William Preble Hall

William Preble Hall (June 11, 1848 – December 14, 1927) was an American military officer who was Adjutant General of the United States Army. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in action on October 20, 1879, near the White River in Colorado. An 1868 graduate of West Point, he served in the Army until his retirement in 1912, attaining the rank of brigadier general.

Military career He was appointed to West Point from the state of Missouri, graduating with the class of 1868.

He was a member of several distinguished Army marksmanship teams from 1879 to 1892 and won medals on all the teams, shooting the carbine and revolver.

Personal life

Hall was born in Randolph County, Missouri.

He married Ms. Terese Blackburn (1868–1943), daughter of Senator Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn of Kentucky. They had a daughter who died in childhood, Terese Preble Hall (1894–1899). Both his wife and daughter Terese are buried with him in Section 1 of Arlington National Cemetery. They had two additional children live to adulthood, Blackburn Hall, a graduate of West Point and former Major of the Regular Army, of Los Angeles, California, and Octavia Preble Hall (1900–1981), who later took the name Terese, and married Colonel Percy McCay Vernon, Regular Army, of Amite, Louisiana. and General Hall was among the seven appointed committeemen. In the April 15, 1912 issue of the Watch Tower, the following was published above the signatures of "Adj.-Gen'l W. P. Hall" and the other committeemen: The gentlemen who have served on this Committee are all earnest Bible Students. Their zeal in the matter of this investigation may be judged from the fact that they not only paid their own expenses, but additionally defrayed Pastor Russell's and all secretarial expenses. These gentlemen have long been deeply interested in the propagation of the Gospel, both at home and abroad.

Speaking of the entire committee, Jehovah's Witnesses' official history says, "Wherever they went they spoke about God's purpose to bring blessings to mankind by means of the Messianic Kingdom. Sometimes their audience was small, but in the Philippines and in India, there were thousands." The Committee presented its report at a March 31, 1912 meeting at the New York Hippodrome, attended by 5,200 and chaired by then-future Watch Tower Society president Joseph F. Rutherford.

General Hall was a member of the Order of the Indian Wars of the United States.

Awards Medal of Honor Indian Campaign Medal Spanish War Service Medal Army of Puerto Rican Occupation Medal Philippine Campaign Medal