THE HALLAM FAMILY. The Hallums descended from the middle classes of England, the family there embracing the historian and the poet. From here are descended Governor Helm, of Kentucky, Secretary Bristow, of President Grant's cabinet, President Polk and a long, roster on both sides of the waters, who have never broken through the veil of honest obscurity. " Hallam is the proper way to spell the name. The substitution of the 'u' instead of 'a' in the last syllable is a corruption growing out of the freedom incident to backwoods life, and Republican simplicity, where heraldry is lost in the common level." About 1770 two brothers, William and Henry Hallam, cut off from ancestral inheritance by the laws of entail and primogeniture, sought to lay foundations by their own enterprise in a field of more promise and a wider range than England extended to the portionless scions of her gentry and nobility. Imbued with the broadest spirit of religious toleration, so deeply rooted in the institutions of Maryland, they first located in Hagerstown, in that colony. Both married and became heads of families. Henry settled in Virginia, William in South Carolina, and there became one of the largest planters of his day. Both adhered to the fortunes of the colonies, and became Revolutionary soldiers. William was captured at the battle of Germantown, October 4, 1777. The British officer, to whom he was delivered after capture, insulted him and slapped him in the face with his sword, but paid the penalty of his temerity with his life, for the brave cavalier shot him dead instantly, and made good his escape. After peace was declared he settled in South Carolina. He was a cultured gentleman of the old-school brood, enlightened and liberal, and in his will cut through the laws of primogeniture and divided his property equally among a large family of sons and daughters.
In that tide of emigration which came pouring its westward flood across the Alleghenies after the Revolution came William, Henry, John and Andrew Hallam, to the frontier settlement of Tennessee in 1795, and they settled on the historic Cumberland, in what is now designated as Smith county, Tenn., all sons of Henry, the Revolutionary sire; and with them came Rachel, daughter of William, the soldier, and wife of her cousin William, the pioneer. All were possessed of courage and marked individuality of character, and all were stanch friends and supporters of Gen. Jackson. Descended from these brothers may be here mentioned, prominent of the present generation, Senator Hallam, of Kentucky , John Hallam, the jurist and historian, of Arkansas, and a long list of eminent lawyers, doctors and divines, besides others previously referred to. Joseph Hallam (grandfather of the Hallam brothers in Washington), who was descended from the Hagerstown branch, was born on the farm now owned by John G. Clark, of Franklin township, Washington county. His parents had come hither, bringing slaves with them, and died in this county. Joseph entered the hotel business and became proprietor of the old "Valentine House" (now the "Allison"), and died in the borough of Washington. He was married in Washington county to a Miss Zediker, and they reared a family of children as follows: Lewis, father of the Hallam brothers of Washington; John, living in South Strabane township county; George, deceased; Joseph, who allied himself with the Confederates, and remained in the South; Levina, deceased wife of William Wolf; Elizabeth, deceased wife of James McGuigan, also deceased; and Mrs. Hamilton Todd, of Richmond, Ind.
Lewis Hallam was a blacksmith by trade, and ran line teams over the National pike from Baltimore to the Ohio river, for the transportation of merchandise, and owned some of the finest teams that ever traveled over the road. He married Rosanna Teagarden, of West Finley township, and they then took up their home in Washington. They reared a family of eleven children, namely: Levina, wife of George H. Thurston, of Washington; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Hon. J. S. Stocking; Sophia, widow of George E. Parshall, of Washington; Joseph; George T.; Rosanna, at home; Lewis F.; Finley B.; John W.; Charles F.; and Robert H., all in Washington. The seven brothers in this family comprise the firms of R.T. Hallam & Sons, general contractors; Hallam Bros., proprietors of livery and dealers in ice, etc; Finley B. Hallam, attorney at law; and Robert H. Hallam, merchant. On November 27, 1876, the father died. At the breaking out of the Civil war he closed his business in Washington and took up the manufacture of wagons for the National Government in Wheeling, W. Va. At the close of the struggle he returned to Washington and again built up a large business. He was originally a pronounced Whig, Abolitionist, and later a Republican, but was never an active politician. After his death, his widow, with her sons, continued the business until in August, 1891, when she passed from earth.
Finley B. Hallam was born November 25, 1856, at Monongahela, Penn., where his parents were living at the time. He was educated at the common schools up to eleven years of age, and then became a clerk at the old news depot for his brother-in-law, J. S. Stocking. He carried a news route and learned telegraphy, the old Pacific & Atlantic Telegraph office being in the same room. J. S. Stocking was the manager, but Finley B. in reality managed the business. After a time he gave up telegraphing, and took the position of lineman, repairing lines half way from Washington to Pittsburgh and Wheeling and Brownsville. He continued in this until the absorbing of the business by the Western Union. He had made up several studies while working, and after ceasing lineman work he entered (1873) Washington and Jefferson College. Here he remained a short time, and then was with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, as telegraph operator, at Sandpatch, Connellsville, Broadford and Pittsburgh, in a few months reaching the management of the last office, the most important on the road. Two years later he returned and entered the class of 1879 as Freshman, he having made up studies, and at the completion of the year, his funds being gone, he resumed telegraphy. Going to the upper oil country, he took a position in the office of the superintendent of the Columbia Conduit Pipe Line Company, at Petrolia, filling also a temporary charge of the Pittsburgh and Parker office, of same line. In the winter of 1876-77 he left the Columbia Conduit and entered the service of the United Pipe Line (Standard), taking charge of a large pump station at North Washington, Butler county; there he remained a short time, and then went, in the spring of 1877, to the Argyle Pump station, at Petrolia. As the result of the absorption by the "United" of Antwerp, Atlantic and others, in Clarion county, he went to St. Petersburg (same county), headquarters for that district, first as telegraph operators and then as bookkeeper for the same company. A few months later be was made chief bookkeeper, of eight or ten men. In the summer of 1878, in consequence of the exceptional growth of the Bradford field, the work became too heavy for one office, and so the Bradford field was cut in two, and the headquarters of the second division were made at Olean, N. Y., near the Pennsylvania line. Mr. Hallam was then called by the general manager of the line to take control of the Olean headquarters, having exclusive charge of all accounts, with a large force of assistants. While his promotion was exceptional, he was the youngest bookkeeper in the business. Having saved sufficient money to see himself through college, and having kept up his reading and study, he resigned his position in the fall of 1878, returned to college, entering the sophomore class, and finished with the class of 1881. He led his class, but from some cause, first honor was not awarded him, though second honor was offered him, which he declined to accept, feeling that he deserved first. He was given the salutatory address, but declined to make it, and was consequently suspended for insubordination, his diploma and degree being withhold. A man high in college affairs said to Mr. Hallam: "While first honor had by accident been nominally awarded to another man, yet your classmates, the faculty and everybody connected with the college will ever regard you as first-honor man of the class of 1881."
His funds again gone, and the Mutual Union Telegraph Company having extended a new enterprise in competition with the Western Union, Mr. Hallam was offered by the officials the position of electrician and circuit manager with control as superintendent from Cumberland, Md., to Cincinnati, Ohio, with electrical headquarters at Washington, Penn. Here he remained.6fteen months, when he was called to Washington, D. C., and placed in charge of the company affairs there, and all points from Philadelphia to Cincinnati. He remained during the celebrated strike of commercial telegraphers, at the termination of which he resigned his position, gave up the telegraph business, and resumed the study of law at Washington, Penn., which he had incidentally pursued while in college. He was admitted to the bar of Washington county, November term, 1884, and has since continued in practice, his office being in the Murdoch Building. In January, 1885, oil developed, and he engaged in the oil business, leasing many fields, and drilling many wells. He was one of the plaintiffs in the equity suit against the Union Company et al., for the oil rights of the Davis property in South Strabane township, which produced $1,000,000 worth of oil, and which suit is still pending. In the oil business of Washington county, he was in a company composed of leading and wealthy business men. Politically Mr. Hallam has been a worker in the Republican ranks since a boy, working for his party earnestly; was secretary of the county committee in 1891, and contributed much in time and money to the success of his party nominees. In 1892 he was candidate for the office of district attorney in Washington county, but the nomination was given to Mr. W. S. Parker, who had served one term. By the House of Representatives of Harrisburg, (of 1801 to 1893) Mr. Hallam was elected transcribing clerk of the House, which position he held to the close of the session.
