Philo Hall

Philo Hall (December 31, 1865 – October 7, 1938) was a South Dakota attorney and politician. He served as Attorney General of South Dakota and a member of the United States House of Representatives.

Biography

Philo Hall was born in Wilton Township, Waseca County, Minnesota on December 31, 1865, the son of Mary E. (Greene) and Philo Hall, a Union Army veteran of the American Civil War. His parents ran a hotel in Wilton, and the family moved to Brookings, Dakota Territory after the 1883 death of the senior Philo Hall. The younger Philo hall was educated in Wilton and Brookings, studied law with Judge J. O. Andrews, was admitted to the bar in 1887, and practiced in Brookings.

In 1890 Hall married Mary A. Cooke, and they were the parents of three children: Vivian (b. 1891); Philo, Jr. (b. 1895); and Morrell (b. 1898).

A Republican, he was the prosecuting attorney for Brookings County from 1892 to 1898, and also served as city attorney for Brookings. In 1895 he was elected mayor of Brookings, and served one two-year term.

He served in the South Dakota State Senate from 1901 to 1903, and as Attorney General of South Dakota from 1903 through 1907.

In 1906 Hall was elected to Seat A, one of South Dakota's two at-large seats in the U.S. House, and he served one term, March 4, 1907 to March 3, 1909. He did not win renomination for a second term in 1908, and returned to the practice of the law.

Hall died in Brookings on October 7, 1938. He was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Brookings.

External links

• Philo Hall at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Philo Hall at Find a Grave

Legal offices
Preceded by A. W. Burtt	Attorney General of South Dakota 1903–1907	Succeeded by S. W. Clark