Person:Jacob Hall (17)

... Mary, the daughter of Jacob Hall, who was Justice of Philadelphia County 1761, 1764 to 1765 and 1770, and Charter Member [PA Archives, 9:729-730] of the Society of the Cincinnati. ...

JACOB HALL, SURGEON AND EDUCATOR, 1747-1812, J. HALL PLEASANTS, M. D.
Read before the Maryland Historical Society, April 14, 1913.

Jacob Hall was the eldest son and apparently the fourth child of Jacob and Mary (Parry) Hall. He was born at his father's plantation, Tacony, Philadelphia County, on the Delaware River, November 21, 1747, and was baptized at Trinity Church, Oxford, December 15th of the same year. The family was of English descent. Jacob Hall's great-grandfather, Jacob Hall, who was probably originally a Quaker, emigrated from Macclesfield, Chester, to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1684/5, and a few years later moved to Philadelphia County, where he became a justice. There is some reason to believe that he was a follower of Keith and joined the established church, of which his children are known to have been members at the time of Keith's defection from Quakerism. His second son, Joseph Hall, married Rebecca Rutter, daughter of Thomas Rutter. One of the younger sons of this couple, Jacob Hall, the father of the subject of this sketch, married Mary Parry, daughter of John and Hannah (Armitage) Parry of Haverford, Pennsylvania, and for several years was county judge or justice of Philadelphia County.

We know nothing of the childhood of Dr. Jacob Hall, the subject of this sketch. His career as a scholar shows that he
must have attended good schools and it is even possible that he may have received some of his education under his uncle the Rev. Samuel Finley, afterwards President of Princeton, who married his father's sister Sarah Hall and at one time conducted a school at Nottingham, Cecil County, Maryland. Dr. Benjamin Rush, the " signer," also a nephew of Mrs. Finley, is known to have attended this school and the great intimacy which always existed between Dr. Rush and Dr. Hall is very suggestive of a school friendship. Jacob Hall's mother died when he was fourteen years old. It is stated in an old family memorandum that his father, after he had lost his property through security ships for a brother, " was solicitous of giving his sons classical educations as he was by misfortune deprived of an expectation of leaving them patrimonies which might afford even a competence."

Jacob Hall entered college in 1767 and in 1770 received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, the same institution which just twenty years later was also to confer upon him the higher degree of Master of Arts. The records of the University of Pennsylvania show that he was also a tutor there in the year 1770 and 1771. There is good reason to believe that after his graduation in 1770, and before he went to Edinburgh the following year, Jacob Hall studied medicine under his cousin Dr. Benjamin Rush, who was the most prominent American physician of his day. His numerous letters to Dr. Rush would seem to indicate this. Whether he served as assistant in the latter's office, as was the usual custom of the time, or whether he merely attended Rush's lectures at the University of Pennsylvania has not been determined. He does not appear to have taken a degree in medicine at (he University of Pennsylvania, but the medical school records of that period are so defective that we have no means of certainly judging whether he attended lectures or not. He probably went directly from here to the University of Edinburgh for in the autumn of 1771 we find him at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh under the celebrated Dr. Cullen. Edinburgh was then the great medical center of Europe and Cullen was the most brilliant star in its medical firmament. A number of American students, including Benjamin Rush, went to Edinburgh to study medicine. Unfortunately we know very little of Jacob Hall's career at Edinburgh. In the Surgeon General's Library at Washington there are four volumes of manuscript
notes entitled " Clinical Cases and Reports taken at the Royal Infirmary at Edinburgh from Dr. Cullen." The dates covered by these notes range from November 28, 1771, to February 10, 1774. These volumes do not bear their author's name on the title page, but on the fly leaf the name of " Rich d . W. Hall " is found and they are catalogued in the library under this name. " Rich d . W. Hall" was Richard Wilmot Hall, the eldest son of Dr. Jacob Hall, who was born in 1785, and after wards held for many years the chair of obstetrics at the University of Maryland. These " Clinical Oases and Reports " are in the handwriting of Dr. Jacob Hall, and, to quote a note on the fly leaf by the librarian, are "beautifully written in manuscript." The bindings are of the late eighteenth century style and in half calf. From the medical standpoint the reports of the cases are remarkable for their clearness and accuracy in the description of symptoms, physical signs and treatment. That Dr. Hall was on terms of friendship with his celebrated teacher is indicated by a letter from Dr. Rush written several years later, congratulating Hall on the birth of his first son. In this letter Rush prophesies a medical career for the youngster and adds that " he shall go to Edin r . where he shall pay his respects to the great father and Oracle of physic in his own name & in the name of his father." There is no record of Jacob Hall having taken his degree at the University of Edinburgh, although family tradition asserts that he did. The Registrar of the University of Edinburgh writes that the university records for this period are incomplete, so that there is no proof that this tradition is untrue. It seems quite possible, however, that the events leading up to the Revolution induced Dr. Hall to return home before receiving his degree. His Edinburgh notes indicate a residence there at least as late as February 10, 1774. Jacob Hall was a warm supporter of the colonies and doubtless returned to America at this time so that he would be in a position to take part in the crisis which he saw approaching.

On his return to the colonies the unsettled condition of affairs apparently prevented his settling down and establishing a practice. He turns up quite unexpectedly in Virginia as a tutor in the family of Thomas Nelson, who later became General of the Virginia line and afterwards Governor of the state. An interesting letter undated, but apparently written about September, 1775, from Yorktown, Va., to his sister Hannah Nice, wife of George Nice of Nicetown, near Philadelphia, shows the reasons which had forced him to accept this position : " I have been going to and fro in the Earth ever since I left home, 7 he writes, " not seeking whom but what I might devour, that is endeavoring to get Bread w ch is as much as can fall to the Lot of any man in this Iron Age for Peace he cannot have. I am now living with Col. Tom Nelson, one of the Delegates of the Congress, a gentleman of the first Fortune and Interest in this Colony. He allows 10£ a piece for each of his 5 sons, with the liberty of taking in 4 or 5 more, gives me my Board and Accomodations, a Servant to wait on me, and makes a Compliment of their Board to the Boys in my Favor — I have the benefit of his Library which is a fine collection, make no doubt I shall live as Comfortably as these troublesome times will admit — " The rest of the letter is filled with family gossip and he concludes with the inquiry : " Have you had any late accounts of our hon d aged Father since he removed to the Mountains to spend the Remainder of his Days ? " He apologizes for not having previously sent a letter by " Parson Hall — but as we live some distance apart he could not get it before he entered on his Journey." It seems probable that Jacob Hall secured this position as tutor in Nelson's family through "Parson Hall" who is the Rev. Thomas Hall, the son of Jacob Hall's uncle John Hall of Philadelphia.

The Rev. Thomas Hall was a most interesting character. He took the degree of Bachelor of Arts at the University of Pennsylvania in 1770. He appears to have taken orders in England and to have returned to America in 1774, just before the Revolution to take charge of a parish in Virginia thought to have been Lower Brandon. Before the close of the Revolution he left Virginia as the tutor to a young Virginian of position to travel abroad. He was accused of Tory sympathies, which he denied, but he never returned to America. Afterwards he became chaplain to the British colony at Leghorn and remained there until his death. His letters describing conditions in Italy during the Napoleonic wars are most interesting and are well worthy of publication. He was a well known art collector and dilettante. The Rev. Thomas Hall had a large acquaintance in Virginia and it seems more than probable that Dr. Jacob Hall became a tutor in Nelson's family through his cousin the parson.

How long Jacob Hall remained with the Nelsons we do not know. We next hear of him in active service in the Revo-
lutionary army as surgeon. He served as surgeon's mate from June 16 to October 1, 1778, in Colonel Gamaliel Bradford's
14th Massachusetts Regiment, resigning to become surgeon of the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment, in which he served from
October 1, 1778 to April 5, 1780, when he resigned and left the army. It seems probable that he served in the Revolution even prior to his enrollment June 16, 1778, in the Massachusetts Regiment. Dr. Cordell in the Medical Annals of Maryland states that he was present at the battles of Germantown and Monmouth and served with Sullivan against the Indians in 1779. In recognition of his Revolutionary services he was elected a member of the Cincinnati Society of Maryland July 6th, 1784, and his claim is now represented by his great-grandson Richard Wilmot Hall of New Orleans in the Maryland Society.

Immediately, after resigning as surgeon in the Revolutionary Army, April 5, 1780, Dr. Jacob Hall moved to Harford County, Maryland, and began the practice of medicine near where Deer Creek enters the Susquehanna. We can only conjecture as to the reason why he selected this neighborhood. The Halls of Mt. Welcome, Cecil County, just across the river, were near connections by marriage, Dr. Elisha Hall of Mt. Welcome having married Ruth Hall, the sister of Jacob Hall's father. We have a rather amusing letter from Jacob Hall to Dr. Rush, dated April 25th, 1780, describing his experiences in his new field. He writes: "I meet with a kind reception and great hospitality but at first sight was almost discouraged with the bloom of Health that was painted on the Faces of the people." He made his headquarters at the house of Skipwith Coale "a Quaker with Whiggish principles," who had a farm on Deer Creek at its junction with the Susquehanna, — he to "feed my Horse and myself for 30£ a Year in the Old Way." He adds that if his medical credentials are called for "Dr. Rush's will be the only side Arms, for as Brown 1 mentions my having served in the Army I am advised except on particular occasions to conceal his certificate as a Weapon that might militate against me." This was of course in deference to the sentiments of a community made up largely of prosperous but war-hating Quakers, at whom he cannot avoid another gentle dig —" All the Families I have seen so far, are either Quakers or Quakeretts, very wealthy, & of course miserably afraid of Death ; so that they do not act like Country people in general, introduce the Doctor at one door while Death meets him at ye other."

Jacob Hall at once identified himself with neighborhood affairs. He was elected a vestryman of St. George's Episcopal
Church, near Spesutia, September 3, 1781. Just how long he remained at Mr. Skipwith Coale's house we do not know, but that he continued to live in the immediate neighborhood is shown by his correspondence as late as 1784.

[*This was probably Dr. William Brown of Virginia, Surgeon and Director General of Hospitals of the Revolutionary Army.]


Dr. Hall's marriage to Mary Wilmot took place May 20, 1784. She was the daughter of Richard Wilmot, a prosperous
planter and the owner of "Christopher's Camp," a large plantation about six miles southeast of Belair, between Fountain Green and Ores well. Richard Wilmot was of the well known Baltimore County family of that name. His wife was Mary Gittings, the daughter of Thomas Gittings, the founder of the Baltimore County family of Gittings. In a letter to his brother Parry Hall of Philadelphia, dated June 4, 1784, announcing his marriage, Dr. Hall described his wedding and his great regret that none of his family were able to be present. After his marriage he probably moved, as letters dated the following year are written from "Woodstock," which was doubtless the name of his home or plantation, as it has not been possible to identify this with any settlement in Harford County where it certainly was, as letters of this time were addressed to him simply at "Harford." His oldest son, Richard Wilmot Hall, was born at "Woodstock," October 20, 1785, and the letters announcing this event to his brother Parry and to Dr. Benjamin Rush, together with the latter's reply congratulating him, are worth reading.

Prom the time of his settlement in Harford County, five years before, Dr. Hall seems to have been in active practice
and many letters on professional subjects to Dr. Rush are in existence. About this time Dr. Hall sends his first medical apprentice, Thomas Rogers, into the world and consigns him to Dr. Rush with the request that he give the finishing touches to his medical education. We know less of Dr. Hall's life for the next two or three years as no correspondence has been found covering this period. Some time before the autumn of 1788 he appears to have moved to Abingdon on the Bush River, for he was practising medicine there when he was elected President of Cokesbury College in that year.

Through the influence of numerous evangelistic missionaries, Maryland had become the center of Methodism in America. It was the earnest desire of Bishop Coke, the celebrated Methodist divine that a Methodist institution of higher learning be founded in America, and Abingdon, Maryland, was finally selected as the site. A review of the events leading up to the foundation of Cokesbury College, the first Methodist College in the world, the life of which extended from 1784-1796 need not be entered into here. Dr. Bernard C. Steiner, in his History of Education in Maryland, has given a graphic picture of the trials and struggles of this institution to which the reader is referred for more detailed information. The name Cokesbury was compounded from the names of Bishop Coke and Asbury to whom the establishment of the college was due. Maryland was the center of Methodism in America at that time. The beautiful situation of Abingdon and its location on the direct stage line between Baltimore and Philadelphia were factors in determining its selection. Bishop Asbury laid the corner stone of the college June 5, 1785. The building which was of brick cost about $40,000, which at that time was considered a large sum to have been raised by popular subscription, and it is described as being in "dimensions and style of architecture fully equal if not superior to anything of the kind in the country." In 1786 a faculty was selected and the Rev. Mr. Heath, the master of a school in Kidderminster, England, was brought over as President. He was inaugurated December 8, 1787, by Bishop Asbury. The curriculum of the College shows that the classical aspects of education were emphasized and that the discipline was rigid and severe. President Heath was connected with the college for less than a year. Dissatisfaction with his qualifications as a classical scholar led to his resignation. The other members of the faculty resigned and a reorganization of the College took place.

Dr. Jacob Hall was asked to become President and accepted, and an entirely new faculty of five members was selected. Although the line between the Methodist Church and the Episcopal Church was not as sharply drawn then as at the present time, the selection of an active Episcopalian as the head of a Methodist College must be regarded as a decided compliment to Dr. Hall's personal and scholastic qualifications.

In managing the affairs of Cokesbury, Dr. Hall had a diffcult role. The college was supported very largely by voluntary subscription, the tuition and board having been fixed at the low figure of $78.66 a year, while many of the students were admitted free. Almost from the first the College was sadly in need of funds, which necessitated constant appeals on the part of Coke and Asbury for money. At first these appeals were fairly successful, but as time went on subscriptions came in more and more slowly. The general management of the affairs of the College was in the hands of a board of trustees, made up of clergymen and laymen, while later the details of the business administration was entrusted to a committee of "RYe respectable friends, entitled a committee of safety, who were to meet at the College once in very fortnight." The financial straits of the College at this time seems to have taken up much of Asbury' s time. Subscriptions came in slowly, and in October, 1793, the College was £1,200 in debt. For reasons to be mentioned later, Dr. Hall, after having served six years as President resigned October 17, 1794. The trustees then decided to apply for a charter and this was granted by the legislature December 26, 1794. Thus, after an existence of over seven years, was formally incorporated Cokesbury College, the first Methodist college in the world. Its management was to be in the hands of fifteen trustees and governors. The president was not to be restricted to any religious denomination. The charter in many respects was similar to that of Washington College and made provision as to the general educational scope of the work to be carried on, for the granting of degrees and similar matters. During the year following the resignation of Dr. Hall and the granting of the charter the financial troubles of the College
became so serious that it was found necessary to abandon the college department and Cokesbury became practically an English free school. Finally, after an existence of about eight years came the end. The College was totally destroyed by fire December 4, 1795. This fire was probably of incendiary origin as a previous attempt had been made to burn the building seven years before. A reward of a thousand pounds was offered by the Governor for the discovery of the culprit but accomplished nothing. The old college bell, which had been cast in England was found among the ruins and placed by the villagers in the church at Abingdon. When the Woman's College, now Goucher College, was founded several years ago, the old bell was removed there. It hangs in the college hall and desecrated by an electrical attachment now calls the students to their recitations. This is briefly the history of Ookesbury College. The College was never rebuilt. The following year Bishop Coke and others who had been interested in Cokesbury established in Baltimore the Baltimore Academy, which was opened May 2, 1796, and in one sense may possibly be considered the successor of Cokesbury.

Jacob Hall's connection with Cokesbury and his career there as its President cannot be fully described for lack of very definite data in regard to this period of his life. His selection as President was made when Bishop Asbury was visiting the College, September 15, 16, and 17, 1788. The Rev. William Hamilton writing in the Methodist Review for 1859, declares that Dr. Hall was chosen on account of his good reputation and general scholarship and especially for his knowledge in Greek and Latin, and also because he was a native of the state (which is not true). He adds that he was favorably known and that his selection caused an increase in the number of students. As stated before, the selection of an active Episcopalian as the head of the first Methodist College can only be taken as a signal compliment to Dr. Hall's qualifications as a scholar and a man. It is interesting to note that he never wavered in his loyalty to the Episcopal Church during his presidency of Cokesbury. He remained an active member of St. George's Episcopal Church near Abingdon where he was vestryman, and in 1791 was a delegate to the Episcopal Diocesan Convention of Maryland. Bishop Coke had the highest opinion of Dr. Hall. Keferring to his visit to Cokesbury May 8, 1789, he writes in his Journal — "During my stay at the College, I had several long conversations with Dr. Hall, our president, and am satisfied beyond a doubt, that he is both the Scholar, the Philosopher, and the Gentleman; he truly fears God, and pays a most exact and delicate attention to all the rules of the institution. Our classic tutor is very promising; he is not yet the polished scholar like the President."

Again at the time of a visit made November 16, 17 and 18, 1792, he writes, "Dr. Hall, our President, and three tutors do honor to the Institution. We have now upwards of seventy students." Doubtless with the desire to render himself still better qualified for the responsible position which he now occupied, Dr. Hall again became a college student and in 1790 his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts, just twenty years after it had given him his Bachelor's degree. This second degree was conferred for work actually done and was not merely an honorary degree. How he managed to take the time from his duties at Cokesbury to secure his Master's degree we are not told, but this may have been done between the sessions at Cokesbury. Although the financial affairs of the College seemed from the first to have been in the hands of the trustees, they gave Dr. Hall no little concern. Writing to Benjamin Rush, May 12, 1794, he deplores the unsatisfactory condition of affairs at Cokesbury. Referring to his failure to visit his family in Philadelphia, he writes, "but the critical state of our College, I am persuaded, will be sufficient apology for my seeming neglect. The want of an ample and permanent fund, which at first was supplied by charitable donations, — the large arrearages long due by some of the employers — the want of men of Learning & influence to patronize the Institution — the restraint laid upon the Youth by our discipline, so repugnant to human nature and the customs of the world — these and other concurring circumstances have reduced our number from 80 to 40 — exciting serious apprehensions for the fate of Cokesbury — unless Bishop Asbury will consent to have it incorporated upon liberal principles, and i cursed with public money/ — and then perhaps it might become an object of Legislative bounty."

It is not surprising that the rigid discipline of the school discouraged pupils and met with Dr. Hall's disapproval. The boys were obliged to get up at 5 o'clock winter and summer, for early rising we read in a prospectus, " is of admirable use either for preserving a good or improving a bad constitution." In prohibiting in all its forms anything which the world calls play, one rule reads, "let the rule be observed with the strictest nicety, for those who play when they are young will play when they are old." The long hours devoted to study and religious training, although perhaps not much more exacting than in other colleges of the period, seem harsh to modern ears. "I pray you do not adopt any of the modern innovations," writes Wesley at the time the school was founded, in regard to educational methods. We infer from the letters of Asbury and Coke that Dr. Hall lived up to the rigid discipline required of him, although we have seen from his letters that it did not meet with his approval. In the Eush mss. is found Jacob Hall's resignation as President of Cokesbury College, dated October 17, 1794, addressed to the Rev. Francis Asbury, the bishops and the preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church in conference assembled at Baltimore.

"Rev d . Gentlemen,
With regret I come forward to interrupt you with the business of Cokesbury College — You are sensible, that in the infant state of the school, when deserted by my Predecessor, after the most pressing solicitations I flew to its relief and brought it into life, when almost strangled in Birth — that with unremitting vigilance, anxiety & care, I have since watched over it for good — and lived a poor, frugal, sober and laborious life of six years & upwards in its service — as a friend & votary of Learning & Religion, I have always admired its institution, and endeavored to promote its prosperity & Reputation, and have only to lament my want of abilities to have rendered it more important services. The expense & labor of acquiring a liberal education, the enhanced prices of y e necessaries of Life, the value of my time, the duty I owe to my Family, and the respect I ought to pay to the station I have filled, forbid me to accept of £120 — yet, I trust I shall retain a grateful sense of your attachment, and of the honor conferred by my appointment, to so arduous & interesting an employment — If my conduct for the time I have presided in this House, receives your approbation, I expect to obtain an honorable and public Testimonial of my employers — And, this I think essential, as the fall of Cokesbury has raised a rumor in the earth, and excited the curiosity of the public mind to investigate the causes of her Declension — The Credentials of the Bishop & Conference will supersede the necessity of giving to the world a narrative of facts in vindication of my Character — And, as I am now about to return to the private path of Life, I hereby relinquish my charge of Cokesbury College — praying Almighty God to take it & you into his holy care and Keeping!
Octob. 17th, 1794. J. Hall.

This is to certify whom it may concern, that we the employers of Doct r Jacob Hall, late president of Cokesbury College, find no cause of complaint, either respecting his moral character as a christian, his abilities as a teacher, or his attentions to the students when present. [2] — And hereby declare our satisfaction for the services rendered to the College for six years past.
Signed in behalf of the Conference
Baltimore, Otob. 23 d , 1794. Francis Asbury.

Attest — Nelson Reed
Joshua Wells
Leml. Green
Eich d . Whatcoat

[2 - To which I take the liberty of adding the following explanatory note. In his Contract with the College the Doc r reserved the practice of Medicine; which, though it obliged him sometimes to be absent, was extremely convenient and beneficial to students.]

