Philo Hall (December 31, 1865 – October 7, 1938) was a

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

attorney and politician. He served as Attorney General of South Dakota and a member of the

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Early life and American Civil War

Philo Hall was born in

Wilton Township, Waseca County, Minnesota Wilton Township is a township in Waseca County, Minnesota, Waseca County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 392 at the 2000 census. History Wilton Township was organized in 1858, and named after its largest settlement, Wilton, Waseca C ...

on December 31, 1865, the son of Mary E. (Greene) and Philo Hall, a

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

veteran in the First Minnesota Infantry Regiment, Company G 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 ...

and direct descendant of

Mayflower Compact The Mayflower Compact, originally titled Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the men aboard the ''Mayflower,'' consisting of separatist Puritans, adventurers, an ...

signatory, John Alden. Philo and Mary (née Greene) Hall ran a hotel in Wilton, but the family moved to Brookings, Dakota Territory after the 1883 death of the senior Philo Hall. The young Philo Hall was educated in Wilton and

South Dakota State College South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

. He then studied law under Judge J. O. Andrews, was admitted to the bar in 1887, and practiced in Brookings. He was one of the first members of The United States Congress and South Dakota state government to graduate from a South Dakota educational institution.

Career

In 1890 Hall married Mary A. Cooke, and they were the parents of three children: Vivian (b. 1891); Philo, Jr. (b. 1895); and Morrell (b. 1898). A Republican, he was the prosecuting attorney for

Brookings County Brookings County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 34,375, making it the fifth-most populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Brookings. The county was created in 18 ...

from 1892 to 1898, and also served as city attorney for Brookings. In 1895 he was elected mayor of Brookings, and served one two-year term. He served in the

South Dakota State Senate The Senate is the upper house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 35 members, one representing each legislative district; it meets at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre. Composition :''92nd Legislature (2019)'' Officers Li ...

from 1901 to 1903, and as Attorney General of South Dakota from 1903 through 1907. In 1906 Hall was elected to Seat A, one of South Dakota's two at-large seats in the U.S. House, and he served one term, March 4, 1907 to March 3, 1909. He did not win renomination for a second term in 1908, and returned to the practice of the law. Hall died in Brookings on October 7, 1938. He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Brookings.

References

External links

* * 1865 births 1938 deaths American prosecutors South Dakota State University alumni People from Waseca County, Minnesota South Dakota Attorneys General Republican Party South Dakota state senators Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Dakota People from Brookings, South Dakota {{US-law-bio-stub