Individual Details
Hon Capt George Abbott Hall
(1737 - 1 Aug 1791)
George Abbott Hall and Lois lived at The Grove on the Ashley River (see Houses on Rutledge on the Net). It is now known as Lowndes Grove Plantation & beautiful weddings are held there.
He was one of eleven children of whom at least two ended up stateside, a third died, we think, in the Bahamas. Another brother is ancestor to a significant family group in Australia. GAH was a merchant born 1737 in Bristol, England who was trading between England and Charleston in the 1760s. He had accumulated alot of property in SC by the time of his death. He was sufficiently prominent as a rebel to be exiled by the English to St. Augustine, FL in 1780 [despite having a brother in Georgia who fought on the side of the English Loyalists]
GAH married in 1764 Lois Mathewes [1746-1781], daughter of John Mathewes and Sara Gibbes. Hers was another family that seems to have lived half in England and half in SC. We think she was born in England, but most of her siblings were born in the Charleston area.[From edistoisland messages 2986 by Charles Hillman]
George Abbott was a partner of George Inglis & John Lloyd in a firm of Inglis, LLoyd, & Hall which participated in both the slave and fur trades. In the late 1760s, Hall temporarily moved his residence to Bristol, England where he formed a partnership with Nathaniel Wraxall, a merchant of that city. Returning to Charleston in January, 1769, he established the firm of George Abbott Hall & Company. With Wraxall, he owned two ships, the St. Helena and the Governor Wright. They also traded in furs. Before his death, Hall accumulated property, including a lot in Beaufort, a house and lot in Charleston, other lands in S.C. and GA, and the Grove plantation in Charleston District. The federal census of 1790 recorded 19 slaves as part of his household.
George emigrated about 1760 to South Carolina, was exiled November 25, 1780 to St. Augustine, FL.
Granted land November 9, 1764, Beaufort, S.C. Released from exile June 22, 1781, back to Charleston.
Commander of the Continental Navy. Hall moved to Charleston, South Carolina about 1760. His most active years were during the American Revolution, having served on the Committee of Ninety-nine for Charleston, the First General Assembly and the Second Provincial Congress of 1776. During the latter assembly, he was chosen collector of the Charleston port, and because of that, he resigned from the House. He was later reelected and qualified September 18, 1776 for St. Philip and St. Michael parishes. The legislature appointed him a commissioner, to oversee and direct the naval affairs of South Carolina during the Revolution, and he continued serving on the Board of Naval Commissioners until February 15, 1780. Again representing St. Philip and St. Michael parishes, he was also a member of the Second General Assembly from 1776 to 1778. After Charleston fell to the British in May of 1780 he was on parole until he was arrested and sent to St. Augustine, Florida aboard the prison ship "Sandwich". Hall continued as collector of customs for the state throughout the war and through the transition period 1783 to 1788. He was appointed in 1789 by President Washington to be the First Collector of the Port of South Carolina, which at that time was the highest ranking federal position in the state. His exemplary conduct in all aspects of his life were typified in letters of recommendation to George Washington for his post as Collector of the Port. These letters came from President to be, James Madison, signers of the Declaration of Independence, Edward Rutledge and Thomas Heyward and other notables.
Events
Families
Spouse | Lois Mathewes (1742 - 1781) |
Child | Elizabeth Hall (1765 - 1831) |
Child | Unknown Twins Hall (1766 - 1766) |
Child | Sarah Hall (1767 - 1855) |
Child | Maria Ann Hall (1769 - 1831) |
Child | Dr. George Abbott Hall Jr. (1771 - 1829) |
Child | Louisa Harriet Hall (1773 - 1849) |
Child | Juliet Hall (1774 - 1811) |
Child | John Ladson Hall (1775 - 1831) |
Child | Robert Gibbes Hall (1777 - 1780) |
Child | Harriet Hall (1779 - 1797) |
Child | Caroline Hall (1780 - 1814) |
Father | John Hall ( - ) |
Mother | Hannah Abbott ( - ) |
Sibling | Daniel Hall (1747 - 1811) |
Notes
Birth
or Devon, EnglandMarriage
Matthewes, LoisHall, George Abbot
18 Feb 1764
Census
1790 Census, SC, Chas Dist, ST. Philip & St. Michael, 2 males over 16, 1 m under 16, 6 females.Death
On February 14, 1764, Hall wed Lois Mathewes, daughter of John Mathewes and Sarah Gibbes. She was born in 1744. She died May 12, 1781 in Philadelphia, PA while he was a prisoner at St. Augustine. George Abbott Hall died on the afternoon of August 1, 1791.[From Descendants of Hannaah Abbott,p 2]I think this is in error, in that, I believe Lois died in Charleston as reported under "More" Elizabeth Mathewes Heyward, and it was Elizabeth who died in Philadelphia.
Property
Film JR 4380, Charleston City Inventories Book B 1787-1793page Name Date rooms listed
407 George Abbott Hall 16 Sep 1791
At the Grove
Drawing room
hall parlor
bed chamber
sitting room
pantry
Will
Will proved August 9, 1791.[From Descendants of Hannah Abbott, p 2]Endnotes
1. Ross, Martha Plant Ellis, Genealogical supplement to the House of Plant (Macon, Ga.: Southern Press, 1963, 122 pgs.), p 71.
2. Jean Ann Lemon, "Descendants of Anthony Mathewes," complied records from
3. , "Marriages Records 1675-1858," South Carolina magazine of ancestral research Vol 5, #3 ():.
4. Ross, Martha Plant Ellis, Genealogical supplement to the House of Plant (Macon, Ga.: Southern Press, 1963, 122 pgs.), p 71 - has England, Stone, St. Pauls Parish.
5. Jean Ann Lemon, "Descendants of Anthony Mathewes," complied records from
6. Ross, Martha Plant Ellis, Genealogical supplement to the House of Plant (Macon, Ga.: Southern Press, 1963, 122 pgs.), p 71.