The Rev. James Hall, D.D.
(August 22, 1744 - July 25, 1826)
The Rev. Dr. James Hall was born of Scotch-Irish parentage on August 22, 1744, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. When he was eight years old, the family moved to North Carolina. He was graduated at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton) in 1744 [sic. 1774]; studied theology under the direction of Dr. Witherspoon, and was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Orange in 1775 or 1776. On April 8th, 1778, he was installed pastor of the united congregations of Fourth Creek, Concord and Bethany, holding this relationship until 1790, when he was released from the pastorate of the first two churches, so that he might have more time to devote to the cause of domestic missions. His connection with the Bethany congregation continued during the remainder of his life.
During the Revolution in 1779 he led a select company of cavalry on an expedition into South Carolina, performing the double office of commander and chaplain and was absent for several months. At the close of the war he set himself to restore the stated ordinances of the gospel where they had been discontinued. In 1793 he commenced his missionary excursions under the direction of a Commission of Synod. In the autumn of 1800, under a Commission of the General Assembly, he commenced a mission to Natchez, together with two other brethren whom the Synod had appointed to accompany him. This was the first in a series of Protestant missionary efforts in the lower part of the Valley of the Mississippi. He was a commissioner to the General Assembly from the Presbytery of Orange sixteen times and was Moderator of that body in 1803. He died on July 25, 1826.
He helped train several ministers, including the Rev. Robert Wilson James.
