Augustus Hall (April 29, 1814 – February 1, 1861), a lawyer, was a one-term Democratic

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Iowa's 1st congressional district Iowa's 1st congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Iowa that covers its southeastern part, bordering the states of Illinois and Missouri, and the Mississippi River. ...

, and chief justice of the

Nebraska Territory The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Nebraska. The Nebrask ...

Biography

Born in

Batavia, New York Batavia is a city in and the county seat of Genesee County, New York, United States. It is located near the center of the county, surrounded by the Town of Batavia, which is a separate municipality. Batavia's population, as of the 2020 census, ...

, Hall was the son of Samuel Hall, who commanded a colonial company in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

and was a member of the Whig Party.Julius Sterling Morton, Albert Watkins, George L. Miller,
Illustrated History of Nebraska
" Vol. 1. pp. 348 n.5, 413 (Cedar Rapids: Torch Press 1911). He attended the common schools and Middleburgh (New York) Academy, and studied law. He was

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 ...

in 1836 and commenced practice in

Mount Pleasant, Ohio Mount Pleasant is a village in Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. The population was 394 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area. Founded in 1803 by anti-slavery Quakers, the village was an early center ...

(according to some sources) or

Mount Vernon, Ohio Mount Vernon is a city in Knox County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Kokosing River, northeast of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 16,956 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Th ...

(according to his congressional biography). Hall served as assistant United States marshal in 1839, and

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

of Union County from 1840 to 1842. In 1844 he moved to Keosauqua, a settlement in the southeast area of what was then

Iowa Territory The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Iowa. The remai ...

, and later the state of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

when Iowa was admitted to the Union in 1846. In 1852 he was chosen by the Democrats as one of the presidential electors and cast his vote for

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

, who had carried Iowa.Benjamin F. Gue, " History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century," Vol. 4 (Augustus Hall), pp. 114-15(1902). In 1854, Hall was elected as a Democrat to represent Iowa's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House, defeating Whig candidate R. L. B. Clark. He served in the

Thirty-fourth Congress The 34th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1855, ...

, from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1857. The 1854 election was the last before the establishment of the

Iowa Republican Party The Republican Party of Iowa (RPI) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in Iowa. The State Central Committee is chaired by Jeff Kaufmann. The RPI operates the Republican side of the Iowa caucuses and previously sponsored the ...

, which for decades thereafter dominated most congressional elections in Iowa. In 1856 Hall won the Democratic nomination, but was defeated in the general election by Republican

Samuel Curtis Samuel Curtis (born in Walworth, Surrey on 29 August 1779-died at La Chaire, Rozel Bay, Jersey, on 6 January 1860

. In 1858,

President Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvania in both houses of the U.S. Con ...

appointed Hall as chief justice of the Nebraska Territory, which then encompassed a vast area west of the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

(to the western edge of the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase () was the acquisition of the Louisiana (New France), territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. This consisted of most of the land in the Mississippi River#Watershed, Mississipp ...

) and north of

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

(to the Canada–US border). Upon his appointment he immediately moved to

Bellevue, Nebraska Bellevue ( French for "beautiful view"; previously named Belleview) is a suburban city in Sarpy County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area, and had a population of 64,176 as of the 2020 census, ...

. He was Chief Justice until his death in Bellevue on February 1, 1861. He was interred in Prospect Hill Cemetery in

North Omaha North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River and Carter Lake, Iowa on the ...

. Hall and his wife, Jane B. Smith Hall, were the parents of Richard Smith Hall, who became a leading Omaha attorney. Hall was also the father of the horticulturalist Theodosia Burr Shepherd.

Hall County, Nebraska Hall County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 62,895, making it Nebraska's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Grand Island. The county was formed in 1858; it was na ...

, where Grand Island is located, was reportedly named for Chief Justice Hall, although some attribute the name to a local citizen.August F. Buechler, Robert J. Barr, Dale P. Stough, Bayard H Paine,
History of Hall County, Nebraska
" p. 183 (Lincoln, Neb. : Western Publishing and Engraving Co., 1920).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Augustus 1814 births 1861 deaths Law enforcement officials from Ohio People from Batavia, New York Politicians from Omaha, Nebraska Burials at Prospect Hill Cemetery (North Omaha, Nebraska) County district attorneys in Ohio 19th-century United States Marshals Nebraska Democrats Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa People from Keosauqua, Iowa People from Bellevue, Nebraska 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Biography

See also

References