Person:William Hall (97)

... Major William Hall was born in Virginia about 1740. He married Thankful Doak, also of a Virginia family, ... lived in Surry Co., N.C., for several years before the Revolution.
... Major Hall was appointed Major of Surry County Militia by the Provincial Congress of North Carolina Sept. 9, 1775. [NC Records, X:206]
... member of the Provincial Congress from Surry County, 1776. [NC Records, X:931]
... member of the Committee of Safety, Sept. 20, 1775 and Dec. 18, 1776. [NC Records, V:974 and X:251]
... In 1779 he sold his possessions in Surry County and removed to what is now upper East Tennessee and was then New River, Virginia, settling at a place called Hall's Bottom. He lived on this place for five years, when he received, for military service during the Revolution a grant of land in Sumner County, Tenn., and removed to that county in 1784. His oldest son, James Hall, was killed by Indians shortly after the arrival of the family in Sumner County. Major William Hall and another son, Richard Hall, were killed by Indians Aug. 6, 1786. [Ramsey's Annals, 394, 463 ; History of Sumner County, Tenn. ; statement of Gov. William Hall, son of Maj. William Hall]

The husband of his daughter, Mary Hall, Capt. John Morgan's father and brother were killed. Other members of the family barely escaped with their lives and the record is one of the most heroic and sacrificing in Tennessee's history. Major William Hall was pierced by thirteen wounds when he was killed and scalpled ; his two youngest children, Prudence and John, escaped ; William, Jr. the future Governor, escaped after fighting desperately, and the mother, Thankful Doak Hall, escaped in a strange manner. She was rigind a large and powerful horse at the time of the attack and, frightened by the noise and fighteing, he ran a mile with her, thus saving her life. At the time of the attack the family were enroute from their home to the fort for protection. They had gone only half a mile from their house when the massacre took place. ...

... From the beginning, the settlers of Sumner county were in constant peril. The men seldom ventured from their homes without arms. They lived in groups of several families, bound together by ties of common interest, exposed to common dangers, and ever ready to hazard their lives for the common good. Most of them had been born and reared on the frontiers of Virginia and North Carolina during the stirring times immediately preceding the Revolution. They grew to manhood and womanhood in the wilderness, where danger lurked on every hand, where Tory, British and Indian foes were liable to be met at every turn. Under such circumstances, where midnight attacks were of common occurrence, where fathers, brothers, husbands and sons, when they went to the clearings in the morning were in danger of being shot from ambush and their scalps torn from their heads before they returned to their cabins. Such men courted danger for danger's sake. They were cool and dispassionate, and fear never entered their souls.

The Cherokees and the Creeks were constantly on the war path. There was no safety for the settlers until General Robertson ordered the destruction of the Chickamauga towns, and that order was successfully executed on September 13, 1794. After that time there was peace and safety. But many homes were in mourning for loved ones who had fallen victims to savage cruelty.

Among The Killed:
- James Hall, brother of William, June 3, 1787.
- Richard Hall, another brother of William Hall, June 3, 1787.
- Major William Hall, father of the two last named, and of William Hall, afterwards Governor.
They were killed at the same time about half a mile southwest from the Hall home, while moving to Bledsoe's Fort for better protection from the Indians. ...