Joshua Hall (courtesy Maine State Archives)
Joshua Hall was born on October 22, 1768 in Lewes, Delaware. After working as a Methodist preacher, Hall entered into politics. He served the town of Frankfort in the General Court (then in Massachusetts) 1814, 1816, 1818 and 1819, and was a member of the Maine House of Representatives in 1820-1821.
A National Republican, Hall was elected President of the Maine Senate in January of 1830 after forty-nine ballots had been taken with no result. The reason for the stalemate was the fact that eight Senators were National Republicans, eight were Democratic-Republicans and there were four vacancies.
Since the Maine Supreme Court had ruled that Nathan Cutler of Farmington could not serve as acting Governor once his term as a Senator had expired, Hall’s election as Senate President meant that he would serve as Governor until the Governor-elect took office on February 9th.
Hall owed his election as President to the National Republicans who had doubtless elected him to get him out of the Senate, thereby securing a majority during the critical period of organization when the occupants of the four vacant seats would be determined.
Hall has been described as a short, fleshy, good-hearted old gentleman; a Methodist minister who knew more about preaching than he did about politics. He had begun his work as an itinerant preacher at the age of nineteen and ended it on December 25, 1862 at the venerable age of ninety-four.
JOSHUA HALL, the eighth governor of Maine, was born in Lewes, Delaware on October 22, 1768. His education was limited and attained in the common schools of his native state. After working as a Methodist preacher, Hall entered into politics. He represented Frankfort in the General Court in 1814, 1816, 1818 and 1819, and was a member and speaker of the Maine House of Representatives in 1830. After Governor Enoch Lincoln died in office, Nathan Cutler, who was president of the senate at the time, assumed the duties of the governorship. However, Cutler’s senatorial term expired in January 1830, and consequently, the Maine Supreme Court ruled that his term as acting governor also had expired. On January 6, 1830, Cutler resigned from office, and Hall, who was speaker of the house at the time, succeeded him to the governor’s office. Hall served as acting governor until February 9, 1830. He then retired from political life, and returned to his preaching career. Governor Joshua Hall passed away at the age of ninety-four on December 25, 1862.
Additional resources
*Mundy, James H. “Joshua Hall,” Presidents of the Senate of Maine from 1820. Augusta: Secretary of the Senate, 1979.
“Joshua Hall.” National Governors Association. https://www.nga.org/governor/joshua-hall/ (accessed December 23, 2020)
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*Cited in Friends of the Blaine House at http://blainehouse.org/governors(accessed April 25, 2011) (accessed April 25, 2011)