An able member of the LaSalle county bar is Judge Samuel P. Hall, who for the past nine years has been engaged in practice in Ottawa, and who long since achieved distinction in the field of jurisprudence. He is a man of scholarly attainments, possessing thorough knowledge of the law, sound judgment upon all disputed points, and the clear, logical mind which readily solves intricacies and involved questions. All cases entrusted to him he manages with masterly skill and tact, and never stoops to the petty methods employed by too many members of the legal profession, but maintains that high standard of ethics to which none can take exceptions.
The family to which our subject belongs, and to which his name and record have added new luster, is one of the oldest in New England. The founder of this branch in America was a native of England, and settled in the colony of Connecticut in 1645. Sherman A. Hall, the paternal grandfather of the judge, was one of the pioneers of DeKalb county, Illinois, where he was occupied in agricultural pursuits until his death.
Born December 25, 1818, in Jefferson county. New York, Russell R. Hall, the father of the judge, passed his boyhood there, and about 1845 became a resident of DeKalb county, Illinois. December 22, 1848, he married Miss Ruth Ann Simmons, who was born July 10, 1823; and to them were born two sons and a daughter: Samuel P., Frank, who is a farmer of LaSalle county; and Emeline M., wife of C. C. Duffy, of Ottawa, the present clerk of the supreme court. The death of Mrs. Ruth Ann Hall occurred July 16, 1861.
The birth of Samuel P. Hall took place May 16, 1851, in Clinton, DeKalb county. In his youth he attended the public schools and Jenning's Seminary, at Aurora, an institution conducted under the auspices of the Methodists. He continued his higher studies there until he was graduated, in 1 87 1. Having determined his future course in life, he then began the study of law in the office of Judge Parks, of Aurora, and later he was guided and aided by William Barge, a lawyer of Dixon, Illinois. Circumstances prevented his rapid progress in the acquisition of a legal education, and it was not until 1879 that he was admitted to the bar of LaSalle county, in the appellate court at Ottawa. He established an office at Piano, Illinois, and subsequently, in February, 1881, removed to LaSalle, where he succeeded in building up an extensive practice. In 1890 he was elected to the judgeship of the probate court of this county, in which office he made a record of which he may justly be proud. Upon the expiration of his term, in 1894, he opened an office in Ottawa, and is conducting a general law business, giving particular attention to probate matters. Politically he is identified with the Democratic party, and socially is a member of Acacia Lodge, No. 67, F. & A. M., of LaSalle.
December 17, 1881, Judge Hall married Miss Carrie Henry, daughter of James K. Henry, of Dixon, Illinois. They have a pleasant home and are the parents of five promising children, who are named, in order of birth, as follows: Samuel P., Jr.; Bruce; Ruth H.; Blanche, and Esther. Mrs. Hall is a lady of intelligence and culture, and presides over her home with womanly grace and dignity, endearing herself to all who know her, and carrying an atmosphere of loving sympathy and helpfulness wherever she goes.
Extracted by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois published in 1900, volume 1, pages 166-167.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
 |
Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
