Hall, John J.

Born: 1829-04-12 Spencer County, Indiana

Died: 1909 Coles County, Illinois

Flourished: Coles County, Illinois

Hall was related to Abraham Lincoln through both his mother and father. His father, Squire Hall was a first cousin of Abraham's mother, Nancy Hanks. His mother, Matilda Johnston, was the daughter of Abraham's stepmother, Sarah Lincoln. When he was one year old, Hall's family accompanied the Lincolns--including Abraham--in moving from Spencer County, Indiana, to Macon County, Illinois. Both families stayed in Macon County for about a year before moving to southern Coles County, Illinois. After the death of Thomas Lincoln in 1851, Hall purchased two-thirds of the Lincoln farm, and cultivated the other third along with his own. He acquired legal title to it in 1888. Politically, Hall was a Republican.

Portrait and Biographical Album of Coles County, Ill. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1887), 465-66; Douglas L. Wilson and Rodney O. Davis, eds., Herndon's Informants: Letters, Interviews, and Statements about Abraham Lincoln (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998), 752, 781-82; Harry E. Pratt, The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln (Springfield, IL: Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943), 60-63; Gravestone, Shiloh Cemetery, Coles County, IL.