One of my common surnames is HALL.
Like many of you struggling to research a common surname, I have gathered as much information as I can about HALLs in my areas of interest – especially if I believe them to be collateral lines.
As a result, I have much information about my great-grandfather’s siblings, nieces, and nephews. But I still haven’t been able to push this line back past my great-great-grandfather.
This is what I know so far.
William James HALL was born 4 Dec. 1871, the son of George W. HALL and Sarah A. McVAY. (In various records, Sarah’s last name is also spelled as McVEY, McVEIGH, and even — McPHAY.)
William James HALL’s place of birth is either Michigan or Canada.
According to his death record and obituary, William was born in Bridgeport, Saginaw County, Michigan. Indeed, his family is listed in the 1880 Saginaw County Census, but Saginaw County does not have a record of his birth.
Other records, including his marriage record and the 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses, list his place of birth as Michigan
The 1880 census, however, lists William James HALL’s place of birth as Canada, and in fact, William’s family was listed in the 1871 Ontario (Canada) census for Gosfield, Essex County.
I have not located a birth record for William James HALL in Ontario either, so his birthplace remains a mystery.
By the 1890s, perhaps as early as 1895, William James HALL was living in Ludington, Mason County, Michigan.
He worked as a brakeman on the Pere Marquette Railroad at the time of his marriage on 14 Sept. 1898. William wed Celia Marie STEFFENSON, daughter of Swan STEFFENSON and Mary HANSEN.
William James HALL died on 11 Nov. 1940 in Ludington. He was buried in Lakeview Cemetery in Ludington.
William James HALL and Celia Marie STEFFENSON had four sons:
a. Wesley Nelson HALL (1899-1976)
b. Emmett Ambruc HALL (1901-1981). He never married.
c. Russell HALL (1905-??).
d. Clarence James HALL (1907-1961)
[...] family first appears in the 1900 U.S. census in Mason County, Michigan. Celia had married William James HALL in 1898 in Mason County, and there is evidence that the family came to the area in the 1880s – [...]