HALL
A PATRIOT
His Story and His Brother
A Story that needs told and remembered!
Reuben Hall and Benjamin Hall – What brought them here to Rush Run, Jefferson County, Ohio? This is a story that needs to be told!
There is a very interesting story about the Hall family. They came to Jefferson County. Benjamin settled in Rush Run and settled in section nine of Warren Township and Reuben came in his later years and settled in Smithfield, Jefferson County, Ohio.
I was contacted by Ed Rollandini, who found an article that I wrote on our Jefferson County Chapter website at www.jeffcochapter.com about Reuben Hall. He expressed interest in some very old tombstones that were discovered about 17 years ago on the Lansing Sportsman's club. The club sits on 776 acres of land, some of which was originally owned by Benjamin Hall, who was Reuben Hall, the Patriot's younger brother. He purchased a parcel of land in the Rush Run area as early as October 1, 1811 at the Steubenville Land office which consisted of 162.20 acres. He moved here with his wife and family from Baltimore, Maryland. He is also found in the deed records purchasing another parcel of land from Francis Purdue on November 20th, 1819 and it consisted of 29 more acres. The deed shows his land as part of the northeast quarter of Section No 8, Township No 5, of Range No 2 on the waters of Rush Run.
It is interesting to read about the description and surveys of land and how they would follow streams, marking an X on a walnut trees and stone and a stump. The measurements of using perches, rod, or poles to survey land was a commonly used surveyors tool or unit of length equal to 5 ½ yards or 16 ½ feet of a statute mile or ¼ of a surveyor's chain or 5.0292 meters. The rod was a very useful measurement as a unit of length because whole number multiples of it can form one acre of square measure.
Ed took us to Mark Dubil's place, which neighbors the sportsman's club. From there, Mark, Ed, my husband Buddy and I piled in his side by side and it was quite a trip back into a wooded area with thick brush. It was quite an animal, getting us up,down, and back into the deep wooded area, where Mark knew exactly where the tombstones were. I was impressed to say the least. I am not sure that the tombstones are where the actual burials were originally, due to heavy logging several years ago but myself and my friend Tammy Hosenfeld are continuing our research to try to find those answers.
I am hoping that Tammy and I can discover, from old maps, deeds, and the WPA maps/notes, where the approximate burials were located and also the homestead. The county map shows Benjamin Hall's land and it appears to match the WPA map and the description that was given in the 1930's, 1 mile west of Junction Route 7, 2 miles north of County Highway 17. This map clearly shows that the brothers (and possible other family members) were buried at the Benjamin Hall family farm graveyard.
Ed and Mark said they would clear all the brush and weeds before we come back to probe and search the area where the tombstones are located. If we can locate bases for the tombstones then we will know that is where the actual burials were located. This is a big job! Once we've completed the probing (using tools that push down into the ground to locate by feel where the tombstones my have sunken or broken and have been covered up with dirt, trees roots, rocks, etc.). Then we will attempt to repair and put the tombstone puzzle pieces back together and again, if possible, reset the salvageable. Stones. Those that can't be repaired, we will take high resolution digital pictures of them. The digital pictures may allow us to see markings, engravings, and words that can't be picked up by the naked eye in many cases but not all. We now have a GPS reading on the location of the tombstones and Mark and Ed will go to work clearing the area of brush and trees and then have a fence be be paid for and installed by them and it will surround the little family graveyard. They will also have a sign put up, which will include a name of those buried there and a brief history of some sort.
This story needs to be told! There are a couple reasons why this story needs to be told. One main reason is for me to honor the memory of a dear friend and Navy veteran, George Livingston. He and I searched for several years trying to verify where Reuben (and Benjamin, which would lead us to Reuben) were buried. Every time we were given a hint or a nibble, someone would tell us the land had been heavily logged, or mined, or was on private property and the owners didn't want anyone coming on the land. We really felt we had come to a bypass. Now I feel as if George is cheering from heaven! He would be so pleased knowing that we located the tombstones and are currently working on the best method to preserve and honor a Revolutionary Patriot, a War of 1812 veteran and also his brother, a War of 1812 veteran and their families as well. Anyone that knew George knew that he was about being all inclusive and that he would be very pleased that we are moving forward in preserving this burial site. When this project is completed and I am standing in the little family graveyard honoring those fallen soldiers and their families, no doubt I will have tears in my eyes and a heart full of love and memories for all the graveside services I stood at and participated with George Livingston in his full Revolutionary Uniform and all of his fellow comrades from the Sons of the American Revolution present and standing at attention to show honor and respect. That's just how George and his fellow SAR members rolled! I will silently hear the bugle playing TAPS and bag pipes playing a tribute song to the fallen soldiers such as Amazing Grace or Danny Boy. This will be a time to recite the history of the family and honor these men and their families and keep them alive in our memories and give them a place in local history!
