Biography of Charles W. Hall - Mercer Co. WV The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 568 CHARLES W. HALL is president and general manager of the Princeton Foundry & Supply Company, which conducts one of the substantial and important industrial enterprises at Princeton, Mercer County. This company, with a modern plant of the best equipment, specializes in machine, boiler and foundry work, and in the manufacturing of the "Per- fection" Cone Stove Sand-drier and Hall's Improved Shaker Grates for stationary engines, of both of which remarkably effective and valuable devices Mr. Hall was the inventor and both of which have proved of great practical value in connection with the coal-mining industry of West Virginia and other states. Mr. Hall's experience in the West Virginia coal fields began in 1888, and he has been actively identified with the development of the coal industry in the state. Mr. Hall was born at Christiansburg, Montgomery County, Virginia, April 9, 1867, and is a son of John Newton John- son Hall and Margaret (Pannell) Hall, the former of whom was born at Fincastle, Craig County, Virginia, and the latter in Montgomery County, that state. The father was a pioneer in the mining of anthracite coal in Virginia, where his operations were conducted on the rather small scale that then marked the industry in that state. He was a loyal soldier of the Confederacy in the Civil war, took part in numerous engagements, was wounded at the battle of Manassas, and in the latter part of the war was held a prisoner of the Federal Government for a few months at Elmira, New York. He was a stanch democrat, and he and his wife were zealous members of the Baptist Church, in which he served as a deacon. The original American repre- sentatives of the Hall family came from Scotland, and members settled in Massachusetts, Virginia, and in other parts of the South prior to the War of the Revolution. The family was thus founded in Craig County, Virginia, in the Colonial period. John N. J. Hall was fifty-three years of age at the time of his death, in 1896, and his widow passed away in 1917, at the age of seventy years. Of the seven children Charles W., of this review, is the eldest. Another son, Edward D., is a machinist in the employ of the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company at Eckman, West Virginia. Charles W. Hall gained his early education in the schools of his native place, and thereafter passed one year as a stu- dent in the Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg. At the age of nineteen years he entered upon an apprentice- ship in the foundry of J. P. Witherow & Company of New Castle, Pennsylvania, and he continued seven years in the employ of this company. He then came to West Virginia and became a machinist in the employ of the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company at Bluefield, where he was thus stationed at the time when the company's roundhouse was constructed at that point. After a period of four years Mr. Hall re-entered the employ of J. P. Witherow & Company, with which he was in service at Graham, Virginia, while the company was building its furnaces at that place. He next entered the employ of the Carter Coal Company at Tom's Creek, Virginia, where he remained seven years as master mechanic, the title of the company having in the meanwhile been changed to the Virginia Iron & Coal Com- pany. For twelve years thereafter Mr. Hall was master mechanic and chief electrician with the American Coal Com- pany at McComas, Mercer County, West Virginia, and upon severing this connection he became the executive head of the Pocahontas Foundry & Machine Company at Kingston. The plant of this company was later destroyed by fire, and in 1920 Mr. Hall became associated with the organization of the Princeton Foundry & Supply Company, which forthwith initiated the construction of the present modern plant, and he has continued as president and general manager of the progressive corporation. In the manufacturing department the company gives major attention to the production of the two inventions of Mr. Hall, as noted in an earlier paragraph of this sketch. He has marked inventive ability, and has recently perfected a device that will prove a valuable attachment for the lighting systems of automobiles. Mr. Hall is a democrat, and in the Masonic fraternity is affiliated with the Blue Lodge at Coburn, Virginia, and the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons at Bramwell, West Virginia. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church. October 2, 1889, recorded the marriage of Mr. Hall and Miss Barbara Kirk, daughter of John Kirk, of Mercer County, and of this union there are five sons and three daughters. Two of the sons were in the nation's service in the World war period. John W., who received his pre- liminary training at Port Worth, Texas, became a gun in- structor at Mount Clemens, Michigan. Charles W., who entered the United States navy on the 6th of April, 1917, became an electrician on the battleship Florida, and was in the convoy service in the transportation of American troops to the stage of war. He received his honorable discharge after a service of eighteen months. Submitted by Valerie Crook **************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. 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