Edwin Oscar Hall

Edwin Oscar Hall (1810–1883) was a businessman who was appointed Minister of Finance by Kamehameha III, serving in that capacity for one year. He was subsequently appointed Minister of the Interior of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 10, 1873, by King Lunalilo. After Lunalilo's death, he remained in the position until Kalākaua replaced him on February 17, 1874 with Hermann A. Widemann.

Edwin Oscar Hall
Kingdom of Hawaii Minister of Finance
In office September 6, 1849 – September 26, 1850
Monarch	Kamehameha III
Preceded by	Gerrit P. Judd
Succeeded by	Gerrit P. Judd
Kingdom of Hawaii Minister of the Interior
In office January 10, 1873 – February 17, 1874
Monarch	Lunalilo Kalākaua
Preceded by	Ferdinand William Hutchison
Succeeded by	Hermann A. Widemann
Personal details
Born	(1810-10-21)October 21, 1810 Walpole, NH
Died	(1883-09-19)September 19, 1883 Falmouth, ME / buried in Hawaii
Nationality	American
Spouse(s)	Sarah Lyons Williams and Mary Lyon Dame
Children	4
Residence	Hawaii
Occupation	Printer

Hawaii missionary

Born in 1810 at Walpole, New Hampshire, Edwin Hall was educated at Canandaigua Academy, New York, and trained for the printing trade at Detroit and New York City. Hall and his wife Sarah Lyons Williams were part of the Seventh Company of missionaries sent to the Kingdom of Hawaii by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. On December 5, 1834, one month after their marriage, the couple sailed out of Boston for Hawaii, then known as the "Sandwich Islands", on the merchant ship Hellespont, docking in Honolulu Harbor on June 6, 1835. Also on board were bookbinder Henry Dimond and his wife, school teachers Lydia Brown and Elizabeth M. Hitchcock, and missionary Rev. Titus Coan and his wife. Hall, Dimond and the teachers were secular missionaries, rather than ordained ministers. Hitchcock was a sister to missionary Rev. Harvey Rexford Hitchcock on Molokai. On their June 6,1835 arrival, the Halls were stationed in Honolulu.[1]

Businessman

After serving with the mission board for 15 years, Hall took over the editorial duties of the secular Honolulu newspaper Polynesian.[2][3] He soon formed his own mercantile business.[4]

Cabinet officer

Kamehameha III appointed Hall as temporary Minister of Finance in 1849, serving a one-year period inbetween two periods of service by Gerrit P. Judd.[5]

In 1873, Hall was appointed Minister of the Interior by King Lunalilo. Upon Lunalilo's death, King Kalākaua formed his own cabinet, and Hall was replaced by Hermann A. Widemann on February 17, 1874.[6]

Death

Hall and his first wife had four children. On her death, he married Mary Lyon Dame in 1878 in Pennsylvania. Hall died September 19, 1883 in Falmouth, Maine but was buried in Honolulu.[1]

References

1. Hawaiian Mission Children's Society (1901). Portraits of American Protestant missionaries to Hawaii. Printed by the Hawaiian Gazette Co. pp. 49, 53 – via HathiTrust.
2. "E. O. Hall becomes The Polyesian editor". The Polynesian at Newspapers.com. January 5, 1850. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
3. "The Polynesian masthead". The Polynesian at Newspapers.com. January 6, 1855. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
4. "E.O. Hall". Polynesian at Newspapers.com. January 5, 1856. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
5. All about Hawaii. The recognized book of authentic information on Hawaii, combined with Thrum's Hawaiian annual and standard guide ((original from University of Michigan)). Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 1891. pp. 92–97 – via HathiTrust.
6. "Cabinet Ministry". The Pacific Commercial Advertiser at Newspapers.com. January 18, 1873. Retrieved September 30, 2018.

External links

• Edwin Oscar Hall at Find a Grave