Born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Hall moved in December 1840 with his parents (future Iowa Supreme Court justice J.C. Hall and his wife) to Burlington in Iowa Territory.

[1] He attended Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, and graduated from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1855.

[1][2] The following year (1882) Hall won the democratic nomination for election to represent Iowa's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House, but was defeated by the incumbent Republican, Moses A.

Soon after his defeat, he was appointed Commissioner of Patents by President Cleveland and served from April 12, 1887, to March 31, 1889, and afterwards resumed the practice of law.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress