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MARYLAND GENEALOGY EXPRESS

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Harford County, Maryland
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BIOGRAPHIES FROM:

HISTORY OF HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND
FROM 1608 (The YEAR of SMITH's EXPEDITION)
TO THE CLOSE OF THE WAR OF 1812
BY WALTER W. PRESTON, A. M.
BEL AIR, MARYLAND
1901

Press of Sun Book Office
Baltimore, Md.

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
AQUILA HALL was born in Harford, then Baltimore county, Jan. 10, 1727.  He was a son of Aquila, who was the youngest son of John Hall, of Cranberry, and was one of the most prominent of all the men of Harford in the early days.  In 1763 he was elected to the House of Delegates to represent Baltimore county, his colleagues being Charles Ridgely, Thomas C. Deye and Walter Tolley.  In 1762 he was sheriff of Baltimore county.  Aquila Hall is the second in the list of commissioners named by the Act of Assembly for the formation of Harford county.  By virtue of the Dedimus indorsed on the commission for forming the new county, he administered the oaths to his fellow-justices on the first day of the organization of the county government, Mar. 22, 1774, his colleagues on the bench being Thomas Bond, Jeremiah Sheredine, Benedict Edward Hall, William Webb and Aquila Paca.
    
The first court for the county was held in a house at Harford Town, or Bush, owned by him and occupied by Thomas Miller, who was named as sheriff of the county.
     In the famous Bush declaration of March, 1775, the name of Aquila Hall is the first on the list.  He was zealous in the cause of his country in the Revolution, and on Sept. 9, 1775, organized a military company, of which he was elected captain, with Samuel Griffith, first lieutenant; Jacob Forwood, second lieutenant, and John Chancey, ensign.
     On June 11, 1774, he presided over a meeting at Bush, at which resolutions were passed expressing sympathy with Boston in her tax troubles, and at which a committee was appointed to meet the committees of other counties in this province to consult and agree on the most effectual means to preserve our constitutional rights and liberties, etc.
     By the State Convention, which convened December 7, 1775, resolutions were passed Jan. 1, 1776, looking to the formation of a proper military force for the State, and for the Upper Battalion of Harford, Aquila Hall was named as colonel, with John Love as lieutenant- colonel; Josias Carvil Hall, first major; Dr. John Archer, second major, and Richard Dallam, quartermaster.

     The General Assembly on June 29, 1777, selected lieutenants for the various counties, and Aquila Hall was named for Harford.
     The last record of Aquila Hall in public life is to be found in the meeting of the court at Bush, Mar. 23, 1779, at which time he was present as one of the Lords Justices.  He died in April, 1779, leaving the following children, viz.:  Thomas Hall, James White Hall, William Hall, John Hall, Edward Hall, Charlotte Hall, Mary Hall, Sophia Hall and Martha Hall.
     His wife was his first cousin, Sophia, daughter of Col. Thomas White, whom he married Feb. 14, 1750, and who died in 1785, aged fifty-four years.
     Aquila Hall built the large brick house at "Sophia's Diary" in 1768.
Source: History of Harford Co., Maryland - by Walter W. Preston, A. M. Bel Air, Maryland - 1901 - Page 221

 


 

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