Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Hall, John H. July 17, 1854 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com May 28, 2009, 12:50 am

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     JOHN H. HALL.  One of Portland's representative professional men is John 
H. Hall, who for more than four decades has been engaged in the practice of 
law here. He is a member of one of the old pioneer families of this section of 
the state and has been an interested spectator of the notable events which 
have marked the transition of this region from a wilderness to one of the best 
improved and most prosperous sections of the Union. Mr. Hall was born near 
Gresham, Multnomah county, then a part of Washington county, Oregon, on the 
17th of July, 1854, and is a son of Benjamin F. and Emily M. (Hicklin) Hall. 
Both parents were born in Indiana, the father in Dearborn county, and in 1851 
they crossed the plains to Oregon. The father took a donation land claim on 
what is now the Base Line road, near Gresham, where he established his 
permanent home. However, he did not live long enough to see much of the 
development of the community, for he died of typhoid fever in 1859, and his 
wife passed away in 1865. They were the parents of seven children, of whom two 
died in 1859.

     Mr. Hall's uncle, F. G. Hicklin, had come to Oregon in 1847 and taken a 
donation claim near Troutdale, where he lived until his death. With this uncle 
Mr. Hall made his home after the death of his parents until fifteen years of 
age. He worked on the farm during the summers and attended school during the 
winters. Later he took up the study of law in the office of Stott, Waldo, 
Smith & Boise, and in 1887 was admitted to the bar. He at once opened an 
office in Portland and has devoted his attention to his profession 
continuously since. He conducts a general practice, though specializing in 
corporation, land and estate law, in which subjects he is regarded as an 
authority, and has always commanded a large clientele.

     In 1895 Mr. Hall was united in marriage to Miss Jessie E. Belcher, of 
Spokane, Washington, and to them have been born three children: Marjorie is 
the wife of L. M. Barnes, of New York city; John Hubert, who is a graduate of 
the law school of the University of Oregon and is associated with his father 
in the practice of law, is married and lives in this city; and Jean is at 
home. Mr. Hall has always been an active supporter of the republican party and 
in 1891 was elected to the state legislature, while from December, 1897, to 
January 1, 1904, he served as United States district attorney. He belongs to 
the Multnomah County Bar Association and the Oregon State Bar Association. 
Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, in which he has attained the 
rank of a Knight Templar, and is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to 
the Waverly Country Club; the Auld Lang Syne Society, of which he was 
president in 1927, and the Sons of Daughters of Oregon Pioneers. He is 
president of the Federal Union and is a director of the Fidelity Security 
Company and several other corporations.

     Mr. Hall remembers Portland as it was in pioneer days, recalling the fact 
that there was practically no business west of First street, First and Front 
streets being then the main business streets. Third street was the Chinese and 
tenderloin district, being mainly characterized by hurdy-gurdys and dance 
halls, while Fourth street was the residential section. Indians were numerous 
and all kinds of wild animals were plentiful, bear, deer and cougars being 
killed close to the home place, while wild fowl were so numerous as to be sold 
very cheap.  Oxen were commonly used as beasts of burden and living conditions 
were primitive as compared with later days. Mr. Hall's parents were here 
during the Indian raids of 1855, at which time all women and children sought 
refuge in the blockhouse, while the men took their guns and went to meet the 
Indians at the mouth of Sandy river. Phil Sheridan was then stationed at Fort 
Vancouver and Eph Allen stole out at night, took a canoe and went to the fort, 
where he told Sheridan of the condition of affairs. Sheridan requisitioned a 
small steamer, on which he mounted an old brass cannon, and drove the Indians 
off. Many of the interesting and valuable facts of history are retained in the 
minds of the pioneers and early residents and should be put into writing and 
other permanent form, before they are forever lost through the passing of the 
actors in the early drama of civilization. Mr. Hail is a man of marked 
individuality, sterling character and kindly manner and commands the highest 
measure of respect and esteem.

Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 785-786

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