Samuel Blakeley Hall Jr. (January 11, 1924 – April 10, 1994) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. He was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, 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 Artic ...

from

Texas's 1st congressional district Texas' 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives serves the Northeast Texas, northeastern portion of the state of Texas. As of 2022, the 1st district contained 775,992 people. It consists largely of four small Eas ...

from 1976 to 1985 and a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (in case citations, E.D. Tex.) is a federal court in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. ...

from 1985 until his death in 1994.

Education and career

Born and raised in

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, Hall attended the

College of Marshall East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) is a Private university, private Baptist university in Marshall, Texas, United States. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. History ETBU is located on the site of the former Isaac Va ...

where he met his future wife Mary Madeleine Segal. After graduating from the College of Marshall with an

Associate of Arts An associate degree or associate's degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of academic qualification above a high school diploma and below a bachelor's degree ...

degree in 1942, he attended the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

before enlisting in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

to serve during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On returning to Marshall after World War II, he married Mary Madeleine Segal and graduated from

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

in 1946. He received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Baylor Law School Baylor Law School is the oldest law school in Texas. Baylor Law School is affiliated with Baylor University and located in Waco, Texas. The school has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1931 and has been a member of the Associa ...

in 1948. After being

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 ...

he returned to Marshall to

practice law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professio ...

, where he was in private practice from 1948 to 1976.

Political career

Hall was unsuccessful in an attempt to receive the Democratic Party nomination for Congress in the 1st district in 1962. He served as chairman of Marshall's board of education from 1972 to 1976. In 1976 Hall won a special election for the U.S. House after the death of incumbent

Wright Patman John William Wright Patman (August 6, 1893 – March 7, 1976) was an American politician. First elected in 1928, Patman served 24 consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives for Texas's 1st congressional district from 1929 to ...

. He was reelected five times and served on the

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

and

Veterans' Affairs Veterans' affairs is an area of public policy concerned with relations between a government and its communities of military veterans. Some jurisdictions have a designated government agency or department, a Department of Veterans' Affairs, Minist ...

committees.

Federal judicial service

On April 17, 1985, Hall was nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Joseph Jefferson Fisher Joseph Jefferson Fisher (April 16, 1910 – June 19, 2000) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Education and career Born in Bland Lake, San Augustine County, Texas, Fisher r ...

. The move was engineered by Republican Senator

Phil Gramm William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of United States Congress, Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Gr ...

as a way to demonstrate southern support for Reagan's administration—with many conservative Democratic areas of the southern states trending towards Republicans, Gramm and other observers assumed a Republican would win Hall's seat in a special election. Hall was quickly confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on May 3, 1985, and subsequently resigned his seat in Congress to be sworn in as judge, receiving his commission on May 10, 1985. (Gramm's ploy to have Hall succeeded by a Republican failed when the special election was won by Democrat Jim Chapman, who defeated Republican

Edd Hargett Edward Eugene Hargett (born June 26, 1947) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies. He played in the NFL for the New Or ...

. ) Hall served on the bench until his death in Marshall on April 10, 1994. He was buried at New Grover Cemetery in Marshall.

Honor

The Sam B. Hall Federal Courthouse in Marshall was later renamed in his honor.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Sam Blakeley Jr. 1924 births 1994 deaths People from Marshall, Texas Military personnel from Texas East Texas Baptist University alumni Baylor University alumni Baylor Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives