Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1915
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 737
FRED HALL

It has been said that success always comes to the deserving, and this old proverb is peculiarly applicable to Fred HALL, a substantial farmer and horse breeder of Jackson township, Harrison county, Iowa. Born and reared in England, he came to this country before he reached his majority and for many years struggled with adverse conditions. He persevered, however, and with that measure of grit and determination which always wins out in the end he finally found himself on the high road to prosperity and pecuniary independence. His career can only be briefly noted in this biographical sketch, but sufficient is here shown to indicate the sterling character of the man, and it is needless to state that he is held in high esteem by those who know him, for he is a man who is deserving in every way of the respect accorded him by his fellow citizens.

Fred HALL, the son of George and Eliza (WALKER) HALL, was born in Staffordshire, near Newborough, England, November 7, 1864. His father was a huntsman and followed the hounds as a whipper-in on the big chases in England. For more than forty years he was connected with the stables of the MEYNEL-INGRAM family, prominent among the landed families of Staffordshire.

Fred HALL received his elementary education and lived at home until he was nineteen years of age. He started in as a lad of eleven to serve as a page in the manor house and later became a footman. In 1883 he and his brother and another man decided to come to America to seek their fortune. His brother remained in this country only two months and the other man who came with them returned at the end of six months, Fred being the only one of the three who had enough grit to stick it out.

When Fred HALL arrived in New York city he had only two dollars and a half. It was necessary, therefore, for him to find something to do at once. He bought his ticket to Erie, Pennsylvania, and arrived there during the Blaine-Logan convention. He secured a job as waiter at the Lake Shore hotel, and in this manner earned his first money in the United States. For two days and a half he handled dishes in a more or less precarious manner and then surrendered this job and became a coal heaver in a coal yard in the city. Being a young man of good physique and willing to work he secured a position as fireman within a month, and for two months worked as a fireman in a large mill in Erie. His next employment found him on a stock farm near Erie, where he worked for eleven months. He was not satisfied, however, and decided to go farther west. He stopped in Cleveland, Ohio, but two weeks later bought a ticket for Kansas City, Kansas. By the time he reached there he was again penniless and he started out on foot through Missouri looking for work. He walked for two weeks before he found a job of any kind and finally reached DeSoto, Kansas. Shortly afterwards he secured a job in the hay fields near Prairie Center, Kansas, where he worked for a time. His next stopping place was Olathe, Kansas, where he went to work for J. C. TAYLOR in a fruit nursery and remained with him for a year. He then worked at several odd jobs, among them being a job in a brick yard. While working in Olathe the house in which he was rooming was destroyed by fire and he escaped in the night with nothing but the shirt on his back. All of his meager possessions were lost, but still he was not discouraged.

His first good position was secured shortly after this unfortunate fire. He began to work for a widow three miles from Olathe and had been with her about a year and a half when she decided to move to Mills county, Iowa. He went with the family and worked for them another year in Mills county. During this time he met the girl whom he presently was to make his wife. He rented a farm and lived alone for one year in order to convince himself that he was able to make a living for a wife. Satisfied that he could provide a comfortable home for her, he married and for the next six years rented a farm in Mills county and was uniformly successful.

In 1895 Mr. HALL first came to Harrison county, Iowa. He located eight miles southeast of Woodbine, where he had bought a farm, but because of bad times and adverse conditions he was not able to pay for it. He struggled along for three years and was then forced to relinquish his title to the land. He then rented it for two years and in the fall of 1899 bought ninety-five acres of land in Jackson township, the farm being known as the "Old Billy MCWILLIAMS Homestead." Here he has lived and prospered since that time, and he can now look back over his many discouraging years and feel that he has not labored in vain. In 1914 he built a large, modern, eight-room house. He has a furnace, gas lights and every modern convenience the housewife could desire. The barns and outbuildings are all of good quality and everything about the place indicates that he is a man of taste. While engaging in general farming he has made a specialty of full-blooded registered Percheron horses and Poland-China hogs, and has had unusual success in all of his stock raising. He is a member of the Percheron Society of America, and now has some of the finest breed of these horses to be found in the county.

Mr. HALL was married to Anna DEERWESTER, a daughter of Thomas DEERWESTER. She was born in Burlington, Iowa, and owing to the death of her mother when she was nine years of age, she was reared by an aunt and uncle, with whom she lived until she was married. Mr. HALL and his wife have four children, Edith, Frank, Grace and Mabel. Edith is the wife of Herman FIELD, and lives near Tekamah, Nebraska. The other three children are still living with their parents.

Mr. HALL and his family are loyal members of the Soldier Valley Methodist Episcopal church. He is a Republican, but has never had any desire to be a candidate for public office. On August 12, 1912, Mr. HALL left Harrison county for a trip to his old home in England. He spent several months there with his brothers and sisters and old friends and had a most enjoyable trip. He and his family are highly esteemed in the community where they have lived for the past twenty years, and it is safe to say that no one in this community is held in higher esteem.

Return to 1915 Biographical H Surnames Index

Back to 1915 Biographies Index