Ephraim B. Hall

Who was Ephraim B. Hall?

Ephraim Benoni Hall was the second West Virginia Attorney General.

Hall was born on August 25, 1822 in Middletown in what is now Marion County. He read law and was admitted to the bar in 1851 subsequently practiced law in his home county and neighboring counties.In 1861, Ephraim was elected to the Virginia convention in Richmond. On April 17, the convention voted to adopt an ordinance of secession from the Union; Ephraim was one of 58 to voted against secession. When the convention recessed in May 1861, Hall returned to Marion County to survey the people and determined that the majority was were Unionist.

Hall did not return to Richmond in June and risked charges of treason for doing so. Later in 1861, Hall attended the Wheeling Convention, which re-organized a state government loyal to the United States—the future state of West Virginia. Hall attended the constitutional convention that produced the first West Virginia Constitution, and was one of four delegates to the convention selected to present the document to Congress.

Hall was elected to a two-year term as West Virginia Attorney General for the term beginning January 1, 1865. In October 1865, Hall was elected judge of the Tenth Circuit and resigned as Attorney General in December. He was re-elected a circuit judge of the Sixth Circuit but declined to accept.