In December, 1890, Finley B. Hallam was married to Miss Rosa Alba, daughter of Dr. Charles Teagarden, of Tyler, Tex. Her grandfather, Dr. Oswin Teagarden, a double cousin of the mother of Finley B. Hallam, her husband, was general purchasing agent of medical stores for the Southern Confederacy, and his most intimate associates and friends were Jefferson Davis and Senator Reagan. Mrs. Hallam's mother was Florence Johnson, daughter of Dr. Johnson, of a well-known Southern family whose ancestry is traced to Dr. Samuel Johnson, the first of all lexicographers. No children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hallam.
JOHN W. HALLAM, general contractor, Washington, was born in that borough, February 24, 1859. At the age of ten years he commenced work as a clerk in a clothing store in his native city, where he remained until he was fifteen years of age, when he embarked for his own account in the general grocery business, being at that remarkably early age proprietor of a store in the borough for about three years. At the end of that time he sold out, and traveling South and West, spent a year from home. At the age of twenty years he began taking upon himself the responsibility of accepting contracts for various improvements in and about Washington, which was the nucleus to his present extensive business in that line. His brother had united with him, and since 1887 the firm name has been " R. T. Hallam & Sons," John W. being general manager and principal of the establishment. The line of work engaged in has been chiefly stone foundations, paving, sewer building etc., and no firm in Washington county is better or more favorably known than this one for thorough and reliable work. During the year 1891 they contracted for and completed some 49,000 square yards of street paving' 30,000 feet of curbing and nine miles of sewers in the borough of Washington, besides some 5,000 yards of paving in Monongahela, amounting in all to over $200,000 of work.
On February 25, 1887, Mr. Hallam married Miss Katie H.. daughter of ---- and Rebecca Brady, of Washington, and one son, Harold Herbert, has blessed this union. Mr. Hallam is a Republican, and has for six years served as a member of the borough council, his first election to any office being when he was but twenty-two years of age. Socially, be is a member of the I. 0. H. and Jr. 0. U. A. M. He has taken an active interest in all movements tending to the advancement of his native town, and has served as one of the directors of the Chamber of Commerce of Washington. As a man of thorough business principle, he is respected by all who know him, and of his personal habits it may be said of him that in no form does he use tobacco, and never during his life has he tasted liquor of any kind.
ROBERT H. HALLAM, merchant tailor, Washington, is a native of the borough, born July 24, 1865. His education was obtained at the public schools of the place, after which for six year 9 he clerked for Thomas Morgan, dealer in dry goods. In 1888 he opened out a merchant tailoring and gents' furnishing establishment in Oak Hall, No. 20 North Main street, Washington, which establishment is allowed to be the best in the place, in that particular line. Mr. Hallam is one of the enterprising business men of Washington, wide-awake and progressive. In politics he is a live, active Republican. In church matters he is an Episcopalian; socially he is a member of the I. 0. H. He lives at the old Hallam homestead on East Beau street.
Lewis F. Hallam, a member of the well-known livery establishment of Hallam Bros., at Washington, was born February 28, 1855, in Washington county, Penn. He learned and followed the blacksmith's trade for several years, then drove teams, and in 1878 embarked in the ice business, shipping from Wheeling, W. Va. On February 7, 1878, he was united in marriage with Jennie, daughter of Hugh Hallam, of Washington county, Penn., and she has borne him four children, as follows: Garnet, Jay, Opal and Baby. In 1880 Mr. Hallam opened the livery establishment, which has been most prosperous, and he has also been interested in oil wells, besides carrying on a business in sand and stone. In political opinion he is a stanch supporter of the principles embodied in the Republican party, and socially he is a member of the I. 0. H.
Text taken from page 384 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed March 1997 by Theresa Hallam of Akron, OH as part of the Beers Project.
Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]