Valentine Hall Jr.

Valentine Gill Hall Jr. (March 27, 1834 – July 17, 1880) was an American socialite, banker, and merchant who was the maternal grandfather of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

[3] His younger sister, Margaret Tonnelé Hall, was married to Edward Philip Livingston Ludlow, the older brother of his wife, two years after his marriage in 1861.

His uncle was John Tonnelé Jr., the farmer and politician who was a member of the New Jersey State Legislature,[8] and his grandmother Rebecca was the daughter of Revolutionary War General David How Waterbury, Jr. His father and his maternal grandfather were business partners in the New York City wool merchant firm of Tonnelé & Hall,[9] who were considered "the most extensive Wool dealers in the country" in 1842.

[10] Through their firm, Hall's father was able to build a large fortune, estimated at $250,000 in 1842,[10] which included "considerable holdings in New York City real estate,"[9] from 14th to 18th Street along Sixth Avenue.

[12] On April 24, 1861, Hall was married to Mary Livingston "Molly" Ludlow[1] in a marriage that "...united a member of a prominent New York merchantile family with Hudson River gentry".