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ARCHITECT
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Born: 1804, Died: c. 1855 The architect John G. Hall briefly entered into a partnership with John E. Carver in both Philadelphia and New York. Because he appeared and disappeared so suddenly, he has long been an enigma. It is now believed, however, that Carver's partner was the famous draftsman, cabinetmaker, engraver, and architect, John Hall of Baltimore. John Hall was born in Devonshire, England, and first appeared in Baltimore directories in 1835 where he listed himself as a "draftsman" and later as a cabinetmaker. In 1845 he disappeared briefly from the Baltimore directories. This gap is significant. In 1845 a John G. Hall first appeared in the Philadelphia city directories without a listed trade or profession. Since there were several men by the name of John Hall at work in Philadelphia at the time, the adoption of a middle initial is understandable. The following year (1846), the firm of Carver & Hall appeared in the directories with an office at 5l North Sixth Street; the same listing appeared the next year and then disappeared. In neither year was there a home address given for Hall, which suggests he was living in temporary rooms.The same year the partnership was formed, Carver & Hall opened an office in New York City at 3l Wall Street. The directory listing there is for the single year of 1846. In 1848 neither the firm of Carver & Hall nor John G. Hall appeared in the Philadelphia directories, although John Hall, architect, reappeared that year in the Baltimore directories with an office at l9 Exchange Building. John Hall is primarily remembered today for one of his books published in 1840. The first of these, The Cabinet Makers' Assistant, Embracing the Most Modern Style of Cabinet Furniture (Baltimore: John Murphy, 1840; second edition, 1848, published by John Murphy in Baltimore, James Fullerton in Philadelphia, and George Quigley in Pittsburgh) was the first illustrated furniture style book published in America. Hall 's second book, also published in 1840, was A Series of Select and Original Modern Designs for Dwelling Houses, for the Use of Carpenters and Builders: Adapted to the Style of Building in the United States (Baltimore, John Murphy; second edition, 1848, published by Murphy in Baltimore and Fullerton in Philadelphia). Unlike The Cabinet Makers' Assistant, Select and Original Modern Designs is not nearly as well known and should be more closely studied. The last book is of a more practical,, technical nature and was never reprinted: A New and Concise Method of Handrailing upon Correct Principles, Simplified to the Capacity of Every Practical Carpenter (Baltimore: Murphy, 1840). The last trace of Hall is found in the 1850s. At the time of the 1850 census, Hall (aged 41), his wife Catherine (Eateman) Hall (aged 40), and their daughter Margaret (aged 3) were living with Mrs. Hall's mother in Baltimore. His last appearance in the Baltimore city directories was in 1855.
Written by Roger W. Moss.
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