William Penn Hall
William Penn Hall was born on July 3, 1834, in Worcester, Massachusetts, to John and Sophia Hall. He grew up in Worcester, and by 1860, he was working as a farmer. He enlisted in the Union army on August 8, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company E of the 21st Massachusetts Infantry. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 2 inches tall, with dark hair and blue eyes. 
 
The regiment was stationed in North Carolina in early 1862, and it took part in the Battle of Roanoke Island and the Battle of New Bern. The army moved the regiment to Virginia in the summer of 1862, and it fought in the Second Battle of Bull Run and the Battle of Fredericksburg. On December 20, 1862, a “log of wood” fell on his back while he was cutting wood, and he seriously injured his spine. The army transferred him to the Armory Square General Hospital in Washington, D.C., soon afterward, and he was “discharged for disability” on June 11, 1863.
 
Hall returned to Worcester after leaving the army, and he married Lydia Vance there on May 23, 1866. They had at least two children: Charles, born around 1867; and Merton, born around 1869. They settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, and he earned a living “mak[ing] kindling wood.” By 1870, he owned $600 of personal property. The family returned to Worcester in the 1870s, and by 1880, he was working as a boardinghouse keeper. He died there of Bright’s disease and “dropsy” on January 25, 1892.
1979
DATABASE CONTENT
(1979)Hall, William Penn1834-07-031892-01-25
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: Private
  • Rank highest: Private
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 17

  • (6291) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Uncle, 26 August 1861
  • (6292) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Aunt, 21 December 1861
  • (6293) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Friends, 4 January 1862
  • (6294) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Uncle, 24 March 1862
  • (6295) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Uncle, 30 June 1862
  • (6296) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Uncle, 8 August 1862
  • (6297) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Aunt, 10 February 1863
  • (6311) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Aunt, 9 March 1863
  • (6312) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Aunt, 12 March 1863
  • (6313) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Aunt, 25 March 1863
  • (6314) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Aunt, 11 April 1863
  • (6315) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Uncle, 20 May 1862
  • (6316) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Uncle, 30 July 1862
  • (6327) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Uncle, 21 September 1862
  • (6328) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Aunt, undated
  • (6329) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Unknown, undated
  • (6330) [writer] ~ William P. Hall to Unknown, undated

People - Records: 2

  • (1994) Hall, Elizabeth is the [aunt/uncle of] (1979) Hall, William Penn
  • (2003) Hall, Elbridge Gerry is the [aunt/uncle of] (1979) Hall, William Penn

Places - Records: 1

  • (749) [birth, death] ~ Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts

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Regiments - Records: 1

  • (39) [enlisted] [E] ~ 21st Massachusetts Infantry
SOURCES

1860, 1870, and 1880 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Massachusetts Town Birth Records, 1620-1850, available from Ancestry.com; Military service records of William P. Hall, available from Fold3.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Massachusetts Marriage Records, 1840-1915, available from Ancestry.com; Massachusetts Death Records, 1841-1915, available from Ancestry.com.