San
Joaquin County
Biographies
LOUIE ROBERT HALL
The owner of a fine and well
improved ranch located fourteen miles southeast of Stockton is L. R. Hall, who
is a representative of the best agricultural interests of San Joaquin
County. He was born on his father’s farm where he now resides and which
is known as the Wildwood farm, January 28, 1873, the eldest son of George S.
and Julia (White) Hall, both natives of Missouri. Grandfather Samuel Hall, in company with C.
H. Morrow, conducted a party of emigrants to California in 1859. The emigrant train was made up of ten wagons
drawn by oxen and mules, and besides there were 750 head of cattle, mostly
cows, which they drove overland. Six
months were consumed in the journey, arriving in the fall of 1859. George S. Hall, the father of our subject,
and another boy, were left at the Calaveras big trees in charge of the cattle,
as there was an abundance of grazing in the meadows. The emigrant train continued on their journey
toward Stockton, but finally settled near Byrneville
on the Stanislaus River, now known as the Monroe Ranch. There were no fences nor roads
in those early pioneer days, only cattle trails, and after resting the cattle
for six weeks, G. S. Hall and his comrade drove them on to the Monroe
Ranch. The final lap of the journey was
not without many interesting incidents, the most notable being the meeting of
several grizzly bears while herding the cattle at the big trees. Grandfather Hall leased a portion of the Blue
Tent Ranch two miles east of where Escalon now stands; and he ran a tavern on
the French Camp Road, which he conducted for several years until they moved
away from there.
George S. Hall returned to Missouri
and there married Miss Julia White and brought her to California on an overland
train. The young married couple settled
on a half section of land fourteen miles southeast of Stockton when there were
but three families in a radius of six miles.
On this ranch their two children, L. R., our subject, and his brother,
George D. Hall, of Stockton, were born and reared. George S. Hall, the father, gave a portion of
his land for the Wildwood School, which still stands. He was a man of fine character and stood for
the best along all lines of progress. In
the early days he engaged in freighting and owned a number of outfits, but his
principal occupation was wheat raising and stock business; he owned a fine
stock range in the hills of east San Joaquin County, but this was disposed of some time before his death.
The mother passed away in 1916, the father surviving until 1918.
L. R. Hall attended the Wildwood
School on his father’s ranch and from early youth was set to work at farm
work. Since reaching his teens he has
been closely associated with his father in farming the home ranch. After the death of the father, the Wildwood
ranch was equally divided between L. R. Hall and his brother, each receiving
160 acres, but as his brother resides in Stockton, our subject is farming the
whole 320 acres. Mr. Hall is a member of
Stockton Lodge No. 128, B. P. O. E., and the Modern Woodmen of America at
Escalon, and is a Republican in his political views. From 1911 to 1920 he served as deputy county
assessor for the Escalon district of San Joaquin
County. He has contributed to public
progress through his co-operation in many movements advanced for the public
good, and has made for himself a position among influential men of San Joaquin
County.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1580. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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