John Manning Hall

{{Infobox person | name = John Manning Hall | image = John Manning Hall.jpg | birth_date = {{birth date|1841|10|16}} | birth_place = Willimantic, Connecticut, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1905|01|27|1841|10|16}} | death_place = New Haven, Connecticut, US | alma_mater = Columbia Law School (JD)<br/>Yale University (BA) | occupation = Lawyer, politician, judge, and railroad executive | political_party = Republican Party }}

'''John Manning Hall''' (October 16, 1841 – January 27, 1905)<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=1905-01-28|title=John Manning Hall Dead. Connecticut ex-Judge Was Prominent as a Railroad Official|pages=7|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88511619/the-new-york-times/|access-date=2021-11-07|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> was an American lawyer, politician, judge, and railroad executive from Connecticut. His son, John L. Hall, co-founded the law firm Choate, Hall & Stewart.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Tuttle|first=Roger W.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CZ-wCGpba1AC|title=Biographies of Graduates of the Yale Law School, 1824-1899|publisher=Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Company|year=1911|location=New Haven|pages=836–837|language=en|via=Google Books}}</ref>

== Biography == Hall was born in Willimantic, Connecticut, on October 16, 1841. His father was Horace Hall, a prominent local businessman who served as selectman, justice of the peace, and state representative for Willimantic.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TvwnAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA158|title=Commemorative Biographical Record of Tolland and Windham Counties, Connecticut: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of the Early Settled Families|publisher=J. H. Beers|year=1903|location=Chicago|pages=158–160|language=en|via=Google Books}}</ref> John's mother was Elizabeth Manning of Albany, New York. He graduated from Williston Seminary before earning his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1866 and his J.D. degree from Columbia Law School in 1868.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Moore|first=William F.|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009573100|title=Representative Men of Connecticut, 1861-1894|publisher=Massachusetts Publishing Company|year=1894|location=Everett, Mass.|pages=431–434|language=en|via=Hathitrust}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1899-11-12|title=J. M. Hall Made President: Succeeds C. P. Clark as President of the New-Haven Road|pages=1|work=New-York Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88511839/new-york-tribune/|access-date=2021-11-07|via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

Hall was Windham County's star lawyer in the 1870s and 1880s, gaining wealth and repute and even arguing a case before the US Supreme Court.<ref name=":3" /> After several terms in the Connecticut House of Representatives, during which he chaired the judiciary and railroad committees, he served as speaker of the House in 1882, president pro tempore of the Connecticut State Senate in 1889, and a judge of the Connecticut Superior Court from 1889 to 1893.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> He served on the inaugural board of trustees of the Storrs Agricultural School from 1881 to 1882.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JCIwNHzT7PYC&pg=PA2|title=Annual Report of the Trustees of the Connecticut Agricultural College at Mansfield, Conn.|publisher=Connecticut Agricultural College|year=1882|location=Hartford, CT|language=en}}</ref>

Switching full-time to the private sector, Hall served as vice president (1893–99) and president (1899–1903) of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company. After retiring as president, he continued to serve as the company's general counsel until his death in New Haven in 1905. His wife and children survived him.<ref name=":0" />

In 1871, Hall had married Julia White Loomer, daughter of the president of the Willimantic Savings Institute.<ref name=":2" /> They had three children: John Loomer, Florence M., and Helen B. John L. Hall took after his father, graduating from Yale with honors and pursuing a successful law career. He co-founded the prominent Boston-based law firm Choate, Hall & Stewart in 1899.<ref name=":1" /> Both father and son belonged to Yale's Skull and Bones Society.<ref name=":3" />

== References == {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, John Manning}} Category:1841 births Category:1905 deaths Category:People from Willimantic, Connecticut Category:Williston Northampton School alumni Category:Yale University alumni Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:Connecticut lawyers Category:Republican Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives Category:Republican Party Connecticut state senators Category:19th-century Connecticut state court judges Category:Speakers of the Connecticut House of Representatives Category:Presidents pro tempore of the Connecticut Senate Category:19th-century American business executives in rail transportation Category:Judges of the Connecticut Superior Court Category:Members of Skull and Bones Category:New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Category:19th-century members of the Connecticut General Assembly