HALL, BENJAMIN, OF FRANCIS (?-1803)
BORN: probably between 1730 and 1735 in Prince George's County; youngest son. NATIVE: fourth generation.
RESIDED: at "Pleasant Hill," Prince George's County.
FAMILY BACKGROUND.
FATHER: Francis Hall, Gent. (ca. 1696-1785), son of Benjamin Hall (1667-1721).
MOTHER: Dorothy (1704-?), daughter of Henry Lowe (?-1717) and wife Susanna Maria Bennett Darnall (1666-1714).
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MARRIED in 1757 Elinor (?-1796),
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CHILDREN.
SONS:
- William Murdock (1759-ca. 1792), who married Ann Duckett;
- Henry Lowe (1761-1817), who died without progeny.
DAUGHTERS:
- Anne (1762-?), who married Thomas Clark (ca. 1760-1796);
- Eleanor (1768-?), who married first, Dr. David Clarke, and second, (first name unknown) Magruder; and
- Catherine (1778-?), who married John Burgess Bowie.
PRIVATE CAREER.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: his grandfather Benjamin Hall (1667-1721) was a Catholic convert by his death and his father received his education at a Jesuit College. SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Gent., 1787.
OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: probably a planter; he was given one-half of the merchandise
in his father's store in 1772, but did not take ownership until his father's death in 1785; he owned a tan yard at the time of his death.
PUBLIC CAREER.
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Conventions, Prince George's County, 1st, 1774, 4th, 1775, 5th, 1775, 9th, 1776 (elected to the Convention after election of first delegation was voided); Lower House, Prince George's County, 1779-1780 (Claims 2).
OTHER STATE OFFICE: Constitution Ratification Convention, Prince George's County, 1788.
LOCAL OFFICE: justice, Prince George's County, commissioned 1750, 1751, 1777, 1778, and 1779.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: his wife's inheritance amounted to £500 sterling, 1769; 35 slaves, plus one-half of the goods in his father's store inherited from his father, 1785; 49 slaves, 1798.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: he owned no land in his own name; but he was probably living on the land that was later devised to him by his father.
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: inherited 1,844 acres in Prince George's and Frederick counties, 1785; purchased 80 acres in Prince George's County, 1787; taxed for 5 tenant and overseer houses, his own house, and the houses and outbuildings of his two sons, 1798.
WEALTH AT DEATH.
DIED: between February and April 1803 in Prince George's County, at an advanced age.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV, £3,319.15.6 current money (including 64 slaves, 1 84 oz. plate, and 2 stills); FB, £2,101.8.6.
LAND: at least 1,924 acres in Prince George's and Frederick counties.
