ANDERSON DISTRICT, SOUTH CAROLINA

(Formerly Pendleton District, South Carolina)

HALL FAMILY

Analysis

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The Hall family has challenged genealogist for decades. The clues taunt us with some very well proven facts while leaving us to flail around on the missing gaps. Over the years a number of theories have been proposed, most of which have been proven to be false. The oft repeated falsehoods have taken on an aura of the truth and have been spread far and wide through the use of the Internet.

This analysis is an attempt to step back and see what the now existing records tell us. I have gathered and abstracted numerous deeds, estates and census records. All of the records are cited as to their source. After, seeing what the records prove for us, I have then applied some basic logic to fill in some missing gaps. This leads to a few conclusions that we can accept based on circumstantial evidence. In some cases, these conclusions confirm tradition and in some cases they differ and lead to surprising results.

There are a few assumptions made that are quite reasonable. Family tradition has long held that brothers Fenton, John, and Nathaniel came from Halifax County, Virginia, migrating to Anderson County, South Carolina in the mid 1780's. To this list of brothers, we add Robert Hall. He is mixed in with the other three brothers in numerous records. There is also another brother William Hall, who left Halifax County, but never showed up in Anderson County. Their father was William Hall. He was the first to arrive in Halifax County and he is mixed in with his five sons in numerous records.

It will be assumed that each of the family members appearing in Anderson County records are children of one of the four brothers that settled there. There are no records to indicate any orphans in Halifax County, Virginia and Anderson County, South Carolina that might have been raised by one of the four brothers. Thus, it is logical to conclude each new family member appearing descends from the four brothers. One other assumption has been made. There does not appear to be any children of the four brothers heading a household in 1790. The 1790 Census appears to include all of the next generation born as of that time.

1.When drafting a will, the testator will generally name all of his children or name them as a “class”, i.e. all of my children. Often the children will be named in birth order. A child that has died, without having any children, before the making of the will is left off and its share divided among the living children. If a child has died, leaving children, those children would typically receive their deceased parents share. Generally, any child to be disinherited would be specifically disinherited rather than simply be left off of the will.

Fenton Hall’s will appeared to follow the general rule. Looking at the 1790-1830 census records, his sons appear to be listed in birth order. Comparing the number of his sons in the 1790 Census, there is one son missing in his will, born before 1774. This son predeceased Fenton Hall. This child almost has to be Martin Hall. This will be discussed in detail below. There is no basis to include Ezekial Hall or Absalom Hall as children of Fenton Hall.

2. When dividing an estate including real estate, all children will sign as well as children of deceased children. If a daughter has married, her husband will sign as well. There can be more than one deed used if everyone can not be logistically brought together. Only those children who have died without issue or have unknown whereabouts should be missing. The children of Fenton Hall and of John Hall joined in deeding their respective estates. This leads to the conclusion that Nathaniel, Lent, Caleb, Hilliard, Jeremiah, James and William Allen Hall are not descendants of either John Hall or Fenton Hall as they were alive when the estates of Fenton Hall and John Hall were deeded to others and do not appear in the deeds. Hence they are sons of either Robert Hall or Nathaniel Hall. Martin Hall, James Hall and Benjamin Hall (x2) could be the sons of any of the four Hall brothers. These will be discussed in further detail below.

3. The deed selling the real estate of Fenton Hall is recorded at Deed Book R, Page 476. The preamble recites it is from “part of the legatees” of Fenton Hall. In the ending portion there is an exception to the warranty title as to Roda (Rhoda) Hall. This is highly suggestive that all of the heirs signed off, except Rhoda Hall. Lent Hall and David Hall were not named in the will of Fenton Hall, but did appear in the deed dividing his estate. Hence, they married daughters of Fenton Hall.

4. Jeremiah Hall appears in two early deeds along with Tucker cousins. The Tuckers lived on Mulberry Creek near the mouth of First Creek. Robert Hall’s land straddled the Rocky River, immediately adjacent the Tuckers. As shown above, he can not be the son of Fenton or John. Furthermore, he also does not appear in the estate records of Nathaniel Hall. This is highly suggestive that Jeremiah Hall was a son of Robert Hall.

5. From the 1790 census, Nathaniel Hall and Robert Hall each had one son born before 1774. Lent Hall was born before 1775 and Jeremiah Hall was born before 1775. Lent Hall appears in the estate records of Nathaniel Hall, but Jeremiah Hall does not. Logically, Lent was a son of Nathaniel Hall and Jeremiah was the son of Robert Hall.

