Occupying a representative position among the leading farmers of LaSalle county, Illinois, is the subject of this review, Henry G. Hall, whose postoffice address is Wedron.
Mr. Hall was born in Ottawa, also in this county, November 29, 1853, and was a son of the late Joseph Hall, of Dayton township, this county, who was one of the pioneer settlers here. He was a native of Binghamton, New York, and in 1836, when a young man of twenty, came west to Illinois, making the journey by canal to Buffalo and thence by wagon to his destination, Ottawa. He had learned the trade of blacksmith in his native state, and on taking up his residence in Ottawa engaged in work here at his trade. Some years after his location here he acquired the property on which the Ottawa postoffice building is now located, and at this point had a shop and conducted a successful business for a number of years. In 1857 he purchased a farm in Dayton township, where his efforts in the direction of cultivating and improving were characterized by that same push and energy that had gained him success at the forge. Soon he became one of the prominent farmers in the township, and such was his life that he won the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. He was married in 1841 to Miss Sarah Bryant Gurley, in Ottawa. Mrs. Hall was born in Hartford. Connecticut, May 23, 1823, and was a daughter of Jason Gurley, a cousin of the author, William Cullen Bryant. She was a sister of exCongressman John A. Gurley, a Universalist minister of Ohio, and governor of the territory of Arizona under President Lincoln. Mrs. Hall died in November, 1896, after a residence of over fifty-five years in LaSalle county. Joseph Hall died in 1890, at the age of seventy-four years. Their children are Harriet, wife of E. G. Keith, of Chicago; Charles A., engaged in the fruit and insurance business at San Jose, California; Frank G., a wholesale merchant of Chicago; Henry G., whose name heads this sketch; John A., at Hinsdale, Illinois, is an agent for Mr. Phipps, of Phipps & Carnegie; Jason G., at the homestead; Mary L., wife of L. W. Fuller, of Chicago; and Clarence R., connected with the Metropolitan Bank of Chicago.
Henry G. Hall was four years old at the time his father moved to the farm, as above stated, in 1857, and here his youthful days were passed. In 1875 he went to Chicago and became associated with his brother, C. A. Hall, in the commission business. Later he went into the custom house, where for eight years he filled a responsible position. In 1894 he returned to the home of his childhood and resumed farming, taking in charge the home farm, a tract of three hundred and eighty acres, and since that date he has managed farming operations with as much skill and success as though he had never known any other business. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party. He is unmarried.
Extracted by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois published in 1900, volume 1, pages 303-304.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
 |
Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
