Portrait from the Legislative Manual of the State of Indiana, 1903.
The life and career of oddly named Indiana state representative Megginson Hall is highlighted today, and although a resident of the Hoosier State for nearly his entire life, he wasn't born a native of the United States. Born in Newbegin, London, England on December 12, 1842, Megginson Hall was the son of William G. and Elizabeth Brigham Hall. The Hall family left England in 1843 and after reaching the United States settled in Vigo County, Indiana. Here young Megginson would have an education "limited to the common school" and during the Civil War enlisted in Co. B. of the 54th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. His time in this regiment extended three months and would see action at the Battle of Red River in August 1862.
Hall married on June 9, 1868, to Nancy Marie Huffman. The couple would have one daughter, Myrtha, born in March 1869. A farmer by occupation, Megginson Hall would operate a "fine improved farm containing 112 acres" in Riley Township during the 1880s and would later reside in the nearby city of Terre Haute. He would serve as a member of the advisory board for Riley Township and was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Terre Haute Trust Company until his death in 1907.
In November 1902 the citizens of Vigo County elected Hall as one of their representatives to the Indiana General Assembly, winning the election with 7,828 votes. Taking his seat at the start of the 1903-05 term, Hall sat on the committees on Ways and Means, Education, Swamp Lands, Agriculture, and the Soldier's Monument. Little else is known of Hall's life after he left the legislature. He died two years after the completion of his term on September 3, 1907, at age 64. His wife Nancy had predeceased him in October 1906 and both were interred at the Highland Lawn Cemetery in Terre Haute following their deaths.
He is the husband of my third great aunt
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