'Hall distinguished himself as author, editor, historian and public official. As a young man, this Harrison County author became so interested in the Pitman shorthand system that he determined he would master it from a manual which he possessed. After teaching school for one term, he took his earnings and went to Washington where he obtained a position in the U. S. Senate copying debates. He returned to his native Virginia in 1861 and went to work on the Wheeling Intelligencer just before Virginia seceded from the Union in April, 1861. He made verbatim recordings of the conventions held in Wheeling from 1861-1863. When the legislature of the new state met at Linsly Institute, Hall was chosen clerk of the House of Delegates. He served as Secretary of State from 1866-1868 and then retired from political life, having acquired part ownership of the Wheeling Intelligencer. He was the paper's editor until 1873. Hall's historical works include: The Rending of Virginia (1902); Lee's Invasion of Northwest Virginia in 1861 (1911); and The Two Virginias (1915). Among his works of literature are: Daughter of the Elm (1899) and Old Gold (1907).
