General Notes

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Revolutionary War Veteran
D A R Patriot Index
Probably Came From Pennsylvania To Kentucky 1782-1791
One Of First Three Settlers Of Barren County
Barren County Kentucky Property Tax Lists 1799-
Hall Family Of Central Kentucky By Frank Johnson; Page 147
Information From Grace Hall Pitts
Revolutionary War Papers In Grace Pitts Corr In Hall File
John Hall was born in Scotland in 1749, emigrated to America and se
rv ed in the Revolutionary War. For his services he was given a large g
ra nt of land about three miles north of what is now Glasgow. He is sa
id to h ave been one of the first three men to settle in Barren County. H
is home w as built north of Beaver Creek near a large spring. He taught ma
themati cs and was surveyor for Kentucky; died September 25, 1809. The la
nd was di vided among his children at his death: James Hall, Michael Washi
ngton Hal l, Edmund Hall, John Coffey Hall, Fanny Hall, and Penelope Hal
l. From Barr en County Heritage, A Pictorial History of Barren County, Ken
tucky publish ed in 1980 by Homestead Press of Bowling Green, Kentucky  pa
ge 132 Sket ch of Judge John Hall John Hall was the first or nearly the fi
rst pione er that entered the wilderness of Barren County while it was War
ren Count y. He settled on the north side of Beaver Creek below the Elk ho
le. His se lection of a home was made with  view to the advantages of a fi
ne spring w hich was on the north side of Beaver Creek, and the good la
nd lying near t he Barrens.
When he came he brought several of his children. We believe his wi
fe w as dead. Not many years after his settlement he built on the ba
nk of the c reek a large, fine, hewn log house, with neat stone chimney
s. It was commo dious, and for years remarkable for its beautiful finis
h. It was destroy ed by fire, years after his death, after it had passed i
nto the hands of s trangers. He entered and took up, besides his home plac
e, one thousand acr es of land two or three miles east of his house. It w
as a rich tract of la nd known and called Hall's Rich Grove, which, togeth
er with his home, he o wned at his death. He was a Welshman and we suppo
se and believe his wife w as also from Wales, Great Britain. He was o
ne of the Judges of the Quart er Session Court of this County for ten or t
welve years, showing by his go od sense and strict integrity that he was w
orthy of his office. He resign ed it and his son Michael W. Hall, succeed
ed him and discharged the duti es of Judge with approval of the presidi
ng Judge and his associate Judge u ntil the office was abolished.
Father and son were strong minded, sensible and honest men, deserved
ly es teemed and respected. Judge John Hall was a remarkable man in many r
espect s. He was always engaged in some profitable employment, he knew n
ot idlene ss. He had a room in his house no person but himself had enter
ed for year s. It was known he had in that room a bench and mechanical too
ls; he was o ften heard at work, and it was supposed by his family he h
ad made and h ad his coffin in the room ready to receive him at his deat
h, but it w as a mistake, he had merely reserved the room for the sa
ke of privacy. Ano ther instance of his eccentricity, he had a daughter w
ho died single plac ed in a coffin and put upon a ledge of rocks in a cav
e, where she remain ed for years without interment, until his death. His s
on, Michael W. Hal l, was a remarkable, discreet and temperate man. He w
as firm as a roc k. He represented this county several years in the Kentuc
ky Legislatur e. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and clerk of its m
eetings a nd of the Green River Associations. James Hall, another son, w
as a merchan t, a farmer, Captain of a volunteer company raised to assi
st Gen. Harris on in the Wabash country, after the battle of Tippecanoe, a
nd a memb er of the Kentucky Legislature. He and his brother, Michael W. H
all marri ed sisters, daughters of the Rev. Robe