Transcription of obituary (2) from April 26, 1893

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--- HIS CAREER

Death has claimed another pioneer, ex-Probate Judge Isaac M. Hall, and in his demise the bar of Seattle loses one of its ablest members. About 8 o'clock yesterday morning, while sitting in the office of James Sheehan's saloon on Second street, Judge Hall suddenly pitched forward and fell dead upon the floor. His death resulted from heart disease, an ailment with which he had been more or less troubled for several years past. There was no one present in the saloon at the time but the bartender and janitor. The latter stood cleaning the front windows of the establishment, and when he (unclear) Judge Hall there was no sign of life whatever. Only 10 or 15 minutes (unclear) Judge Hall went into the (unclear) a few moments leaned against the bar. He complained of feeling badly, and asked permission to sit down in the office. This was granted, and he had not been in the chair more than five minutes when the final summons came.

Immediately upon discovery of his death, Coroner Horton was summoned and had the body removed to Bonney & Stweart's.

Isaac Miller Hall was born in Warren county, Indiana, in 1842. He was educated in the public schools of Crawfordsville and before he had attained his majority moved to Fontennelle, Adair county, Iowa. There he studied law and was married to his first wife, Miss Laura Crane, in 1859. About seven years ago he and his wife separated, the latter removing to Port Angeles. He was married again at Port Townsend in 1887 to Mrs. Jennie Freygany.

From Iowa Judge Hall went to California in 1863 and the following year, 1864, came to Seattle. He was appointed counsel for the board of county commissioners in 1866. In 1868 he ran on the republican ticket for county auditor against A. S. Pinkham.

A tie resulted, and it was decided to draw lots for the office. Ex-Chief of the Fire Department Gardner Kellogg held two straws in his hand. Judge Hall drew the longest and became county auditor. He resigned the office, however, and Mr. Kellogg filled the unexpired term.

In 1883 he was elected probate judge and was again elected to the same position at the expiration of his first term. During his incumbency of the office of probate judge he formed a copartnership with Judge Eben Smith, and this copartnership existed until 1886, when Judge Hall went to Port Townsend. He remained there but a short time, removing to Olympia. In 1888 he returned to Seattle, where he has since resided.

The deceased leaves three children by his first marriage - Mrs. Luther Mason and a son, Frank, who are living Port Angeles, and a daughter, Luella, who is attending school in Switzerland.

In addition to the members of his immediate family, Judge Hall has three brothers and a sister living, W. B. Hall surveyor and civil engineer of this city, Mrs. Francis M. Cade of Sumas, Isaac B. Hall, a Nebraska farmer, and James Hall, a resident of Warren county, Indiana.

His former law partner, Judge Eben Smith, spoke in the highest terms of Judge Hall:

"I learned from association with him as a partner," he said, "to respect him highly, and to appreciate his nobility of character. He was of the old school of broad minded, well grounded lawyers in common law and equity. As a counsellor, he was pre-eminent. As a trial lawyer, he had few superiors. I believe that every member of the bar who knew him will bear testimony, not only to his high moral worth, but to his ability as a lawyer. Up to the time of his term on the bench he had not had his equal as a probate judge. His decisions were the result of the most careful thought and painstaking labor, and these, combined with unquestioned integrity, gave him a high standing in this community."

Of the deceased, Judge Orange Jacobs said:

"I first became acquainted with him in 1869 and have intimately known him ever since. He was a trim, slightly-built man then with a dash of foppishness about him and did not weigh over 150 pounds. I have ever found him genial and witty, even-tempered, and in fact have seen him in circumstances that would have tried the tempers of most men and never knew him to get excited and lose his seeming composure of mind.

"He was known for a long time as the wit of the Seattle bar. His increase in flesh in later years seemed to have destroyed to some extent that volatile element in his character.

