From "History of Wheeling City and Ohio County, West Virginia and  
Representative Citizens," by Hon. Gibson Lamb Cranmer, 1902. 
 
Typed by E.J. Heinemann 
 
p. 637 
 
JAMES KELSEY HALL, president and business manager of the Intelligencr  
Publishing Company, of Wheeling, and a prominent figure in journalistic  
enterprise, as well as in the political and society spheres of activity  
of the West Virginia metropolis, was born September 15, 1857, on a farm  
near Bellaire, in Belmont county, Ohio.  He is a son of Charles W.  
Hall, who was born and reared at West Wheeling.  The father was a  
"Forty-niner" and a Union veteran of the Civil War. 
    The subject of this sketch received his early educational training 
in the schools of Bellaire, and later was a student at the St. Clairsville  
High School.  Having decided upon a mercantile career he took a course  
of business training in the well-known Duff's Business College, of  
Pittsburg.  Returning to Belmont county, he taught school for two  
years.  The turning point in his life was in 1880, when he came to  
Wheeling, and entered the employ of J. S. Rhodes & Company, where he  
remained several years.  He joined the Intelligencer force in 1884,  
first as bookkeeper, and later, upon the formation of the Intelligencer  
Publishing Company, became its secretary. 
    Mr. Hall, coming from a family that boasted of its stalwart  
Republicanism, has always taken a deep interest in politics.  Soon  
after arriving in Wheeling he became identified with the local  
Republican organization, and achieved prominence in 1892, when he was  
made the chairman of the county committee.  At this time, Republicanism  
in Ohio county did not mean what it does now, and that it means more  
now is largely due to the genius and unremitting exertions of James K.  
Hall.  He was county chairman in 1892, 1894 and 1896, and to realize  
the results of his brilliant management of the organization, it is only  
necessary to bear in mind that, when he took the chairmanship in 1892,  
there was not a Republican office-holder in the county building, and  
that when he retired from the chairmanship six years later, there was  
not a Democrat in office either in the city hall or county building.  
Furthermore, a Democratic majority of 200 had been overturned and  
replaced by a Republican majority of 1,700.  In 1895, the party  
rewarded Mr. Hall by bestowing upon him the office of city collector,  
which he held for six years.   In 1900, he was an aspirant for the  
Republican nomination for auditor of state; but the Charleston  
convention was manipulated in such a manner that he was defeated,  
although at the same time he was the acknowledged favorite of a  
majority of the delegates.  Under the circumstances, many a man would  
have sulked in his tent, but Mr. Hall was not of that type; on the  
contrary he went into the campaign with all the ardor, energy and  
ability that are his, and as secretary of the state Republican  
committee, contributed much to the overwhelming defeat that was meted  
out to the Democracy. 
    In September, 1901, upon the death of his father-in-law, John Frew,  
who for nearly half a century was the guiding spirit of the  
Intelligencer, he was chosen president and business manager of the  
company, and under his direction this leading newspaper of West  
Virginia is rapidly increasing in influence and circulation. 
    In 1887 Mr. Hall married Ida May Frew, second daughter of John 
Frew, and the union has been one of happiness.  They have two children,
John Frew Hall and James Kelsey Hall, and there is no more charming family  
circle in the community. In the summer they occupy a suburban home at  
Pleasant Valley, and in the winter reside in the city.  Fraternally,  
Mr. Hall is a Mason, being a Knight Templar and Shriner. He is also  
belongs to the Knights of Pythias, Ancient Order of United Workman; and  
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.