George T. Hall

[Source: W. H. Woodson, History of Clay County, Missouri (Topeka, KS: Historical Publishing Company, 1920), page 480-482.]

George T. Hall, of the George T. Hall Livestock Commission Company, of Kansas City, Missouri, whose residence is "White Hall" on the "Clover Hill Farm," is the owner of one of the most attractive places in Clay County. Mr. Hall has been engaged in business in Kansas City for a number of years and for the last few years has made his home in this county. He was born in Henry County, Kentucky, December 22, 1850, and is a son of Thomas and Edna (Fallis) Hall, both natives of Kentucky.

The Hall family came to Missouri in 1857 and settled in Buchanan County, and the father was engaged in farming and stock raising there for twenty years, when he removed to Gower, Clinton County, Missouri, and he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives there. They were the parents of the following children: John, deceased; D. S., deceased; George T., the subject of this sketch; Erasmus C., a prominent attorney of Kansas City, Missouri.

George T. Hall was reared and educated in Buchanan County and in early life engaged in the mercantile business at Gower, Missouri. He was the pioneer merchant of that town and was engaged in business there for fourteen years. He then went to St. Joseph, Missouri, where he was engaged in the livestock commission business. He then became a member of the firm of Scruggs, Hall and Company, and engaged in the livestock commission business at Kansas City, Missouri, and later organized the George T. Hall Livestock Commission Company, of Kansas City, Missouri. This is one of the extensive livestock commission concerns of Kansas City, and Mr. Hall is regarded as one of the most successful men in his line. He has had years of experience in the livestock business and has availed himself of every opportunity to study the details of the business from its various angles.

May 30, 1881, George T. Hall was united in marriage with Miss Inez C. Shields, a daughter of Zadok and Penelope (Asbury) Shields, both of whom died in Virginia. To Mr. and Mrs. Hall have been born the following children: Thomas, of the Hall-Leeper Hardware Company of Denison, Texas; Howard Shields, married Hannah A. Jobes, of Kansas City, Missouri; and Helen, married Henry A. Bundschu, of Independence, Missouri.

Mr. Hall is the owner of 800 acres in Liberty township, which is known as "Clover Hill Farm"; and his home, "White Hall," is best described by the architect, Mr. Edgar P. Madorie, who designed it, as follows: "On a tract of seventy acres on the Excelsior Springs electric line, one-half mile south of Liberty, Missouri, George T. Hall, of the George T. Hall Livestock Commission Company, of Kansas City, Missouri, erected a large country home of colonial architecture.

"The house has many features of the old New England style, such as was built in the colonial days. The structure consists of two floors with basement and attic and has a frontage of 110 feet by 31 feet in depth. It is built entirely of lumber, the exterior walls faced with wide boards and painted white; and is roofed with wood shingles of natural weathered color. The first-story floor is but one step above the yard grade, as was the old Abbott farmhouse, built in Massachusetts during the year 1685. The shed-roofed porches are typical of the Webb house erected in Long Island in 1790.

The front and rear entrance with their two-story covered porticoes, long spindle columns, and Dutch doors with side lights and iron balconies suspended from above, form a very interesting picture of those old colonial days.

It has been said that this type of architecture has been almost forgotten, as it is not in keeping with modern times; but the owner was desirous of carrying out in detail this beautiful period.

Upon this tract of land surrounding this beautiful home, the architect has prepared landscape drawings, which, when completed, will surpass any home in this part of the country.

The entire seventy acres will be beautified with drives and stone bridges, old-fashioned well with oaken buckets, an ice house with a unique tower, dinner bell suspended on a stone column 16 feet high, exedra on a mound by a lake, shelter houses at the main entrances, and formal gardens 70 by 200 feet landscaped with flower beds, drinking fountains, sun dials, bird baths and surrounded with covered promenades and rustic stone walls and steps.

The interior of the house is finished with white and tinted gray and ivory; natural finished floors and old-fashioned colonial wall decorations, fireplaces and lighting fixtures. Features which are interesting and refer to centuries ago are the bookcases and china closets. These cabinets are nothing more than recesses in the wall and enclosed with old-fashioned glass paneled doors.

The rooms are large, light and especially well ventilated; and the service portion, such as baths, kitchens and pantries, have tile lined walls and floor and are equipped with all modern conveniences such as cabinets, hinged tables, electrical ranges, sinks, refrigerators, etc.

Upon the completion of this edifice, the architectural character was departed from by adding a humorous feature, that of placing bronze door knockers upon three of the chamber doors—a symbol of "Robinson Crusoe," the old "Liberty Bell" and the "Devil with a Fire Pot." 

 



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