James Hall (August 19, 1793 - July 5, 1868) was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

judge and man of letters. He has been called a literary pioneer of the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

Biography

Hall was born at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

. After studying law for some time, in 1812 he joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. In the war with Great Britain, he distinguished himself in engagements at Lundy’s Lane and

Fort Erie Fort Erie is a town on the Niagara River in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. It is directly across the river from Buffalo, New York, and is the site of Old Fort Erie which played a prominent role in the War of 1812. Fort Erie is one of Ni ...

. At the end of the war, he accompanied an expedition against Algiers, but in 1818 he resigned his commission, and continued the study of law at

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. In 1820, Hall moved to

Shawneetown, Illinois Shawneetown is a city in Gallatin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,239 at the 2010 census, down from 1,410 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Gallatin County. Geography Shawneetown is located southeast of the cent ...

, where he commenced practice at the bar and also edited the ''Illinois Gazette''. Soon after he was appointed public prosecutor of the circuit, and in 1824 state circuit judge. In 1827 he became state treasurer, and held that office till 1831, but he continued at the same time his legal practice and also edited the ''Illinois Intelligencer''. Subsequently, he became editor of the ''Western Souvenir'', an annual publication, and of the ''Illinois Monthly Magazine'', afterwards the ''Western Monthly Magazine''. As a fiction writer, his most famous story is “The Indian Hater” (1828). He died in

Loveland, Ohio Loveland is a city in Hamilton, Clermont, and Warren counties in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Considered part of the Greater Cincinnati area, Loveland is located near exit 52 off Interstate 275, about northeast of the Cin ...

Works

The following are his principal works:— * ''Letters from the West'', originally contributed to

The Port Folio ''The Port Folio'' was a Philadelphia literary and political magazine published from 1801 to 1827. It was first co-published in 1801 by Joseph Dennie and Asbury Dickins. Dickins dropped as co-publisher, and Dennie remained the editor from 1802 t ...

, and collected and published in London in 1828 * ''Legends of the West'' (1832) * ''The Soldier’s Bride and other Tales'' (1832) * ''The Harpe’s Head, a Legend of Kentucky'' (1833) * ''Sketches of the West'' (2 vols., 1835) * ''Tales of the Border'' (1835) * ''Notes on the Western States'' (1838) * ''

History of the Indian Tribes of North America The ''History of the Indian Tribes of North America'' is a three-volume collection of Native American biographies and accompanying lithograph portraits, originally published in the United States from 1836 to 1844 by Thomas McKenney and James Hal ...

'', in conjunction with Thomas L. McKenney (3 vols., 1838-1844) * ''The Wilderness and the War-Path'' (1845) * ''Romance of Western History'' (1857)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, James 1793 births 1868 deaths American magazine editors Illinois lawyers People from Loveland, Ohio 19th-century American male writers People from Shawneetown, Illinois Illinois state court judges State treasurers of Illinois Military personnel from Philadelphia American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American lawyers Historians of Native Americans 19th-century American judges