William Phillips Hall

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

William Phillips Hall
Hall in 1896
Born(1864-02-01)February 1, 1864
Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedAugust 15, 1937(1937-08-15) (aged 73)
Wallingford, Connecticut, U.S.
OccupationRailroad engineer
Known forinventor of railroad signals
Political partyRepublican
SpouseCharlotte Sophia Hollister
Children13
Parent(s)Thomas Seavey Hall
Sarah Katherine (Phillips) Hall

William Phillips Hall (February 1, 1864 – August 15, 1937) was a lay evangelist, railroad transportation executive, and electrical engineer. He founded the Hall Signal Company, headquartered in New York City, and invented signal mechanisms to improve railroad safety. He was involved with many other companies worldwide related to the railroad industry, and participated in various new reform and religious movements.

Hall Banjo style disc signals

Early life

Hall was born in Stamford, Connecticut, on February 1, 1864. He went to the local public school and, after graduating from high school, was supplemented by a college preparation course, although he never entered college. In his youth he learned the trade of electrical machinist.[1]

Midlife and business career

Hall followed in his father's footsteps, invented railroad signal mechanisms, and started the

Illinois Central railroad.[2][4]

By the age of 47, Hall was a director of several large corporations

Brussels, Belgium.[6] He was also a member of the American Railway Signal Association, the American Railway Appliance Association, the New York Board of Trade and Transportation, and the Board of Trade of Greenwich, Connecticut.[7]

Religious career

Hall's father and maternal grandfather were both preachers.[2] Hall followed in their footsteps and worked as a lay preacher and religious writer in addition to his work in the railroad industry.[citation needed]

American League of the Grand Army of the Cross emblem.

Hall organized a new evangelistic movement in 1896. It was known as the American League of the Grand Army of the Cross.

Salvation Army and Volunteers of America, although no uniforms were used.[12][13] There was talk of the movement joining forces with Ballington Booth, but this never came to fruition.[14] The leaders bore military titles like captain, general, colonel, and lieutenant. The scheme of organization included league companies under the direction of a president captain and vice president lieutenant placed in every evangelical church. These companies were structured into regiments and brigades, commanded by president colonels and generals. Every regiment was expected to train and equip a brass band from its own individual membership. People from any denomination of any church were welcomed.[8] The motive of the organization was aggressive evangelism as an auxiliary force to regular church work.[12] Hall's organization proposed to work with all beliefs and intended not to antagonize any sect, church, or belief.[9] The emblem of the organization was a silver cross in red, white, and blue, bearing the organization's letters.[15] Each member of the new organization was expected to wear a pin or button in the shape of the Maltese style cross.[16] Hall's army was nonsectarian, and all people were invited to join the organization; however, those that did not belong to a church had to attach themselves to some religious organization within two months to become a soldier of the Grand Army of the Cross.[17]

The Rollins College in 1914

Hall was very involved with local communities, founding the Twentieth Century Gospel Campaign in 1900 and becoming chairman of its national central committee.

Methodist Episcopal Hospital of Brooklyn.[7]

Personal life

Hall was six feet tall with an athlete build.[21] He married Charlotte Sophia Hollister, daughter of Elisha S. and Adeline E. Hollister of Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut on October 4, 1887. He was a Republican.[7]

Hall was influenced by

Dwight Moody, a close friend, to become an evangelist.[2] He was known by the Hartford Courant newspaper and The Bangor Daily News as the "business millionaire evangelist".[2][22] He was considered the richest evangelist in the world at the last part of the 19th century.[citation needed
]

After retirement, Hall primarily wrote and published his own Biblical stories and religious materials.[2] He died at the age of 73 on August 15, 1937.[22] He is buried at Putnam Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut.[23]

References

  1. ^ Hamersly 1910, p. 769.
  2. ^
    Newspapers.com
    .
  3. ^ Herringshaw 1914, p. 461.
  4. ^ Hamersly 1910, p. 770.
  5. Newspapers.com Open access icon
    .
  6. ^ Hamersly 1910, p. 670.
  7. ^ a b c Cutter 1912, p. 2063.
  8. ^
    Newspapers.com Open access icon
    .
  9. ^
    Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  10. Newspapers.com Open access icon
    .
  11. Newspapers.com Open access icon
    .
  12. ^
    Newspapers.com Open access icon. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
    .
  13. Newspapers.com Open access icon Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
    ..
  14. Newspapers.com Open access icon
    .
  15. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  16. Newspapers.com Open access icon. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
    .
  17. Newspapers.com. Open access icon Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
    .
  18. Newspapers.com Open access icon
    .
  19. Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  20. Newspapers.com Open access icon
    .
  21. ^ Leslie 1898, p. 115.
  22. ^
    Newspapers.com
    .
  23. Newspapers.com
    .

Sources

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Phillips_Hall&oldid=1193461587"