Willard P. Hall

Willard Preble Hall was born at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, on May 9, 1820. His family was prosperous, being associated with the development of Hall's carbine, a rifle used by the Army. Willard graduated from Yale College at the age of nineteen, and then joined his older brother, William A. Hall, who was a lawyer at Huntsville Missouri, near Moberly. He studied law in his brother's office and was admitted to the Bar when he was twenty-one.

He then proceeded to the newly organized Buchanan County and opened his own law office at the village of Sparta, the county seat. He was appointed circuit attorney and in that capacity he met Alexander W. Doniphan, then a practicing lawyer in the Liberty and Sparta courts. In 1846 the county seat was moved to the new town of St. Joseph and Hall moved his law office there. He served as prosecuting attorney and was nominated for Congress. While waiting for the election, Hall decided to go to Liberty to brush up on his knowledge of the law under Mr. Doniphan. While there the Mexican War broke out and both men decided to join the Army. They both enlisted in Company C, First Missouri Mounted Volunteers, and proceeded to Fort Leavenworth. In June 1846 Alexander W. Doniphan was elected colonel of the regiment by acclamation and Hall, aged twenty-six, was a private soldier. He abandoned his campaign for election to Congress.

Under General Stephen Kearny the troops marched from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe. After the Americans had taken over the territory which is now Arizona and New Mexico, General Kearny wanted a code of laws drawn up for the new territory. Colonel Doniphan, whom he asked for a recommendation, suggested Private Willard Hall. Hall worked long hours, first translating the existing laws from Spanish into English. Then he fashioned a new code based on the United States Constitution and the laws of Missouri and Texas. This code remained in effect until nearly 1900. General Kearny's report to the adjutant-general of the Army in Washington stated: "I am entirely indebted for these laws to Colonel A. W. Doniphan of the First Regiment of Missouri Mounted Volunteers, who received much assistance from Private Willard P. Hall of his regiment.”

In later years Colonel Doniphan was asked why he had picked the young private soldier to do the big job of writing a code of laws for the conquered territory in 1846. He replied: “As Assistant Attorney he had succeeded fast. System, order, and logical arrangement were natural for him. He had the criminal law and the statutes of this State at his fingertips.”

While working on the new code at Army headquarters in Santa Fe, the news reached Hall that during his absence his friends in Buchanan County had continued to work for his election to Congress and that they had been successful. He was immediately relieved from duty as a soldier.

Hall served three terms in Congress from 1847 till 1853, taking the lead in drafting two bills that granted acreage to railroads for their right-of-ways and to colleges and universities. He was defeated in his campaign for the United States Senate in 1856 and returned to his law practice in St. Joseph.

Hall served in Congress with Abraham Lincoln and was his friend. When Lincoln came through St. Joseph in 1859 to speak in Kansas, he was a guest in Hall's home here.

When the secession of the Southern states began in 1861, Hall realized that his political views had changed. He stated: “As a Missourian, I desire no change in the political relations that exist between the State and the Federal Government. He was elected to the convention which, in January 1861, voted that there was no cause for Missouri to sever relations with the Union. During the next few months the Governor-Claiborne Fox Jackson-fled the Missouri capital and in July the convention declared the offices of governor and lieutenant-governor vacant. On July 31 Hamilton R. Gamble was appointed governor and Willard P. Hall, lieutenant-governor, This provisional government was intended to be only temporary, but conditions were so disturbed in Missouri that no election could be held until the war was over. On January 31, 1864, Governor Gamble died after a fall on the icy steps of the Capitol and Hall became governor, serving until January 2, 1865.

After his term as governor of Missouri, Hall returned to St. Joseph and engaged in the practice of law. The family home still stands near the corner of Messanie and Warsaw Streets and is now the rectory of the SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.

Willard P. Hall was first married to Miss Ann Eliza Richardson, the daughter of Major General William P. Richardson. After her death, he married, in 1864, Miss Ollie Oliver, daughter of his secretary of state. His son, Willard P. Hall, Jr., followed his father's example in serving as prosecuting attorney of Buchanan County.

Mr. Hall died on November 2, 1882, and was buried in Mt. Mora Cemetery.