6. Census records are “generally” accurate. Their correctness will be assumed unless other evidence is conflicting. The second eldest child of Robert Hall is Robert Hall, Jr. b. 1774-1784. This conclusion is from census and deed records. The senior Robert Hall had two more sons b 1784-1790. One of these would be William Allen Hall b. 1784-1794. William Allen Hall was deeded a portion of Robert Hall’s land. This only leaves one unidentified son (b. 1784-1790) for Robert Hall. Hilliard Hall was born 1770-1780. Since he is a son of Nathaniel or Robert and Robert’s children of his age are accounted for, this indicates he was a son of Nathaniel Hall. This is further supported by the fact Hilliard Hall appears as a buyer from the estate of Nathaniel Hall.

7. Lent Hall starts appearing in records in the early 1790's. However, he is missing from the 1800 Census. The 1810 Census shows he had 4 males in his family born before 1800! A closer examination of the 1800 Census shows Fenton Hall with quite a few extra males in his household. There is no entry in the rights age bracket for Lent. He might have been absent for a number of reasons and his wife and children lived in the household of her father Fenton Hall. Thus, the extra family members were grandchildren of Fenton Hall. This is a good place to discuss Ezekial Hall and Absalom Hall. Both appear to have been born 1790 - 1800. They are not among the surviving children of John Hall or Fenton Hall. All of Robert Hall’s children are older and accounted for. Had they been younger children of Nathaniel Hall, there should be some sort of guardianship for them. This leads inescapable to the conclusion that they were children of Lent Hall (and grandchildren of Fenton Hall, which explains their appearing in records with other members of Fenton’s family).

8. As discussed above, Hilliard Hall was the son of Nathaniel Hall. He most likely married a daughter of Robert Tucker. He appears in Lincoln County, Tennessee near Robert Tucker and his son Aulden Tucker. Aulden Tucker died there. Robert Tucker and Hilliard Hall later moved on to Haywood County, Tennessee.

9. There are three Nathaniel Halls in early Anderson County! The first is, of course, Reverend Nathaniel Hall, Sr. He had a son named Nathaniel. His brother Robert Hall also had a son named Nathaniel! One Nathaniel Hall appears aged 16 to 26 (born 1784-1794) in the 1810 Census of Pendleton District. The other Nathaniel Hall appears age 45+ (born before 1775) in the 1820 Census of Lincoln County, Tennessee (on the same page as the Robert Tucker and a number of his sons)! My best guess is that the younger of the Nathaniel Hall cousins is the son of Robert Hall, and the elder is the son of Reverend Nathaniel Hall. The younger first appears deeding the estate lands of Robert Hall, with his wife Dorcys releasing her dower rights. Hence, Dorcys Hall is not the wife of the son of Nathaniel Hall.

10. There are two Martin Halls in the early records. The elder Martin Hall bought land from Lent Hall in 1800. The junior Martin Hall, born 1790 to 1800 appears in the 1830 Census. He witnessed a deed to Zachariah Hall in 1821.

11. When first names of family members were the same, often Jr. or Sr. was added to their name, or a nickname attached. Later, middle names and initials were used to distinguish between family members of the same name. The younger member most often added the middle name or initials. Hence, William Allen Hall probable son of Robert Hall is distinct from William Hall, son of Fenton Hall William Allen Hall (b. 1784 - 1790) is distinctly younger than William (b. <1784), son of Fenton Hall. Furthermore, James B. Hall, son of Fenton is distinct from James Hall, son of ? In 1802, James Hall witnessed a deed recorded at Deed Book O, Page352. He also proved the deed when recorded in 1819. James B. Hall

12. Caleb Hall is thought by some to be a son of Nathaniel Hall. There is very little record of him. As discussed above, he could not be a son of John Hall or Fenton Hall. All of Robert Hall’s children are accounted for. Hence, he would have been a son of Nathaniel Hall.

13. There is a Benjamin Hall in the early records. He appears in a number of records during 1797 - 1800. He later appears in Elbert County, Georgia in two records in 1804 and 1806. (Fenton Hall also appeared in the 1806 record.) Benjamin moves on with no other record. However, there were two Benjamin Halls that appear in the 1810 Census of Pendleton County. Both were born 1765 - 1784 and both left the area after the 1810 Census. Neither appear in any deed records.

14. There are a few Sarah Halls that are interesting to consider.

A.A merchant John Hall died ca 1797 leaving a widow Sarah Hall. She appears in the 1800 census in Abbeville. There is no known connection between that Sarah Hall and the Halls of Pendleton District.

