Person:Cynthia Hall (4)

Research Notes

• cos1776 Note: Parentage of Cynthia needs more research.
  • 1882 atlas states they were John and Mary (Unknown) Hall
  • most OLTs claim they are James and Elizabeth (Johnston) Hall (with no sources given).

1. ↑ A Genealogical and biographical record of Decatur County, Indiana: compendium of national biography. (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company, 1900).

   ... Miss Susan Saunders, who was born in this county, April 5, 1828, a daughter of James and Cynthia (Hall) Saunders, both natives of Nicholas county, Kentucky, where their marriage occurred. In 1821 they came to Indiana, and the father entered land where the town of Clarksburg now stands. He made good improvements on the place, and after twelve years sold the property and purchased a tract of land southwest of Greensburg, where he developed a good farm. In 1855, however, he removed to Iowa, where his death occurred, July 7, 1864. His wife passed away in Decatur county, at the home of her daughter Susan, April 28, 1873. ...

2. ↑ Atlas of Decatur Co., Indiana: to which are added various general maps, history, statistics, illustrations. (Chicago: J.H. Beers, 1882)
   81.

   ... January 30, 1819, he was married to Miss Cynthia, daughter of John and Mary Hall [sic], of Kentucky. (The Hall family were also of Scotch-Irish stock, and came to Kentucky from the Carolinas.) This lady was born and raised in the same neighborhood, and the two had grown to maturity as schoolmates and friends. Over three years succeeding their marriage, they resided near the old home. During this period, two sons were born. Soon after this, the "New Purchase" was put upon the market, and Capt. Saunders entered lands in the southeast quarter of Section 1, Town 11, Range 10, being the site of the west half of the present village of Clarksburg.* (*This patent is dated December 18, 1820.)
   
   In the spring of 1821, this youthful but resolute young couple and their children moved into this "boundless waste of desert and of wood." Previous to this, however, but after his entry, he and a faithful colored man whom his father-in-law had given him came and cleared off a spot large enough for a cabin of two rooms, into which the family moved upon their arrival. At this time, they had no neighbors except such settlers as were scattered over the country at distances from three to five miles apart. The only roads were the "traces" or blazed paths through the woods. Here, amid the dangers and privations of the frontier, they began the work of making a lasting home for themselves and their posterity. In the spring of 1829 (March 5), wishing to be nearer to the bounty seat, Capt. Saunders sold this improvement, and, on the 4th of the next month, bought the land now owned by John Templeton, two miles southwest of Greensburg, They soon moved on to this land, and cleared and improved it, adding other tracts from time to time until the fall of 1855, when they sold this property and went to Monroe County, Iowa, to reside near two of their sons who had permanently located there. There they resided until the death of Capt Saunders, which occurred July 7, 1864.
   
   Mrs. Saunders was a woman well fitted to be the wife of such a man — a woman of clear head and a kind and affectionate heart, who sympathized with her husband in whatever of joy or affliction it was his lot to encounter. She sought to lead her large family in the paths of virtue and in the ways of pleasantness and peace. She survived her husband nearly nine years, making her home alternately with her children in Iowa, and her daughter, Mrs. Robert A. Hamilton, of this county, at whose residence she died April 28, 1873. She was a member of the Christian Church during her residence in this county, but, upon removing to Iowa, she united with the Presbyterian Church (the church of her youth), in which fellowship she remained until her death. Her remains were interred and still rest in the cemetery of the Presbyterian Church at Kingston.
   
   The children of James Saunders and Cynthia Hall were:
   - James Newton, born in Kentucky, April 29, 1818: graduated from Hanover College and studied for the Presbyterian ministry at the New Albany Theological Seminary, and now resides at Bloomfield, Ky. He has been twice married — first, to Frances Veach; and, after her death, second, to Mary Wilson, both of Kentucky.
   - John H., born in Kentucky, October 22, 1819; married, first, Rebecca Higgins, of Missouri; second, Amanda Martin, of Iowa.
   - Henry, born in Decatur County, September 22, 1822; married Eliza Jane, daughter of Jacob and Ann Stewart, August 7, 1844; now lives at Albia, Iowa.
   - William Potts, born July 3, 1824; entered Hanover College in 1844; enlisted in the United States Army in 1847, in the command of the late Capt. Symonson, of Charleston, Ind. He was killed during the siege of the City of Mexico, September 21, 1847. Those who served with him bear testimony to his gallant conduct under arms. His former Captain once remarked to the writer that "No truer or braver man ever lived or died."
   - Robert Emmett, born February 23, 1826; married Rebecca McKinney March 28, 1850; now resides near Albia, Iowa, -
   - Susan, born April 17, 1822; married to Robert M. Hamilton, February 7, 1849. See special biography of R. A. Hamilton.
   - Moses Johnson, born March 25, 1830; died September 17, 1831.
   - Miles, born January 9, 1832; graduated at Bloomfield, Kentucky, and was prepared for the Presbyterian ministry at Danville, Ky.; married Mary Booker, of Kentucky, and is now Pastor of the church at Springfield, same State.
   - Eliza H, born September 26, 1833; married to P. T. Lambert, September 3, 1857; resides near Greensburg.
   - Jesse H, born April 19, 1836; died October 3, 1859.
   - Mary H., born July 20, 1838; married to Calvin Kelsey September, 1858. He died of cholera at Cairo, I11. She married, second, N. E. Hendrix, and now resides near Albia, Iowa. ...
   
   ... His father-in-law had given him a slave, which he was not at liberty to set free without giving security for his maintenance, so he brought him to Indiana, and, by so doing, made him free. While serving as Treasurer, he was obliged to travel back and forth through the woods to Indianapolis to make his settlements with the State Treasurer. During these trips, he frequently carried large sums of money, which were always safely deposited before his care of the same was relinquished. His name will go down to the future inhabitants of Decatur County as one of the most prominent of its pioneers. ...

3.   L51M-B7G^?, in FamilySearch Family Tree
   includes sources, last accessed Sep 2023.
4. ↑ Bryan, William Smith; Robert Rose; and William Wilson Elwang. A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri: With Numerous Sketches, Anecdotes, Adventures, Etc., Relating to Early Days in Missouri: Also, the Lives of Daniel Boone and the Celebrated Indian Chief Black Hawk: With Numerous Biographies and Histories of Primitive Institutions. (St. Louis, Missouri: Bryan, Brand & Co., 1876)
   399.

   Hall. — James Hall, of Nicholas county, Ky., had — Elizabeth, Polly, Cynthia, Melvina, James, John, Henry, Elihu, and Moses. John and Elihu came to Missouri in 1835. The former married Kitty Squires, and they had one son and ten daughters, viz. : Cynthia, Margaret, Mary, Amanda, Robert, Ruth, Liney, Mildred A., Judith A., Sally, and Caroline. Elihu Hall married Susan Bradshaw, and settled in Callaway county. Mo., in 1835, and in 1839 he settled in Audrain county. His children were — William, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Polly, Robert, John, David, and James. James, David and Amanda died in Indiana. Mr. Hall died in 1850, but his widow is still living, in her 77th year.