One does not have to read far between the lines to see that Dr. Hall had been criticised, apparently unjustly, for not devoting all his time to the affairs of the College and for continuing to practice medicine in the neighborhood. Bishop Asbury's statement or certificate, as just quoted, would seem to entirely justify his course. Writing to Rush, December 1, 1794, in regard to his recent resignation, he refers to his u having in a great measure lost an establishment in the practice of medicine by my engagement with the College, "and a determination to" commence a course of private education at my house at Abingdon." We learn from Dr. Steiner's paper that after the burning of Cokesbury College, which took place just a year after his resignation as President, Dr. Hall continued to give lectures on philosophical subjects at Abingdon.

In the letter just referred to Dr. Hall outlined his scheme to start a private school at Abingdon. He was beginning the education of his own sons and, as he expressed it, wished to add a "dozen Lads of genius and agreeable manners" to this little nucleus. There is no question but that Dr. Hall continued to practice medicine at Abingdon for the next three or four years, although whether he carried out his plan to establish a school there along the lines indicated in his letter is not certainly known.

Dr. Hall's father-in-law, Richard Wilmot, died at his plantation, Christopher's Camp, May 27, 1797. Soon after this Jacob Hall moved from Abingdon to Christopher's Camp. Writing to Dr. Rush from here, April 23, 1798, he again announces his determination to open a school and after outlining his plans and the proposed curriculum, declares that he is now ready to receive the Rush boys as pupils. The school thus established seems to have been highly successful, for Dr. Hall in his subsequent correspondence with Rush is ever protesting against requests that are constantly being made that he admit pupils in excess of the limit which he had determined upon. The prospectus of the school is of interest as showing the kind of work which was expected of a school boy at this time. English, French, Latin, Greek, arithmetic, geography, algebra, Euclid, trigonometry, surveying, navigation, conic sections and natural philosophy, are among the subjects mentioned. The annual tuition for board, education, lodging, washing, mending, medicine, firewood and candles was 60 pounds a year. Eight hours were to be devoted to study and four hours to recreation in the garden or on the farm; the day to begin and end with the Bible and prayers. Sunday, as was customary, was largely devoted to religious exercises. Exclusive of his three sons, the number of pupils was to be limited to twelve. The sons of a number of prominent men were educated at Christopher's Camp. Dr. Rush's sons, James and Richard Rush, and his nephews, the Montgomery boys, received their education here. There is an interesting correspondence preserved between Timothy Pickering and Jacob Hall in the Massachusetts Historical Society. Pickering, who had been Adjutant-General and Quartermaster-General under Washington and who later served successively as Postmaster-General, Secretary of War, Secretary of State and Senator from Massachusetts, was dismissed by President Adams in 1800 as Secretary of State owing to political differences. His sons, William and George Pickering, were pupils of Dr. Hall in 1799 and 1800. Timothy Pickering's letter, dated May 20, 1800, withdrawing his sons on account of the reverses in his fortunes, cannot fail to incite sympathy for the deposed politician and is worth reading.

Philadelphia, May 20, 1800.
Dear Sir,
You will have seen that I am no longer a public officer. No special reason for my removal has been assigned ; nor have I enquired for any. It will do me no harm, tho' it occasions a temporary embarassment. Having expended my salary as it became due, I have nothing on hand. This obliges me to withdraw my sons from your school. I shall set off to-morrow morning for the country to find a residence for my family. I shall aim to ^x them at Nazareth (63 miles from this city) where there is a school. There I shall leave them, & proceed to the woods, where I have new lands (near to actual settlements) and commence an improvement. By the sale of some lots, I hope in the course of a year to procure a little money, and labour for improving my own. — This would be a dreary prospect to many; but to me it has no terrors. If I had done this eight years ago, when I came into office, I should now have a capital farm, some lots improving for my children, and others sold to settlers whose periodical payments would have made me comfortable. At present, all my land is unproductive — it is a source of expense by taxes. Nevertheless, I do not repent having been in office. In three different stations which I have held in the last eight years, I have acquired some knowledge, and much useful experience; and with a great deal of labour and vexation — by evil report and good report — I hope I have done some good. In every change of situation, thro' life, I have found it not more my duty than my disposition — in whatever state I was, therewith to be content. I sincerely wish you success and satisfaction in your useful occupation; and affectionately bid you farewell.
Timothy Pickering.
Doctor Jacob Hall.

