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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE
A
DESCRIPTIVE AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF
BRISTOL COUNTY
MASSACHUSETTS
PREPARED AND PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF
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THE
FALL RIVER NEWS
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AND
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THE
TAUNTON GAZETTE
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WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF
HON. ALANSON BORDEN
OF NEW BEDFORD
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THE BOSTON HISTORY COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
1899
PART II
BIOGRAPHICAL.
R. Henry Hall
RICHARD HENRY HALL, of Taunton, is the eldest son of Richard Hutchens Hall and Mary
A. Bates, and was born in Norton, Bristol county, Mass., November 7, 1830. He is a lineal descendant in the eighth
generation from George Hall, one of the founders of the town of Taunton in 1639 and one of its first Board of Selectmen,
through his great-grandfather, Brian Hall, who was was born in Taunton, Mass., July 9, 1727, and who removed to
the adjoining town of Norton (formerly a part of Taunton) about the year 1755. Brian Hall, son of John and Mary
Hall, of Taunton, was married in 1751 to Abiah Crossman, of Taunton, the daughter of Thomas and Joanna (Leonard)
Crossman, and granddaughter of Thomas and Joanna Leonard. He became a large landowner, and was one of the first
to respond to the call to arms in the war for independence, enlisting as lieutenant in Captain Hodges's company,
and serving in Rhode Island in 1776. He was also a member of the Select Committee of Correspondence to take into
consideration the "confederation of the Union of States," and of the committee to devise means for the
formation of a State Constitution. He died December 13, 1778. Both he and his wife were members of the First Congregational
Society. Richard Hutchens Hall, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Norton, Mass., May 23, 1810,
and for many years was superintendent of the Norton branch of the Taunton Copper Manufacturing Company. He died
February 10, 1877. His wife, Mary A., was the daughter of Horatio and Mary (Monroe) Bates, of Providence, R. I.,
and was born September 8, 1812, and died October 19, 1878. They had -ten children, of whom six attained maturity,
viz.: Richard Henry, of Taunt on; Horatio Hutchens, of Taunton, born September 6, 1833; Mary Jane, born February
14, 1836, married J. Henry Stoddard, of Weymouth; Harriet Augusta, born March 14, 1845, widow of Alfred W. Woodward,
of Taunton; George Edwin, born October 1, 1847, of Norton; and Velina Allen, born October 5, 1854, married Albert
Eddy, of Norton.
Richard Henry Hall was educated in the public schools of Norton, at the Bristol Academy in Taunton, and at the
Pierce Academy in Middleborough. At the age of nineteen he entered the employ of the Taunton Copper Manufacturing
Company, with which he remained thirty-four years, filling the various positions of metallurgist, refiner, chemist,
superintendent, and director with unusual ability and great satisfaction. The high standard attained by the company
in its several lines of manufactured goods was largely due to Mr. Hall's energy and skill, and to the care which
he exercised in his departments. In 1884 he resigned and spent some time in foreign travel, principally in Europe,
and upon returning home he became, at tie earnest solicita tion of Taunton's business men, the candidate for mayor.
He was elected and served during 1886, was again elected for 1888, and reelected without opposition for 1889, being
nominated by both the Citizens and Republican conventions. During his three years' service as mayor of Taunton
he devoted his whole time to municipal work and in many ways advanced the material interests of the city. His arduous
labors during the year of the disastrous freshet in 1886 and during the celebration of her 250th anniversary in
1889 are held in grateful and appreciative remembrance.
Mr. Hall is independent in politics, voting and working for the best interests of the community at large, and supporting
those movements which promise the widest benefit. For several years he resided in Norton, where he rendered efficient
service as a member of the town School Board. In 1861 he removed to Taunton, where he has lived ever since, and
where he served for a time in the Common Council prior to his election to the mayoralty. He has been the general
superintendent of the Revere Copper Company at Canton since 1890. He has been a trustee of the Bristol County Savings
Bank of Taunton since 1875, a trustee of the Morton Hospital since its organization, a trustee of the Taunton Public
Library since 1893, and a member and vestryman of St. Thomas's Episcopal Church, Taunton, for many years. He is
a thirty-second degree Mason, being a member and past treasurer of Ionic Lodge and member of St. Mark's Royal Arch
Chapter, of Taunton, an honorary member of Taunton Council, àf New Bedford, and a member of St. John's Commandery,
No. 1, K. T., of Providence, R. I., and of the Scottish Rite bodies. He is also a member of the Society of the
Sons of the American Revolution through his great-grandfather, Lieut. Brian Hall. As a citizen he is public spirited,
progressive, and patriotic, imbued with the loftiest sense of honor, and universally respected and esteemed. He
is methodical, exact, and energetic, a man of the strictest integrity, and a liberal supporter of every worthy
enterprise.
Mr. Hall was married January 3, 1859, to Susan Jane, daughter of James C. and Lydia T. (Packard) Drake, of North
Bridgewater (now Brockton), Mass., and a great-granddaughter of Capt. Daniel Drake, a kinsman of John Drake, one
of the first settlers of Taunton. Capt. Daniel Drake was born in Taunton in 1743, enlisted in the militia April
20, 1775, and served with distinction throughout the Revolutionary war, participating in the siege of Boston, and
receiving a captain's commission. He married Lois, daughter of John and Dorothy (Pinneo) Reed, of Taunton. James
Cobb Drake, grandfather of Mrs. Hall, was born in Taunton prior to the removal of the family to Grafton, N. H.,
in 1788. James Cobb Drake, her father, was born January 15, 1809, removed from Grafton to Brockton, Mass., in 1831,
and for many years was a railroad contractor. He died April 16, 1865. Mrs. Hall is a member of the Daughters of
the American Revolution through Captain Drake, her great grandfather. Mr. and Mrs. Hall have three sons: Henry
Lindsey, born November 27, 1859, who is connected with the freight department of the Boston and Maine Railroad
in Boston; Frederick Stanley, born February 10, 1861, a graduate of Harvard University, and a leading lawyer in
Taunton; and Edward G., born June 29, 1867, a bookkeeper, of Taunton.
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