William A. Hall

As printed in 1883

WILLIAM A. HALL.

Mr. Hall is the son of John and Elizabeth Hall, and was born in Tennessee, in November, 1834. His parents were Pennsylvanians by nativity, and emigrated to Tennessee in 1828, where they lived ten years, thence removing to St. Louis, where the husband and father died in 1862. In 1848, the mother, with her youngest child, was lost in a steamboat disaster on the Alabama river. William acquired a common school education in St. Louis, and resided, after his mother's death, with his married sister — Emily Jane — wife of Mr. Mordecai Oliver, then a resident of Richmond, Ray county, Missouri. While living in Richmond, he attended the academy presided over by A. C. Redman. He opened a drug store in Liberty, Mo., in 1856, in which business he continued fourteen years, then accepting the position of cashier of the Commercial Savings Bank of Liberty. In 1872, he went to Mexico, Missouri, and engaged one year in the drug business, going thence to Springfield, where he and John R. Ferguson opened a drug store. In March, 1876, he bought his partner's interest and has continued to build up an extensive wholesale and retail trade. In 1876 he was elected mayor of Springfield, Mr. Hall is a prominent Mason, and has served as W. M. of United Lodge No. 5, and also as eminent commander, of St. John's Commandery No. 20, Knights Templar. Politically he is a Democrat, having cast his first vote in the Interests of that party, to which he has ever since adhered. In 1856 he married Florence, daughter of Samuel Ringo, of Liberty, Missouri. Six children — four sons and two daughters — have been born to them, named: William, Samuel, Richard, Oliver L., Lizzie, and Florence. Both Mr. Hall and wife have been active members of the Christian church for a quarter of a century. Personally, Mr. Hall is a gentleman of commanding presence, and his genial, social qualities and strict business rectitude, render him popular as a man and a citizen.

As printed in History of Greene county, Missouri, ... including a history of its township, towns, and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri ... biographical sketches and portraits of prominent cit (1883). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.