B. A second Sarah Hall appears in 1809 as an adjacent landowner to land deeded by Lent Hall to Lemuel Hall. She is a head of household in the 1810 Census in Pendleton District, and possibly in 1820 in Abbeville District. In 1820, the Sarah Hall in Abbeville District is next to a George Hall, which is not a name associated with the Anderson County Hall family. The Sarah Hall that appears in 1809-1810 raises the most questions. She lived on Governors Creek, in the area where Nathaniel Hall and John Hall lived. We already know that John Hall’s widow was Ursula Hall. Robert Hall was married to Mary; and Fenton Hall was married to Hannah. We also know from deed records that this Sarah Hall could not be a daughter or stepdaughter of John Hall or Fenton Hall. The totality of extant records leads to the conclusion she was a part of Nathaniel Hall’s family. There are no estate records with a widow Sarah Hall or minor children during that period. Thus it is not likely that she was a widow of an unnamed son of Nathaniel Hall. The only Hall estate open during that period was the estate of Nathaniel Hall. If Sarah Hall was his widow, then her full name would have been Sarah Elizabeth, which is a common combination. She was not old enough to have been his first wife. Nathaniel would then have one more son and one more daughter, both born 1794-1800. She also could be an unmarried older daughter of Nathaniel Hall in which case the two younger members of the 1810 household would her younger brother and sister. They also could be her illegitimate children.

C. Yet another witnessed the will of Absalom Hall in 1824 in Pendleton District.

D. There is also an 1834 will for a Sarah Hall in Abbeville District. (From the names of her children, she appears to be the widow of one of the sons of John Hall and his wife Ursula.)

15. There are possibly two James Halls in early Pendleton records. The first witnessed the deed of the estate of Robert Hall from Robert Hall (Jr) to William Allen Hall in 1802. James Hall proved the will when it was recorded in 1819. He may or may not be James B. Hall, son of Fenton Hall. James B. Hall does not show up in deed records until 1826.

16. The Hall family members participating in the estate sale of Nathaniel Hall include children as well as other Hall family members.

17. Anthony Hall first bought land in 1818. The deed does not cite the watercourse. When he died ca 1837 his estate had 154 acres of land on Rocky River, which is suggestive of a relationship to the other Halls. He only appeared in the 1820 census (born 1775-1794). From the Census records he had a son born before 1802. A daughter Elizabeth was born ca 1804 (See Genforum - Crenshaw Family, # 902.) This it is likely Anthony was born 1775-1780. From, deed records, he is not a son of John Hall or Fenton Hall. All of Robert Hall’s sons are accounted for. He is the right age to be a son on Nathaniel Hall. Thus, if he is in fact related, he would have been a son of Nathaniel Hall.

NATHANIEL

ROBERT

JOHN

FENTON

ELIZABETH

MARY

URSULA

HANNAH

5 Sons

1 Dau.

4 Sons

3 Daus.

5 or 6 Sons

3 Daus.

8 Sons

4 Daus.

LENT

b 1765-1770

JEREMIAH

b <1775

CLARY

WINSTON

b 1775-1794

URSULA (DAVIS)

WILLIAM

POLLY

HILLIARD

b 1770-1780

ROBERT

b 1774-1784

JOHN

SALLY (BURTON)

JONATHAN

RHODA

NATHANIEL

b 1774-1775

WILLIAM ALLEN

b 1784-1794

DAVID

b 1775-1794 or

b 1794-1802

LUCY

FENTON

PEGGY

CALEB

b 1765-1784

NATHANIEL b. 1784-1794

JAMES B

HANNAH

JOHNSON

FLEMMING

LEMUEL

JAMES

b< 1775?

BENJAMIN

BENJAMIN

b 1765-1784

BENJAMIN

b 1765-1784

MARTIN

EZEKIAL

b 1790-1800

ABSALOM

ANTHONY

Compiled By: David H. Robertson, 159 Hickory St., Roswell, GA 30075 davidhr@hushmail.com

COMBINED CENSUS CHART

Child of

Birth Date from Census

Appear deed/estate

1790

1800

1810

1820

KNOWN FROM HALIFAX, VIRGINIA

HALL, NATHANIEL

William of Halifax VA

P085

HALL, LENT

Nathaniel

1765-1770

1791

P164

P166

HALL, NATHANIEL

Nathaniel

<1775

TN

HALL, CALEB

Nathaniel

1775-1784

1810

P163

P228

HALL, HILLIARD

Nathaniel

1774-1780

1774-1790

HALL, ROBERT

William of Halifax VA

P085

P285

HALL, JEREMIAH

Robert

<1775

1795

HALL, ROBERT

Robert

1774-1784

1802

P284

HALL, WILLIAM A.