The sportsman's club members will maintain the cemetery and even well into the future, the fence and sign will help protect it and provide the reverence that such a location deserves when others happen upon it. Maybe they won't be tempted to shot at the tombstones, or move them, or break them. This is my hope. I have no words to describe my feelings for anyone that would vandalism a tombstone or cemetery. It also saddens me, when I look at our local cemeteries, with small flags blowing in the breeze on Memorial and see that the cemetery isn't cared for, many times not mowed or a tombstone is laying down or broken. Even our largest cemeteries in the area are falling in disrepair with large rotten trees, grass and weeds not mowed and tombstones down or broken. So very sad.
BENJAMIN HALL – War of 1812 Veteran
Benjamin Hall married Sarah Lytle Carr. In the roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War of 1812, he served under Captain Adam Binckley's company as a private. (We were still working to confirm that the Benj Hall, referenced in the War of 1812 is the same Benj Hall buried in Jefferson County, Ohio)
Benjamin and his wife, Sarah, and several of their young children settled in Rush Run. When they arrived, they had an immense job ahead of them. They had to clear thick forest and brush to build a log cabin for a home. They also had to clear land to farm. Reading their list of inventory of what he owned when he died gave me a real sense of the job they had ahead of them when they first arrived to settle and tame this land. In order to plant wheat, hay, corn, oats and to have cattle to graze, they had to work hard.
Many early history books give us a mental picture of this area full of dense and tall trees and thick brush and vines. I can picture in my mind and picture how it must have looked to the young couple arriving here. As we road to the top of the hillside in a 4 wheeler, I pictured the once owned and farmed land that the Hall family owned. I was in awe just how beautiful it still is up there, overlooking the mighty Ohio River and Virginia (what is now West Virginia). I can only imagine what the land looked like back at the turn of the 19th century. From our view now, we can see the Cardinal Plant, the cut up hillside of Ohio and West Virginia river banks for the highways and rocks slides. We also saw plenty of black raspberries, deer, turkey, and a lot of wild flowers in full bloom. It was still a breathtakingly beautiful sight to see! I am sure it was much prettier back then.
Benjamin is listed in the Warren Township tax records in 1826, 1834, 1836 as farming. He is also in the federal census so we know that he was actively farming and paying his taxes. The tombstone we found in the woods is Benjamin's stone and it reads as follows:
In Memory of
BENJAMIN HALL
who departed this life
JULY 27th A.D. 1839
aged 65 yrs and 4 months
We also believe and hope to locate pieces of his wife's tombstone. There are several tombstones that I can clearly see at the location where Benjamin's stone was found. I am hopeful that they are Reuben and his wife's tombstones as well.
UPDATES
January 2019 - A fence has been installed around the perimeter of the Hall Cemetery and we are currently working with a local sign business, to have a sign made and installed by spring of this year, of not sooner (depending on the wintry weather). The sign will include information about the Patriot, Reuben and the family that lived in Jefferson County, Ohio. Watch for updates. We are attempting to order a bronze marker for Reuben and to have it installed in the cemetery since there isn't a clearly marker tombstone left in the cemetery for him.
May, 2019 – A Cemetery Sign has been designed and printed and will be installed this spring or summer at the cemetery location. It will be placed up on posts and the sign will identify the family and the history of the famly and farm. (Written and submitted by chapter president, Flora L. VerStraten-Merrin)
REUBEN HALL – AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR PATRIOT
WHY DID REUBEN SETTLE HERE?
