Granville Davisson Hall (September 17, 1837 – June 24, 1934) was an American journalist, businessman and politician who helped found the state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. He served as the

Secretary of State of West Virginia The Secretary of State (U.S. state government), Secretary of State of West Virginia is an elected office within the U.S. state of West Virginia state government. The secretary of state is responsible for overseeing the state's election process, in ...

and as the private secretary of the first governor,

Arthur Boreman Arthur Ingram Boreman (July 24, 1823April 19, 1896) was an American lawyer, politician and judge who helped found the U.S. state of West Virginia. Raised in Tyler County, West Virginia, he served as the state's first Governor, and a United Sta ...

, and eventually wrote seven books, including ''The Rending of Virginia'' to counteract the growing

Lost Cause The Lost Cause of the Confederacy (or simply Lost Cause) is an American pseudohistorical negationist mythology that claims the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was just, heroic, and not centered on slavery. First ...

myth. After the Civil War, Hall became involved in the railroad industry in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, eventually becoming President of the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...

, but later moved to

Glencoe, Illinois Glencoe () is a lakefront village in northeastern Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 8,849. Glencoe is part of Chicago's North Shore and is located within the New Trier High School District. Glenc ...

where he continued writing and served as the village clerk.

Early and family life

Born in Harrison County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, he received a private education, then at the age of 17, began teaching school.

Career

In 1859, Hall moved to Wheeling on the Ohio River, then Virginia's second largest city. He knew stenography and took at job with the ''

Wheeling Intelligencer ''The Intelligencer'' and ''Wheeling News-Register'' are combined daily newspapers under common ownership in Wheeling, West Virginia, and are the flagship publications of Ogden Newspapers. The ''Intelligencer'' is published weekday mornings and ...

''. However, he returned home to Harrison County, only to return to Wheeling as Virginians were asked to vote on secession, as recommended by the

Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 The Virginia Secession Convention of 1861 was called in Richmond to determine whether Virginia would secede from the United States, to govern the state during a state of emergency, and to write a new Constitution for Virginia, which was subsequent ...

. His published articles about the

Wheeling Convention The 1861 Wheeling Convention was an assembly of Virginia Southern Unionist delegates from the northwestern counties of Virginia, aimed at repealing the Ordinance of Secession, which had been approved by referendum, subject to a vote. The first ...

, later republished as "The Rending of Virginia" are now the only available accounts of those deliberations, as the minutes taken by the three official reporters were lost in a subsequent flood of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

. In 1863, Hall became the first official clerk of the West Virginia House of Delegates, and in 1865 he became the first Secretary of State of West Virginia, as well as working as secretary to governor

. After accepting a job with a railroad company, Hall left West Virginia for Kentucky, and eventually became President of the

, which was consolidated by Chicago financiers and had lines from Ohio to Florida. However, by the early 20th century it was acquired by financiers led by J.P. Morgan and merged into the Atlantic Coast Line. By this time, Hall had moved to

and begun raising a family, as well as served as the village clerk for decades. He also published articles in Chicago newspapers and wrote books. He published ''Daughter of the Elm: A tale of Western Virginia before the War'' (1899), then ''The Rending of Virginia'' (1902), ''Lee's Invasion of Northwest Virginia'' (1911) and ''Two Virginias: genesis of old and new'' (1915).

Death and legacy

Hall died at his Glencoe home and was buried at Memorial Gardens in nearby

Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...

. Some of his papers, including those relating to the Wheeling Convention, are held by the West Virginia Regional History Center.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Granville D. 1819 births 1934 deaths Secretaries of State of West Virginia 19th-century American politicians People from Harrison County, West Virginia People from Wheeling, West Virginia