SWEET BABY JAMES

A biography and an obituary tell part of his story.  The "sad" part is at the end, and because he had such a sweet face and surely didn't deserve what fate set out for him, I have always thought of him as "Sweet Baby James."  His dad, Abner Hall, was my 2nd great grandpa.

History of Johnson County, Missouri; Ewing Cockrell 1918

Historical Publishing Co, Topeka, Kansas

J. E. Hall, of Warrensburg township, was born in 1853 in Franklin county, Missouri.  He is the son of Abner and Mildred (Bourn) Hall, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter a native of Virginia.  Abner Hall was born in 1797 and in the early thirties came to Missouri settling in Franklin county.  Mildred (Bourn) Hall came to Franklin county from Virginia, when she was fourteen years of age.  Abner Hall and Mildred Bourn were married in Franklin county and their all their children were born and reared:  Benton, who died in early youth; Caroline, who died in 1863; Nannie, the wife of William H. Wegman of St. Louis, Missouri; R. M. Johnson, who is now deceased; Honore, who died in childhood; and J.E., the subject of this review.  The father died in Franklin county in 1863.

J. E. Hall attended the public schools established after the Civil War, in Washington, Franklin county.  With his mother, he came to Johnson county in 1867 and March 10, 1868, they settled on the farm which is now the home of Mr. Hall.  The home place originally comprised one hundred twenty acres of land, but Mr. Hall at present owns ninety-five acres and is engaged in general farming and truck gardening.  He raises garden vegetables, melons, and strawberries.  Thirty acres of his farm are in pasture.  When Mr. Hall came to Johnson county with his mother in 1868, practically the only roads were cowpaths.  In driving from their home to Warrensburg, they came through a dense wood or forded Pertle Springs.  Farms were not generally fenced in those days and wild game, turkey, deer and prairie chickens could be found in abundance.  The mother died in 1904 and burial was made in the cemetery near Warrensburg, known as the Dunkard cemetery.

In 1875 J. E. Hall and Mary Alice Ayres were united in marriage.  Mrs. J. E. Hall is the daughter of Samuel and Jane Ayers….

At the World’s Fair at St. Louis in 1904, strawberries raised by Mr. Hall on his farm in Warrensburg township received prizes in ten leading varieties.  The berries were sent to Mr. Goodman, secretary of the State Board of Horticulture, who displayed them.  Fifteen of the Maximas variety of berry filled a quart box.

J. E. Hall is an exceptionally fine horticulturist, possessing some very excellent ideas, which he is successfully putting in operation on his farm.

OBITUARY

Warrensburg Star Journal 4-21-1939

SERVICES HELD AT LEETON FOR J. E. HALL

A short graveside service was conducted for J. E. Hall, 87, Saturday afternoon at the Brethren cemetery, according to his own request, with the Rev. James Mohler of Leeton in charge.  Pallbearers were Fred Greim, John Greim. V. C. Roop, J. W. Ronemouz, Walter Myer and Adam Fickas.

Those attending the funeral from out of town were Mrs. J. E. Hall, Jr., Eugene and Adah Marie Hall and Miss Louise Marshall of Independence, Charles Ayers and Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Ayers of Kansas City.

James Edward (Uncle Jimmy) Hall, 87, was born on a farm south of Washington, Missouri July 23, 1852 and died Friday.  He was the youngest of six children of Abner and Mildred Hall.  He with his mother, a brother and sister came to Johnson County in 1867 and March 10, 1868 settled on farm three miles south of Warrensburg, where he lived until he sold the farm four years ago.  Most of his life he was engaged in raising vegetables, melons and strawberries.

He was united in marriage to Mary Alice Ayers, daughter of Samuel and Jane Ayers in November 1875.  To this union four sons were born.  Two sons, Byron and James, Jr., preceded him in death.  Mrs. Hall died June 14, 1936.

He became a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church soon after his marriage.

Mr. Hall is survived by two sons, Warren Hall of Seattle, Wash., and Lee W. Hall of Warrensburg, also by 20 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and several nieces in St. Louis.

SO, what is the sad part?  His oldest brother, William LeGrand Hall, stabbed a man to death, was imprisoned and then released after a few years, and then killed his sister in an attempt to get rid of all other heirs to his father's fortune.  For this, he was hung.

And then, one of his own sons, Byron, shot and killed two policemen in a paranoid delusion that people were following him, and in turn was himself shot and killed by another policeman.

Such a cross for this man to bear.  

BYRON HALL - abt 1876 - 1908

~ A RYLAND RELATIVE ~



Byron was the oldest son of James E. and Mary Alice Ayres Hall. He was born in Warrensburg, Johnson County, Missouri. His parents lived on a farm a few miles south of town, where their kids were raised. Sometime around 1902 Byron went to Washington State, where he worked on a cattle ranch near Walla Walla for six years.

The story now is picked up in the Warrensburg newspaper and it appears that he had some mental problems that were reflected in letters written to his family members and by some unusual actions, culminating in his heading for home on a train. On the train his actions were thought by some to be a result of alcohol and by others as that of a demented or deranged man.

Warrensburg Journal-Democrat, Warrensburg, Missouri, Friday, April 24, 1908.

Passengers on the “Hi Lewis Special", a local passenger train which arrives in Warrensburg at 8:10 p.m. from Kansas City, were annoyed and frightened Sunday evening all the way from Pleasant Hill to Warrensburg by a young man who persisted in walking through the coaches and flourishing a pistol. At times he uttered murderous threats, but nobody on the train seemed to be the object of his invective. At one time after the train left Holden he made a bold announcement that there would be bloody murder in Warrensburg that night.

The Train men succeeded in quieting the strange-acting passenger each time he would break out. Conductor Lewis used all the diplomacy at his command to get the demented man to Warrensburg and unload him before anything happened.

When the train reached here the stranger got off carrying his pistol in hand. There was the usual coterie of platform loafers who were not slow to discover the threatenings of the man. A few flourishes of his gun on the platform and he had everything to himself.

The newspaper goes on to state he went to the hotel, was met by three police officers and when they attempted to disarm him he shot all three of them, killing two. He then turned the gun on himself. The article reports that several days later a piece of mail from Byron Hall to his sister-in-law was received and written on the outside was “I leave Denver tonight. I have been followed from Canada by secret service men.”

The newspaper reported being puzzled over these events, and described Byron's background thusly: "At home, in school, and socially, he was an exemplary young man and everybody was his friend. Nothing is known to indicate that he had departed in the lesst from his training since leaving home six years ago. In Washington he spent all these years in the employ of one man and bore a first class reputation. A dispatch from Walla Walla April 21 verifies this."

The newspaper reporter - and maybe the townspeople also - probably did not know that Byron's father James had a much older brother in Franklin County, Missouri who was considered deranged and who ultimately was hanged for murdering his own sister. His intent had been to kill all of his siblings so he would be the lone heir of his father's estate.