Thomas Hall (aft. 1717 - bef. 1767)

Born after 11 Jul 1717 in Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Molly (Power) Hall — married 1737 in Williamsburg, Virginia

Descendants

Died before 19 Jan 1767 before age 49 in Edgecombe, North Carolina

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Biography

Thomas was born after 11 July 1717.^[1] He was the son of Robert Hall (1660-1730) and Elizabeth (Harrison) Ravenscroft (-aft.1739). He was born in Prince George County, Virginia, where his father was a lawyer and merchant.

Thomas's mother was one of two daughters of Thomas Harrison (-bef.1720), who wrote a will on 2 April 1720 that was recorded on 10 May 1720. It included the following bequests to his grandson Thomas Hall:

"I give unto Thomas Hall, Son of Robert Hall, and Elizabeth his Wife, to him and his heirs, one Negro man named Glascow, and also Tenn Pounds Current money, and Six Silver Spoons marked TH." He also gave his grandson ten shillings to buy a mourning ring, his Great Bible, and his common prayer book. ^[2]

Thomas's own father, Robert Hall, died sometime during the 1730s. Unfortunately, the records of Prince George County are fragmentary for this time period, but the Court's Minute Book does include an entry on 9 May 1738 that concerns an action brought by Nathaniel Harrison as guardian for Thomas Hall.^[3] Nathaniel Harrison appears elsewhere as guardian for Thomas, in joint actions with the executors of Robert Hall's estate–Thomas's brother John and Elizabeth Ravenscroft. This Nathaniel Harrison appears to be Nathaniel Harrison Jr. (1703-1781) because his father had died in 1727.

It appears that Thomas married while he was still a minor. The Virginia Gazette for 30 September 1737 reported:

Wiliamsburg, Sept. 30. Last Sunday, Mr. Thomas Hall, of Prince George County, was married to Miss Molly Power, Daughter of Major Henry Power, of James City County, a beautiful young Lady, with a handsome Fortune." ^[4]

This favorable match is similar to the marriage of his brother, John Hall (abt.1708-1783), to Anne (Bolling) Hall (1713-aft.1766), the daughter of Robert Bolling Jr (1683-1749), the owner of the Kippax plantation near the Appomattox River.

Although there may have been other Thomas Halls in Virginia at this time, the likelihood that the present Thomas Hall married Molly Power is increased by the fact that the lady, Mary Cole (Digges) Harrison (1717-1744), that his guardian, Nathaniel Harrison, Jr., married two years later appears to have been the first cousin of Molly. As of 25 June 2022, neither Molly Cole Diggs nor Molly were connected to these grandparents on WikiTree, However, the profile of Mary Cole Diggs's father, Cole Digges (1692-1744), identifies his wife as the daughter of Dr. Henry Power and a genealogy in the William and Mary Quarterly connected both Mary and the Molly Power who married Thomas Hall as granddaughters of Dr. Henry Power and Mary (Foliott) Power, their grandmother being the daughter of Rev. Edward Foliott of Hampton Parish.^[5]

Thomas moved to Tarboro, North Carolilna at some time. Molly did not receive any distribution upon his death, so she must have predeceased him.

Thomas and Molly had six children living at the time of Thomas death in late 1766 or early 1777:

• Dolly (Hall) MacNair (-aft.1777)
• Elizabeth (Hall) Thompson (-1792)
• Paulina (Hall) Telfair (-1799)
• Thomas Harmanson Harnison Hall (-bef.1796)
• James Hall (abt.1744-abt.1772)
• Edward Hall (abt.1751-1823)

Although no will has been identified for Thomas, the inventory of his estate in January 1767 identified 37 slaves, the first of whom was "Glasgow," apparently the same male slave given to him by his grandfather in 1720.^[6] Glasgow's name does not appear among the 31 slaves later distributed among the family, apparently because the Court Clerk and administrator of the estate in North Carolina was James Hall, one of the six siblings, who did not list the six slaves he distributed to himself.^[7] Obviously, Glasgow would have been in his late 60s or 70s at the time of the distribution––the "Negro man" outliving the two–year old child to whom he was given 47 years earlier.

Sources

1. ↑ In action by his guardian on 11 July 1738, Thomas was said to have been "an infant under the age of Twenty One years"; "Prince George, Virginia, Court Records 1737-1740, 14; images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4X-W12X : June 29, 2022), image 243 of 359; Virginia. County Court (Prince George County).
2. ↑ Will of Thomas Harnison, dated 2 Apr 1720, proved & recorded 10 May 1720; "Prince George, Virginia, County Court, Deeds, etc. 1713-1728, Part 2, 398; images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9PX-XS14 : May 31, 2022), image 73 of 401.
3. ↑ "Prince George, Virginia, United States Records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4X-W1KT : June 5, 2022), image 225 of 359; Virginia. County Court (Prince George County).
4. ↑ Virginia Gazette, 30 Sep 1837, p. 4
5. ↑ Lyon G. Tyler, "Pedigree of a Representative Virginia Planter (Diggs)", William and Mary quarterly, Vol. I, No. 3 (Jan 1893) 140, 144-45, esp. no. 67, 152; https://hdl.handle.net/2027/pst.000064428291?urlappend=%3Bseq=152%3Bownerid=13510798902518694-158
6. ↑ Inventory of Estate of Thomas Hall, Inventories of Estates, Edgecombe County, North Carolina 1764–1772, 17 (19 Jan 1767); https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-JD9J-2G
7. ↑ Division of Estate of Thomas Hall, , Inventories of Estates, Edgecombe County, North Carolina 1764–1772, 31 (7 Dec 1767); https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-JD9J-25

• *Wm & Mary Quarterly
• Watson, Joseph W., “Estate Records of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, 1730-1820,” Rocky Mount, NC, 1970.