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Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Saline County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Dr. J. W. Hall, a leading citizen of Saline County, and a man who has few superiors in the medical profession, was born in Shelby County, Ky., on February 9, 1827, and is a son of William B. and Margaret (Stevens) Hall, born in Hanover County, Va., on February 11, 1784. and September 9, 1798, respectively. The parents were married in Hardin County, Ky., in the year 1819, but shortly afterward moved to Shelby County, where the former died in December, 1837, and the latter in Owen County, Ind., in October, 1846. Both had been members of the Missionary Baptist Church for a great number of years, and the father was a prominent member of the A. F. & A. M. His occupation was that of shoemaker. He was a son of Vincent Hall, who came from Scotland at an early day and settled in Virginia. The latter was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, who died at the great age of one hundred and six years. The maternal grandfather, Joseph Stevens, was also a native of Scotland, who came to this country and settled in the same county in Virginia, serving in the Revolutionary War. He afterward moved to Kentucky, where he resided until his death, being at that time over one hundred years old. Jacob W. was the fourth of seven children born to his parents, and was reared on his father’s plantation. He only received about four months’ schooling and that when very young, and began in life for himself when fourteen years of age as a farm hand at $7 per month. At the end of three months he went to Indiana and found employment with the celebrated Dr. W. Mobley, under whom he studied for three years, in the meantime supporting himself by cutting cord wood and splitting rails. About this time the Mexican War broke out, and he enlisted in Company I, of the First Kentucky Cavalry, and went to Mexico, taking part in most all of the principal battles under Gens. Scott and Taylor. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant for his bravery shortly after reaching Mexico, and later on was again promoted to the captaincy of his company, but never received his commission. In the fall of 1848 he left his command at Brownsville, Tex., and traveled all the way back home to Indiana on horseback, his experiences on that occasion while journeying through the wilds of Texas, and the thrilling incidents that befell him making a strong argument that “Truth is stranger than fiction.” On his return home he immediately resumed the study of medicine, and in 1849-50 attended the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati. The following year he went to Missouri and practiced until 1853, when he moved to Iowa. In 1854-55 he attended the Sandford Medical College at Keokuk, Iowa, and graduated the latter year. He then practiced in that State for nine years, in the meantime uniting with the Methodist Church, and in 1858 was licensed to preach. In 1863 he was ordained by that body, and continued to preach the gospel in Iowa for some time, afterward being made a doctor of divinity by the Iowa University. He then resumed his practice of medicine and continued in Iowa until 1870, when he came to Arkansas and settled in Grant County, coming to Benton four years later, where he has resided ever since. In 1880 the Doctor was elected president of the Arkansas Methodist conference for three years, and at the end of that time re-elected to the same office. He was always a great student. In 1852 he represented Adair County, Mo., in the legislature of that State, and has served two years as notary public in Grant County, Ark. His first marriage occurred in Kentucky, in 1845, to Miss Maria Haskett, of Indiana, who died in 1846 leaving one son, who has died since. His second marriage occurred in 1850 to Sarah, daughter of Daniel H. and Nancy Baty, of Kentucky. This wife was a native of Kentucky, and by her union with Dr. Hall became the mother of six children, of whom one son and one daughter are yet living: Dr. Daniel W. (a well-known physician of Hot Spring County) and Ida B. (wife of Mr. George A. Zinn). In politics the Doctor has been a stanch Democrat all his life, but cast his first presidential vote for Taylor in 1848, and was a presidential elector on the Douglas ticket in Iowa in 1860. Dr. Hall has been a member of the A. F. & A. M. since 1849, and at present belongs to Bryant Lodge No. 442, which he organized and served as first master, also serving in the same capacity in different lodges for twenty years. He also is a member of Royal Arch Chapter, at Knoxville, Iowa, and the Encampment from Bloomfield, Iowa, joining the Commandery at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1865. At the present time he is a member of Hugh De Payne’s Commandery at Little Rock, and also belongs to Benton Lodge No. 9, I. O. O. F. During the war he was United States examining surgeon in Davis County, Iowa, for three years. His public life and great skill as a physician have combined to make his name one of the most noted in Central Arkansas.

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This family biography is one of 100 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Saline County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Saline County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

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