County, then Bute, when his son was very young. His advantages in education were but few. He early enlisted in the cause of independence, and was a private in the same company with Mr. Macon. He entered public life as a member of the House of Commons in 1798; re-elected in 1799 and 1800; and elected to the Senate in 1801-2; in the latter session, 1802, he was elected Governor of the State. In 1805 he was elected one of the Senators in Congress, and served until 1816, when he resigned. He was firm in his support of the war measures of the Government, and in this he differed from his colleague, Governor Stone. He was a man of great personal worth, a faithful representative and a sincere friend. He died August 15, 1824. He was thrice married: 1. To Mary Anderson, of Warrenton, in 1793, by whom he had four children: Thomas, Daniel, Rebecca, who married Hon. George E. Badger, and Mary, there was one daughter, probably Mary, who married Dr. Pope, of Warrenton; 2. Mrs. Anne Cochran; 3. Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson, who survived him, leaving two daughters, Sally P. (wife of Hon. Mark Alexander, of Mecklenburg County, Virginia) and Ann, wife of Henry Coleman, of Virginia.
His son, Daniel Turner, was born in Warren County, 1796. He was educated at West Point; in 1814 was appointed a lieutenant of artillery. He was stationed on Long Island, and aided General Swift in superintending the defenses of New York harbor. He then was ordered to Plattsburg under General Macomb. The war being over he resigned in 1815. In 1819-23 he was a member of the House of Commons, and was elected a member of the 20th Congress, (1825-27,) and was succeeded by Robert Potter. He for a time was the principal of the Warrenton Academy, distinguished alike for his learning and amiability. He was appointed navy agent at Mare's Island, California, where he resided until his death. He married a daughter of Francis S. Key, of Washington City, distinguished as a lawyer and the author of our national song, "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Kemp Plummer, long a distinguished resident of Warren County, was a native of Virginia, born 1769. He read law with Chancellor Wythe and settled in Warrenton. He was a member of the Legislature in 1794 in the Commons, and in 1815-16 was elected to the Senate. He married Susan Martin, by whom he had a large family. One of his daughters was the wife of Hon. William H. Battle, late of Chapel Hill, and the mother of Hon. Kemp Plummer Battle.
John Hall, born 1767, died January, 1833, resided and died in this County. He was a native of Virginia, born at Waynesboro', the son of Edward and Eleanor Hall, nee Stuart. His father came from Ireland, settled first in Pennsylvania and moved to Virginia in 1736; he was in moderate circumstances. The mother's family were of wealth and distinction. Judge Archibald Stuart and Alexander H. H. Stuart, Secretary of the Interior under Fillmore, were among its members.
Judge Hall was educated at William and Mary College, where he was fellow-student of the Right Reverend John Starke Ravenscroft. He studied law at Staunton, Virginia, under his relative, Judge Stuart. In 1792 he settled in Warrenton, North Carolina, where he resided until his death. His correct and studious habits and his extensive learning were duly appreciated, and won for him the esteem and respect of all who knew him. His merits attracted the attention of the Legislature, and in 1800 elected him one of the judges of the Superior Courts, upon the adoption of the present Superior Court system in 1806, and he rode the circuit regularly until 1818, when on December 12 of that year he was elected with Leonard Henderson and John L Taylor to the Supreme Court bench, which position he held until a painful and distressing malady compelled him to resign (in December, 1832) and caused his death soon after; this occurred at his residence in Warrenton, January 29, 1833. His biographer and pupil (William Eaton, jr., Esq.,) from whose admirable memoir of Judge Hall much of this brief sketch has been collated, states of him: "Although not a man of showy or brilliant endowments, he had a sound judgment and varied and extensive learning. In uprightness, impartiality and independence; in the patient and laborious duties of his high office; in kindness and courtesy, he had no superior in North Carolina--a State that has produced so many jurists of rare judicial excellence." Although in political feeling he was of the Jeffersonian school, he had too correct a sense of the proprieties of his position to be active in political contests, and was free from all partisan or political influences. In 1829 he was, while on the bench, elected one of the electors on the Jackson ticket. He was an active and bright member of the Masonic fraternity, and in 1804 presided as Grand Master of the order in the State. In private life he was simple and unaffected, frank and sincere,
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