Moses Uriah Hall (1835 - 1926)

Born Feb 1835 in Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 3 Apr 1926 at age 91 in New Hampshire, United States

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Biography

Moses Hall is a part of US Black heritage.

"There’s an old stone in the Prospect Cemetery engraved with the curious name of “Moses U. Hall.” Other than that he was born in 1835 and died in 1926, little else was known about this man. So, it was decided to try digging up some more information, so to speak. The search revealed some very unexpected things about this Moses U. Hall. His full name was Moses Uriah Hall and he was the grandson of the legendary Jude Hall, New Hampshire’s famous Revolutionary War soldier of color, some of whose own story is worth the telling here. Jude Hall was born into slavery in 1747. He ran away from his owner, joined the Continental Army, and faithfully served our country for eight solid years to the end of the Revolutionary War. His first battle was at Bunker Hill, where he incredibly survived being thrown headlong by a cannon ball striking near him. Because of his endurance and great strength, Jude Hall was known all over New Hampshire as “Old Rock.” The man stood almost six feet tall and was strong enough to lift up a barrel of cider and drink from it.

After the war, Jude Hall was given his freedom and a bit of land by Drinkwater Road in Exeter that’s still known as “Jude’s Pond.” There he built a small one story house of two rooms and settled with his family. Most tragically, over the years, three of his four sons were kidnapped and cruelly enslaved. The one remaining son was George, who was a stonemason.

When Jude Hall died, there was nothing for George to inherit. Already himself a man of little means, George and his family were granted aid by the town of Exeter and the children helped with their education. One of his sons was Moses Uriah Hall, a young man eager to learn, and who was allowed to study alongside his employer’s sons at Phillip’s Exeter Academy. After a time, Moses Hall became a Civil War soldier. He came to Epping with his family after the War and lived here for many years, working hard into his old age.

Like his father before him, Moses U. Hall was a skilled stonemason and apparently had inherited some of his grandfather’s fabled strength and stamina. In 1915, when he was about eighty years old, Mr. Hall paved the sidewalks on Pleasant Street. Before that, he had built a wall on Prescott Road and set the foundation for a large shoe factory in Raymond, as well as for a new one here in town. He bricked up buildings, and set walkways, stairs, fireplaces and chimneys all over town. The present Hogarth School and Murphy home on Water Street is but one example of his work.

In 1917, as our town’s oldest citizen, Moses Uriah Hall became the fifth recipient of our Boston Post Cane and the first African-American to be so honored by Epping.

Mr. Hall died at well over ninety years of age. No doubt buried with military honors, this old Civil War veteran rests from a life well lived that would have made his father and his grandfather very proud indeed."

He is buried in Prospect Cemetery in Epping, New Hampshire.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #151977656
   Memorial page for Moses Uriah Hall (1835-31 Mar 1926), citing Prospect Cemetery, Epping, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, USA; Maintained by Sky at blueskyzupabove at zoho.com (contributor 47507075).

• 1880 Census: "1880 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1880; Census Place: Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire; Roll: 767; Page: 145a; Enumeration District: 206
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6742 #44418611
  Moses Hall (45), married, Stonemason, head of household in Exeter, Rockingham, New Hampshire, USA. Born in New Hampshire.

See also:

• Biography Text and Research by Madelyn Williamson, as appeared in print in "Speak Up Epping", Volume 8, Issue 6, Nov.-Dec., 2015
• Military: "U.S., Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940"
  Original data: United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2019
  Ancestry Record 61861 #2743676
  Name: Moses U Hall; Record Type: Military Service; Birth Date: 10 Feb 1835; Military Date: 31 Oct 1865; Residence Place: Epping, NH; Death Date: 31 Mar 1926.
• US Civil War Pension Index
• US Colored Troops Military Service