Wilton Earle Hall (March 11, 1901February 25, 1980) was a

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. Born in

Starr, South Carolina Starr is a town in Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 173 at the 2010 census. Geography Starr is located in southern Anderson County at (34.377983, -82.693870). According to the United States Census Bureau, the ...

, Hall attended public school and then

Furman University Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...

in ( Greenville). He founded a morning newspaper in

Anderson, South Carolina Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 28,106 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and the city was the center of an urbanized area of 75,702. It is one of the prin ...

in 1924, and in 1929 acquired an evening newspaper. In 1935 he established a radio station,

WAIM WAIM (1230 AM) is a News/Talk radio station located in Anderson, South Carolina. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on 1230 AM with a full-time power of 1,000 watts non-directional. History WAIM signed on the ...

. From 1934 to 1938, Hall was chairman of the South Carolina Planning Board and was appointed, on November 20, 1944, as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Ellison D. Smith and served until January 3, 1945. Hall was not a candidate for election to the full term; in fact, Smith had already been defeated for re-election and was only serving out the remainder of his prior term. Hall resumed the newspaper publishing and broadcasting business as publisher of the ''

Anderson Independent The ''Anderson Independent-Mail'', marketed as ''Independent Mail'' and sometimes referred to as ''Anderson Independent Mail'', is a newspaper for Anderson County in the state of South Carolina. It is owned by GANNETT SATELLITE INFORMATION NETWO ...

'' and ''Daily Mail of South Carolina''; he also later founded the television station WAIM-TV in 1953 and also founded and owned the radio station WCAC-FM in addition to WAIM. He was also the publisher of ''Quote'' Magazine. Hall resided in Anderson, where he died in 1980; his interment was in a mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Wilton 1901 births 1980 deaths People from Anderson County, South Carolina Businesspeople from South Carolina Democratic Party United States senators from South Carolina Furman University alumni South Carolina Democrats 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American businesspeople