and fa ...

; and again in 1812 for the seat won by the

candidate, Thomas Cooper. The next year he was named a judge of the Sussex County

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

Death and legacy

Hall died at

, and is buried there in the Lewes Presbyterian Church cemetery. The

Col. David Hall House Col. David Hall House is a historic home located at Lewes, Sussex County, Delaware. The main house dates to about 1780, and is a -story, three-bay, frame structure. A lower -story wing was added about 1805. The main house is sheathed in its ori ...

was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1976.

Almanac

Elections were held the first Tuesday of October. The governor takes office the third Tuesday of January and had a three-year term. Judges of the Courts of Common Pleas were selected by the General Assembly for the life of the person appointed.

References

* * * * * * * *

External links

Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States
*
Website
of the

Delaware Historical Society The Delaware Historical Society began in 1864 as an effort to preserve documents from the Civil War. Since then, it has expanded into a statewide historical institution with several buildings, including Old Town Hall and the Delaware History Muse ...

Library website
of the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

Society of the Cincinnati

American Revolution Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, David 1752 births 1817 deaths American Presbyterians People from Lewes, Delaware Continental Army officers from Delaware Delaware lawyers Delaware Democratic-Republicans Governors of Delaware Delaware Court of Common Pleas judges Burials in Sussex County, Delaware Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States People of colonial Delaware County officials in Delaware 19th-century American lawyers