James S. Hall and Mary A. Iddings

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Husband James S. Hall ¹

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           Born: 1 Sep 1828 - Bald Eagle Valley, Centre Co, PA 2
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           Died: 2 Mar 1896 3
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         Father: Thomas Miller Hall (Abt 1807-1879) 4 5
         Mother: Euretta Roberts (      -      ) 5

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       Marriage: 1854 2

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Wife Mary A. Iddings ²

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           Died: Aft 1898
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         Father: Joseph Iddings (      -1865) 2
         Mother: Margaret Henry (Abt 1793-1884) 2

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Children

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1 F Alice L. Hall ²

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         Spouse: John McDonald (      -      ) 2

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2 M Edgar H. Hall ²

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3 F Wilburetta Hall ²

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4 F Mary Hall ²

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5 F Cornelia Hall ²

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General Notes: Husband - James S. Hall

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His primary education was obtained in the schools of Bellefonte, Centre County, Pennsylvania, and he subsequently attended the Meadville College for some years, after which he successfully engaged in teaching in the public schools for a number of years. He also served as deputy sheriff under his father from 1846 to 1849, in his native county. In 1850, in company with E. B. Lipton, also of Milesburg, Centre County, Mr. Hall went to California, expecting to make his fortune in the gold mines. The venture, however, did not prove very successful, and later he was appointed and served as deputy sheriff of Nappa County, that state. Failing health at length caused him to return home in 1854.
After his return to Pennsylvania he taught school and engaged in clerking until the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1861 he assisted Capt. Kiernan in recruiting Company D, 53d P. V. I., of which company he was commissioned lieutenant, and some time after entering the service was detailed for duty in the Signal Corps. At that period the department was in its infancy, and he rendered his superior officers valuable service in raising it to a high state of perfection, which, later on, proved invaluable to the army. At Fredericksburg he was with Gen. Burnside, and when Gen. Hooker succeeded to the command he was retained, and continued at headquarters. After the battle of Chancellorsville, when the army moved northward, he accompanied it to Gettysburg, and was sent to Little Round Top. On the memorable 2d of July, when Gen. Longstreet was forming his column to assault that stronghold, which is universally conceded to have been the key to the position occupied by the Union army, he gave timely notice to Gen. Meade of the contemplated movement. Gen. Warren, chief of the staff, hastened to Round Top to ascertain the situation. Seizing the Captain's field glass he hastily glanced in the direction of the Confederate lines, but failed to note, from some cause, the forming column. Unusual as it was for Gen. Warren to be impatient, he censured the Captain for being unnecessarily alarmed. The controversy continued for considerable time, Captain Hall insisting that he was correct in his opinions, and that the peculiar activity and formation he had noted and signaled to headquarters was the precursor of an assault. A little later it became apparent to Gen. Warren that it was only too true. Aids were immediately dispatched with the utmost haste, and troops were hurried up on a double-quick, and arrived just in time to meet and hurl back Longstreet's assaulting column, led by the Louisiana Tigers. A moment later, and Round Top would have been lost to the Union Army. The timely warning of the signal officer was all that saved it.
A few years since, when Gen. Longstreet visited Gettysburg for the purpose of viewing the battlefield, he lingered along his old line where it confronted Round Top. He referred to the terrific struggle which had occurred at that point, and is reported as pleasantly remarking: "It is all over now, and I hold no ill feeling toward the men who repulsed the assault on Round Top," but added, "he could not quite forgive one little d--- who stood on the summit and vigorously waved his signal flag, notifying Gen. Meade of his premeditated assault." That officer was Capt. James S. Hall, and his timely warning doubtless saved that stronghold from capture. Capt. Hall continued to serve with the Army of the Potomac until the South laid down its arms, and peace was once more restored.
Returning to Pennsylvania, Capt. Hall located in Renovo, and when the Philadelphia & Erie railroad established its shops there, he was offered and accepted a clerical position, which he filled until failing health caused his retirement. For the last six or seven years of his life he was an invalid and was unable to do any work, but bore his sufferings without a murmur.
From early life he was an earnest and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and fraternally was an honored member of the Masonic order, and of the Grand Army of the Republic.

1 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 96, 609.

2 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 609.

3 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 610.

4 John Blair Linn, History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1883), Pg 267.

5 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the Counties of Centre, Clinton, Union and Snyder. (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1898), Pg 96.