Lyman Hall

Lyman Hall (April 12, 1724 – October 19, 1790), physician, clergyman, and statesman, was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia. Hall County is named after him.

Early life and family

Lyman Hall was the son of John and Mary Hall (née Street) Hall and graduated from Yale College in 1747, a tradition his seven siblings would repeat. In 1749, he was called to the pulpit of Stratfield Parish (now Bridgeport, CT). His pastorate was a stormy one: an outspoken group of parishioners opposed his ordination; in 1751, he was dismissed after charges against his moral character which, according to one biography, "Were supported by proof and also by his own confession." He continued to preach for two more years, filling vacant pulpits, while he studied medicine and taught school.

In 1752, he married Abigail Burr of Fairfield, Connecticut, however, she died the following year. In 1757, he was married again to Mary Osborne. He migrated to South Carolina and established himself as a physician at Dorchester, South Carolina, near Charleston, a community settled by Congregationalist migrants from Dorchester, Massachusetts decades earlier. When these settlers moved to the Midway District – now Liberty County – in Georgia, Hall accompanied them. Hall soon became one of the leading citizens of the newly founded town, Sunbury.

Lyman Hall (academic)

Lyman Hall (February 18, 1859 – August 16, 1905) was a professor and president of the Georgia School of Technology (now called the Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech). He is perhaps best known for bringing what is now the School of Materials Science & Engineering to Georgia Tech. Hall's administration also introduced degrees in electrical engineering and civil engineering in December 1896, textile engineering in February 1899, and engineering chemistry in January 1901. Hall died in 1905, reportedly due to the stress of fundraising for a new chemistry building which now bears his name.

Early life

Born in 1859 in Americus, Georgia, he attended Mercer University in Penfield, Georgia. He was admitted to the United States Military Academy in 1877, and graduated in 1881. Due to a physical disability, he was unable to have a military career; instead, he taught mathematics at the Georgia Military Academy in Kirkwood, Georgia for two years and subsequently at the South Carolina Military Academy in Charleston, South Carolina (now known as "The Citadel") from 1883 to 1886. He was then a professor at the Moreland Park Military Academy before Georgia Tech recruited him.