"As a lawyer he had studied the principles of law closely and profoundly. He had not much use for reports. He preferred to argue out results from acknowledged or established principles. In this respect he was a remnant of what is rare now a days, of the old-fashioned lawyer. He loved positive or statutory law and the common law based upon reason and the experience of men. He often said that the reports were mystifying and confusing. In this remark there is much of truth. No man at the bar had a fuller or completer knowledge of the statutory law of the state than Judge Hall. The statutes and a few standard works, with which he was very familiar, constituted his law library. He always got his law as near at home as possible.

"Judge Hall was a great reader of a certain class of fiction, such as the works of Dickens and Cooper. He was also a close reader of such works as the History of Civilization. He was also a great and careful reader of histories. He took a great deal of interest in skeptical works, at one time a confirmed skeptic. In his later years he modified his views on the subject of religion.

"Judge Hall was what I would style a wit, as contradistinguished from the humorous and ludicrous. To those well acquainted with him there were flashes of wit in his conversation and in his speeches of the purest kind. As a specimen I will relate the following:

"At the close of a term of court at Port Townsend in cleaning up the docket Judge Hall informed me that he had a motion that he wished to argue and have me decide. I heard him attentively and he made a plausible and fine argument in support of his motion. The opposing counsel arose to address the court, but I told him I did not wish to hear him, for I was fully convinced as to how the motion should be decided. I decided against Judge Hall. He seemed a little disappointed and said he would like to make an exception. I said I will give you an exception with the greatest pleasure, but I remarked that this same question being one of statutory construction has been up before my brothers Greene and Lewis, each of whom have given written opinion on the subject and I agree with them. For, Brother hall, says I, while I give you the advantage of an exception, you know that (unclear) three constitute the supreme court of this territory and the probabilities are you will not make anything by your exception. He seemed a little confounded, dropped his head in a reflective attitude, stood for a moment with the whole bar looking at him, but finally raised his head and said, 'Judge, I believe I'll take the exception anyhow. The tenure of office is very uncertain in this country.' "

At a meeting of the bar association yesterday afternoon, presided over by Judge Orange Jacobs, the following resolutions reported by a committee consisting of William H. White, John J. McGilvra, John Arthur, Eben Smith, and Fred R. Rowell were adopted:

WHEREAS, On this 25^th day of April, 1893, a member of the bar who had practiced his profession in Seattle for the past (unclear) years, and who had acceptable served the county of King as its probate judge, Hon. Isaac M. Hall, departed this life; be it, by the members of the bar of King county, assembled at the court house, unanimously

Resolved, 1. That Mr. Hall was an attorney of marked ability and of unswerving integrity; a judge whose decisions always commanded respect and confidence; a scholar of extensive erudition whose strikingly tenacious memory enabled him with ease and grace to adorn every discussion by appropriate allusions and comparisons drawn from all ages and countries; a brilliant wit, whose ready flashes illumined every topic and charmed every circle; a joyous and gladsome humorist, whose deep insight into human nature quickly revealed (unclear) strength and virtue of the heart and mind; a generous and loving man free from guile and malice, who was ever full of sympathy with human kind and of charity for the weak and unfortunate.

Second: That the members of the King county Bar association, of which he was a member, and the bar in general, deeply regret his sudden demise and will cherish the recollection of his many good and attractive qualities.

Third: That the secretary of this meeting present to the surviving family of the deceased a copy of these resolutions, with the respectful assurance of the sympathy of the bar in their bereavement.

By motion it was resolved to hold a meeting on Sunday afternoon next at 3 o'clock to hear an address by E. P. Dole on the life and character of the deceased. To this meeting the bar, the members of Judge Hall's family and the public generally are invited.

The following members of the bar association were selected as pallbearers: Hon. O. Jacobs, Hon. J. J. McGilvra, Judge Richard Osborn, Judge Thomas J. Humes, Judge J. W. Langley and Colonel R. H. Lindsay.

As yet the date of the funeral has not been named and will not be until Judge Hall's children at Port Angeles have been heard from.

Mrs. Hall is quite feeble and the news of her husband's death is said to have been a serious shock to her. She is at the family residence, near Duwamish, and was not able to come to the city yesterday.

Submitted by Stacey Davis November 3, 2000