Robert

1784-1790

1802

P152

P208

HALL, NATHANIEL

Robert

1784-1790

1802

P144

HALL, JOHN/URSELY

William of Halifax VA

<1755

P085

P269

P146

P166

HALL, WINSTON

John

1775-1784

1801-1814

Ab033

HALL, BENJAMIN

John

1774-1784

HALL, JOHN

John

1784-1794

1805-

P095?

P146

P166

1790-1794

HALL, DAVID

John

1775-1794

1814

P166

HALL, FENTON / HANNAH

William of Halifax VA

P085

P217

P164

P166

HALL, WILLIAM

Fenton

1796-1804, 1826

HALL, JONATHAN

Fenton

1775-1794

1826

P208

HALL, FENTON

Fenton

1784-1794

1822, 1826

Ab102

HALL, JAMES B.

Fenton

1826

HALL, JOHNSON

Fenton

1784-1794

1826

P164

P209

HALL, LEMUEL

Fenton

1784-1790

1809-1834

P164

P165

HALL, FLEMING

Fenton

1794-1802

1826

P166

MOST LIKELY RELATED

HALL, JAMES

1802

HALL, MARTIN

Fenton

1755-1774

1800

P216

HALL, BENJAMIN

1765-1784

1797-1800

P160

HALL, BENJAMIN

1765-1784

P162

HALL, EZEKIAL

1790-1800

HALL, MARTIN

1790-1800

1821

HALL, ZACHARIAH

1821-1831

HALL, JESSE H

Lent

1836

HALL, ABSOLUM

Lent

1794-1802

1824 Will

P207

HALL, ANTHONY

Nathaniel

P165

HALL, SARAH

Widow of Nathaniel?

P164

MOST LIKELY UNRELATED

HALL, WILLIAM

<1755

1789-1803

P082

P1015

HALL, RICHARD

1755-1774

P082

P966

HALL, JONATHAN

<1774

P082

HALL, JESSE

<1755

1801-1815

P085

P851

P157

P219

HALL, PETER

1795-1814

P156

HALL, WILLIAM

Peter

P187?

HALL, PETER, JR

Peter

1813

HALL, ROBERT/MARY

1791-1797

P695

HALL, JAMES R.

1797-1814

P166

HALL, JOSEPH

1755-1774

1784-1828

P061

P209

HALL, AARON

Joseph

1828

HALL, DAVID

P219

HALL, DANIEL

1765-1784

P147

HALL, DRURY

P189

HALL, ELISHA

P181

HALL, GEORGE

P184

HALL, HUGH

P195

HALL, JAMES

P208

HALL JOHN

P151

P174

HALL, JOHN

P155

P182

HALL, JOHN

P143

HALL, JOSEPH

1755-1774

P915

HALL, JOSEPH

P441

HALL, TARLTON

1814

P150

HALL, ZACHARIAH

1803-1815

P157

P219

Compiled By: David H. Robertson, 159 Hickory St., Roswell, GA 30075 davidhr@hushmail.com

MULTI-YEAR CENSUS CHART - LENT HALL

Lent Hall had a large family. From the charts below it is evident that he had 10 sons and 5 daughters, with 4 sons and 1 daughter being born before 1800.

LENT HALL - MALES

1750-1755

1755-1760

1760-1765

1765-1770

1770-1774

1774-1775

1775-1780

1780-1784

1784-1790

1790-1794

1794-1800

1800-1802

1802-1804

1804-1810

1810-1815

1815-1820

1820-1825

1825-1830

1800

-

1

1

3

3

1810

1

2

3

1

1

2

1820

1

-

-

2

-

1

1

1

-

1830

LENT HALL - FEMALES

1750-1755

1755-1760

1760-1765

1765-1770

1770-1774

1774-1775

1775-1780

1780-1784

1784-1790

1790-1794

1794-1800

1800-1804

1804-1810

1810-1815

1815-1820

1820-1825

1825-1830

1800

-

1

-

1

1

1810

1

-

-

1

2

1820

1

-

-

1

1

-

1

-

1830

Compiled By: David H. Robertson, 159 Hickory St., Roswell, GA 30075 davidhr@hushmail.com