With the assistance of Tammy Hosenfeld, fellow genealogists and friend, we are continuing to research and document the reason why Reuben came to Jefferson County, Ohio. What we do know and have proved so far is that Reuben's brother, Benjamin was here in 1811 purchasing a lot of land. We also know that Reuben came to Smithfield, Jefferson County, Ohio and was living there s proven in the 1820 and 1830 federal census. We know that he was a artificer by trade (from his pension records and other records, he worked with wood and built furniture, etc.) and that he applied for a military pension in 1829 here in Jefferson County and again in 1832.
Reuben appears in the Common Pleas records as a”petitioner for a Revolutionary pension” of the 24th of August in 1829. He states, “I never received any pension from my country in anyway whatever, on account of my service” and “I solemnly swear that I was a resident citizen of the United States on the 18th of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen.”Reuben goes on to say that he owes no debts or securities or contracts. He lists all of his assets which sadly consist of the following; bed and bedding, one table and a stand, 6 old chairs, one chest, 3 cups and a saucer, ½ dozen plates, 1 tea pot, 1 sugar dish, 2 knives and forks, one iron pot, 1 oven, one skillet, one cow, one grind stone, and some old tools in all amounting to the sum of thirty-two dollars, signed by Reuben Hall, 73 years old and his wife aged 67 and his granddaughter, Everlina who was 16 years old. The application records continues with a list of men that testified that that knew Reuben and that he served in the American Revolutionary War. The final declaration of a man that served our country and ended up here in Jefferson County with $32.00 worth of assets, his wife and a granddaughter. The application was recorded in our county Common Pleas court and a certified copy was sent to the war department. (Found in the Jefferson County Common Pleas Journal, Book F, pg 245, Book I, pg 480)
I then found a record for Reuben Hall in the United States Pension Roll of 1835, Vol. IV, OH service record shows that he enlisted on April 11, 1776 and he was a resident of West Canon Township, Chester Co., PA. He served under Captain Matthew Sadler's Co., Proctors regiment, artillery continental army, PA line, Penn. State Troops.
In his military records I read the following statement given by Reuben, “my first lieutenant Colonel Forrest, he was killed by lightening, while we were camped near Philadelphia. I forget his first name. I was an artificer not called on duty as in artillery and I remained at Valley Forge after until about the 1st of July 1778 when I went with the company back to the city of Philadelphia. I helped as a mechanic with the company at Philadelphia and remained there for a period of time and made coffins, and furniture and beds.” He was discharged by John Mitchele. He goes on to say, “I was honorably discharged and served one year.” He clearly states that he lived 30 years in West Canon Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania and then he states that he now lives in Smithfield, Jefferson County, Ohio for the past ten years. He states that he was no in battle only the period of his service in the section of the country at Valley Forge and states that his name doesn't appear on any pension roll of any adjoining or any state, and then he signed the document (Application for Pension, 28th of August 1832 in the County of Jefferson and the state of Ohio)
In the 1835 Pension Roll he is listed as 79 years old. He applied for his pension March 4, 1831 and received a pension payment of $50.00 and sums already received were $138.50. He served as a artificer. An artificer was a skill or artistic worker or craftsman, one that makes or contrives. The Daughters of the American Revolution describe this skill as – making/building beds for the injured, furniture and coffins. Reuben also served in the War of 1812 at 43 years of age. I haven't located his military records for that war as of yet.
He was born the 19 of September, 1755. It is in dispute by several genealogists where he was born. Some sources/researchers show New Jersey while others show New York or Connecticut. In several records that I searched, I located Reuben's father, Reuben Hall Sr., (born 1729 and died in 1800) where he died in Norwick, Orange County, New York.
Reuben married Sarah Jones in 1793 in Martinburg, Virginia (now West Virginia), before arriving in Smithfield, Ohio. Sarah was born in 1762 and died in February 15, 1835 and is believed to be buried in the Hall graveyard as well. Their children were; Cynthia, Clarkson, and Johnathan (died in 1824). I would think that they had more children that I haven't located all the of records for the family yet. Reuben's father was Reuben Hall Sr. and his mother was, Sarah Gray. Sarah seems to be a very popular name back then. His son, Clarkson was born 1793 in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia) and died July 13, 1877 and is buried in the Steubenville Union Cemetery. Clarkson also fought in the War of 1812 and was a successful business man in the area. He married Mary Jane Johnston.
