Samuel Blakeley Hall Jr. (January 11, 1924 – April 10, 1994) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. He was 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Texas's 1st congressional district Texas' 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives serves the northeastern portion of the state of Texas. As of the 2000 Census, the 1st district contained 651,619 people. It consists largely of three small East ...

from 1976 to 1985 and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (in case citations, E.D. Tex.) is a federal court in the Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to ...

from 1985 until his death in 1994.

Education and career

Born and raised in

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, Hall attended the

College of Marshall East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) is a private Baptist university in Marshall, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). History ETBU is located on the site of the former Van Zandt Fa ...

where he met his future wife Mary Madeleine Segal. After graduating from the College of Marshall with an Associate of Arts degree in 1942, he attended the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

before enlisting in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

to serve during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. On returning to Marshall after World War II, he married Mary Madeleine Segal and graduated from

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

in 1946. He received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

from

Baylor Law School Baylor Law School is the oldest law school in Texas. Baylor Law School is affiliated with Baylor University and located in Waco, Texas. The school has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1931 and has been a member of the Associat ...

in 1948. After being

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 ...

he returned to Marshall to practice law, where he was in private practice from 1948 to 1976. Marshall October 2016 31 (United States Courthouse)

Political career

Hall was unsuccessful in an attempt to receive the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

nomination for Congress in the 1st district in 1962. He served as chairman of Marshall's board of education from 1972 to 1976. In 1976 Hall won a special election for the U.S. House after the death of incumbent

Wright Patman John William Wright Patman (August 6, 1893 – March 7, 1976) was an American politician. First elected in 1928, Patman served 24 consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 1st congressional district from 1929 to ...

. He was reelected five times and served on the

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

and

Veterans' Affairs Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...

committees.

Federal judicial service

On April 17, 1985, Hall was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Joseph Jefferson Fisher Joseph Jefferson Fisher (April 16, 1910 – June 19, 2000) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Education and career Born in Bland Lake, San Augustine County, Texas, Fisher re ...

. The move was engineered by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Senator Phil Gramm as a way to demonstrate southern support for Reagan's administration—with many conservative Democratic areas of the southern states trending towards Republicans, Gramm and other observers assumed a Republican would win Hall's seat in a special election. Hall was quickly confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on May 3, 1985, and subsequently resigned his seat in Congress to be sworn in as judge, receiving his commission on May 10, 1985. (Gramm's ploy to have Hall succeeded by a Republican failed when the special election was won by Democrat

Jim Chapman Jim Chapman may refer to: * Jim Chapman (congressman) (born 1945), American businessman and politician ** Jim Chapman Lake, a lake in Texas named after the politician * Jim Chapman (footballer) (born 1965), Scottish footballer * Jim Chapman (Intern ...

, who defeated Republican

Edd Hargett Edward Eugene Hargett (born June 26, 1947) is a former American football quarterback for Texas A&M University who went on to play professionally for the National Football League (NFL)'s New Orleans Saints and Houston Oilers. He later played for t ...

. ) Hall served on the bench until his death in Marshall on April 10, 1994. He was buried at New Grover Cemetery in Marshall.

Honor

The Sam B. Hall Federal Courthouse in Marshall was later renamed in his honor.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Sam Blakeley Jr. 1924 births 1994 deaths People from Marshall, Texas Military personnel from Texas East Texas Baptist University alumni Baylor University alumni Baylor Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan 20th-century American judges United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas 20th-century American politicians