Member Biography

Louis Williams Hall 

Member

Photo (Runk & Co. 1886)

Sessions Office Position District Party
1861     Speaker 20 Republican
1862     Speaker 20 Republican
1863       21 Republican
1864     Speaker 21 Republican
1865       21 Republican
1866     Speaker 21 Republican
1867     Speaker 21 Republican

COUNTIES: Cambria, Blair, Huntingdon, Centre, Mifflin, Clearfield, Perry, Juniata  


Biography

07/04/1833 - 07/12/1897


Louis Williams Hall (R20) 1861-1862 (R21) Blair, Cambria and Clearfield Counties 1863-1867

Early Life: 

Louis Williams Hall, born July 4, 1833, Allegheny, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, son of William Maclay Hall and Ellen Campbell Williams; moved, Altoona, studied law, member, Blair County bar, 1854, corporate law; solicitor, Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Altoona; delegate, Republican National Convention, 1860;  elected, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1861-1868; Speaker of the Pennsylvania State Senate, extra session 1861, 1862, 1864, 1866, 1867; married, Elizabeth Warford, 1867, two daughters, two sons; delegate, Williamsport Republican Convention, 1867; Solicitor, counsel, Pennsylvania Railroad, Harrisburg, 1868-897; died, July 12, 1897, Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania; interment unknown. (i) 

Early Career:

Solicitor, Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Altoona.

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Member, Board of Visitors, United States Military Academy, West Point; Director, North Central Railway.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 20th district, 1861-1862, chaired, Estates and Escheats Committee, 1861; Speaker of the Senate, extra session, 1861-1862; elected, Republican Pennsylvania State Senate, 21st district, Blair, Cambria and Clearfield Counties, 1863-1867; Speaker of the Senate, 1964, 1866, 1867; (ii) Presided over $3million dollar loan bill, Pennsylvania Civil War effort. Voted for United States Senator David Wilmot, 1861.

Blair County delegate, Republican National Convention, 1860.

Delegate, Williamsport Republican Convention, 1867.

Solicitor, counsel, Pennsylvania Railroad, Harrisburg,  

Legacy:

Grandson, of William Maclay, first United States Senator from Pennsylvania. His wife, Elizabeth Warford was Simon Cameron niece. 

Cited:

  1. Altoona Tribune (Altoona, Pennsylvania) Tuesday July 13, 1897, Page 1

  2. The Philadelphia Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Tuesday July 13 1897, Page 2

  3. Smull’s Legislative Hand Book, (1866) Smull, J.A., page 257