Reuben was listed on the 1820 and 1830 federal census living in Smithfield, Jefferson County, Ohio. Four years later, Reuben was deceased and then his wife died about one year later. It appears from the records I located, that Reuben was more of a man that worked with his hands and a craftsman/carpenter and his younger brother, Benjamin followed farming.
When a man of any wealth owned land, or a business, and had possessions, when he died he left a paper trail and this is what many family history researchers use to locate their ancestors. When a man died, many times he left a will, a probate/estate, and many other records. Many times they left an inventory, which lists of all of his assets and possessions and this inventory had to be filed in a court. I was unable to locate an inventory for Reuben because from what we read in his application for a pension, he came here with very little and most likely died with very little and I found no land/deed records for him. However, I did find an inventory for Benjamin and will share parts of it later in this article. I did located a Estate File for both Reuben, dated in 1841 and Benjamin, dated 1839, confirming where both of these men lived and died.
BENJAMIN HALL - War of 1812 Veteran
This is a list of what he owned when he died. This is referred to as an Inventory found in the Jefferson County Records held at the Jefferson County Chapter, OGS as of May, 2019
In 1838
3 Cows
12 Heifers
Calves
24 Sheep
13 Hogs
2 Fat Hogs - $10.23
Gray Horse – value $65.00
Bay Mare Horse – value $75.00
Dark Bay – value $75.00
Crop of Apples - $18.00
Potatoes - $40.00
Lot of Hay in the barn
120 Doz Oats
50 Lbs Sugar
2 Palace of Bees
Washing Machine & Tubs - $2.00
Churn - $1.00
Lot of Blacksmith Tools - $20.00
Waggon Small - $25.00 (not misspelled)
Waggon Large - $30.00
Log Chairs - $2.00
Lot of barn tools - $3.00
Crane Plough - $9.00
2 old Ploughs - $2.50
Ground Roller - $5.00
Cutting Box - $2.00
3 sets of horse gears - $18.00
Foyer Chairs - $2.00
Saddle of Bridle - $4.00
Chains $5.00
Pine Boards - $50.00
Bees - $20.00
17 Scalps of Beers - $65.00 (not misspelled)
1 lot of kitchen furniture - $10.00
2# Tallow - $2.50
2 Spunning Wheels - $17.50 (not misspelled)
30 lbs. Wool - $75.00
#45 yards of cloth - $50.00
400 lbs flour - .50 cents
20 bushels corn - $10.00
100 lbs meat - $10.00
1 loom - $4.00
1 reel - .50 cents
1 pr saddlebags - $4.00
1 coffee kettle - $8.00
Cupboard ware - $12.00
Aprons - $5.00
Table - $2.45
12 chairs - $3.00
1 dining table - $6.50
1 bureau - $8.00
1 writing dish - $1.50
½ barrel of salt - $1.50
1- 8 day clock - $45.00
1 crop of cut straw - $4.00
one lot of bench planes - $6.00
Chest of tools - $12.00
Grindstone - $1.00
TOMBSTONE FOUND IN THE CEMETERY
In Memory of
BENJAMIN HALL
who departed this life
JULY 27th A.D. 1839
aged 65 yrs and 4 months
Below is a link to a 1856 Jefferson County Map and in the corner of Warren Township you will spot a track of land, “R Hall”... Benjamin Hall's son (who was name Reuben Hall) owned the land by this time because both of the brothers were already deceased. Benj in 1839 and his brother, Reuben in 1834.
Map below as seen up in the right corner of Warren Township, section 9 I believe, you will see a R. Hall (son of Benjamin) owning about 133.2 acres of land by 1856
Local.gov Resource
It takes a village to save a cemetery and a history!
A big thank you to my husband, Edward (Buddy) Merrin who always supports me in my cemetery adventures because sometimes we never know where we'll end up. A thank you to my constant fellow genealogist, map/deed chaser Tammy Hosenfeld, and of course, to Ed Rollandini for finding me and asking for my assistance with the tombstones. I want to thank Mark Dubil for his willingness and continued interest in preserving history on this cemetery.