For several years Dr. Hall continued his school at Christopher's Camp. He seems to have finally given it up about the
time that the education of his youngest son, Thomas Parry Hall, was completed. After this he appears to have devoted himself entirely to the practice of his profession and the farming of his plantation. His letters indicate that he was a scientific farmer, in fact agriculture was one of the subjects taught at the school.

Jacob Hall had four children by his wife Mary Wilmot.
- His eldest son, Richard Wilmot Hall, previously referred to, who was born October 20, 1785, was graduated in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1806 and after practising in Harford County for a short time moved to Baltimore. He served with distinction as surgeon in the war of 1812 and afterwards became professor of Obstetrics and Dean of the University of Maryland. He was the author and translator of numerous medical works.
- A second son, William Wilmot Hall, born January 30, 1787, also graduated in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and served as surgeon in the war of 1812. Owing to bad health he was forced to give up medicine, and reading law became a member of the Baltimore bar.
- The youngest son, Thomas Parry Hall, born December 21, 1789, graduated in medicine at the University of Maryland in 1815. He served as surgeon in the war of 1812, practised medicine in Baltimore for awhile and later reentered the army. He died in 1825.
- One daughter, Mary Hall, born October 10, 1793, married John Pemberton Pleasants of Baltimore.
Jacob Hall's two eldest sons and his only daughter have left numerous descendants.

Dr. Hall had one brother, Parry Hall, who was a publisher and printer in Philadelphia. He also had three sisters, the eldest Hannah, who became the wife of George JSTice of Nicetown, near Philadelphia, Susanna, who married Enoch Holme
of Holmesburg, and Margaret, who became a Mrs. Morgan.

Dr. Jacob Hall died May 7, 1812, in the 66th year of his age and was buried at "Christopher's Camp." He was survived by his widow, who soon after the death of her husband appears to have moved to Baltimore and to have lived with her eldest son during the remainder of her life.

Dr. Hall's career as a physician gives evidence of ability and shows the influence of his Edinburgh training. His career as surgeon in the Revolution has received the highest praise. He contributed occasionally to the medical literature of his day. A paper on "The effects of electricity on obstruction in the biliary duct" was published by him in the Transactions of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 1793. It is interesting to note that in this paper some of the clinical observations were based upon experiments on himself while suffering from an attack of gall stones. Dr. Rush and Dr. Hall exchanged many letters on medical questions. Up to the time of his connection with Cokesbury College he had a large practice in Harford County. That this practice suffered considerably as a result of his entrance into the field of education, there can be no question, as we learn it directly from his own pen.

But measured by the influence which he exerted, Dr. Hall is to be remembered rather as an educator than as a physician. We have had testimony from various sources in regard to his attainments as a classical scholar. He handled English clearly and gracefully. The few lines in verse from his pen which have been preserved are rather above the average of a period when nearly every one dabbled in poetry. He also appears to have been especially interested in scientific subjects or natural philosophy as such studies were called at the time. His lectures on natural philosophy at Abingdon attracted a wider audience than the students at Cokesbury, as they were attended by many of the gentlemen of the county. At the period at which Dr. Hall taught, higher education in the United States received comparatively little attention. Even the best colleges of the day were scarcely as advanced as our modern high schools. There were comparatively few men who were sufficiently well educated to teach the higher branches. Heading between the lines it cam be readily seen that Jacob Hall was more or less forced into educational paths against his will, because he possessed in a high degree the qualifications for this work at a time when there was a scarcity of scholars and when a demand for better work was just beginning to be felt. That he yielded to these demands to the detriment of his career as a physician is very evident, and that he lived to regret it we know. The failure of Cokesbury College to flourish cannot possibly be attributed to him. Its troubles were largely financial. It was apparently never intended that the institution should be on a paying basis as it was from the first understood that a large proportion of the students were to be poor boys enjoying free tuition. Its financial affairs were almost entirely in the hands of the bishops of the Methodist Church, who finally were unable to raise the funds necessary for its support. That Dr. Hall largely increased the number of students has already been shown, but this increase in numbers seems only to have added to the financial difficulties. His work at Cokesbury received high praise from sources where criticism was most likely to have been encountered. In reviewing Dr. Jacob Hall's career we should certainly award to him a very honorable and definite place among the eighteenth century pioneers of higher education in the United States.