Wife of J W Hall∼On the third day of January, 1836 he acquired his wife, Catherine Claypool, 1820 (?) - 1872. + They were married by the Rev. Joel Hughes in Springfield. The exact pattern of Claypool migration is not known, although there is record of them living in Pennsylvania.

The Claypools were long identified with the Athens area, possibly arriving soon after the Hall - Overstreet families. The family owned large sections of land in and around Athens and in the Fancy Creek - Williamsville communities at the northern edge of Sangamon county. Later, members of the family became identified with business interests in Springfield - the best known was "Claypool's Drug Store' which in its final years was located at the famous 'transfer' corner of street car days at Fifth and Monroe Streets.


Family
In 1837 the first child of James and Catherine was born, a girl named Martha Frances and over the next twenty-two years of their married life a total of thirteen children were born into this household. Martha was a married woman with children of her own by the time the last member of the family arrived.

By having this large family James Wesley was setting a record never to be passed by any other member of the Abner Hall branch of the family, although his son Henry almost made it with twelve children. The Elisha Hall branch of the family (Abner's brother) was the most prolific. Elisha had fifteen children; his son, John Nelson fourteen. John Nelson was a cousin of James Wesley.

Now add up all the other family members living in Athens or nearby and it becomes evident how numerous the family members were. Large families were the rule and they were all akin and they were marrying into the other pioneer families of the area. Pretty soon nearly everyone was related. Those trying to keep family records needed an efficient bookkeeping system (as the writer has found out!)


Population
When their family was completed, James and Catherine had a family of eight girls and five boys. The marriages of this family further tied the Hall family with many of the older families in the community. No wonder that in 1931 at a family re-union held at Athens observing the 100th birth date of the town, three hundred persons were identified with the Hall-Overstreet families.

The couples' daughters stayed in Illinois. Only one son, however, the author's grandfather remained in Illinois. The other four sons ended their days in Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and Washington state. They, too, felt the pull of the West - a movement that had been evident in the family since colonial times.

In the chapter on the: Children of James Wesley and Catherine (Claypool) Hall, more details of the thirteen children will be given. To complicate, three of them outlived their first mates and remarried. While an exact count of this family's descendants cannot be made, it did produce at least fifty-five grandchildren. Guessing: there would be at least one-hundred fifty great grandchildren.
The Children of James Wesley and Catherine (Claypool) Hall
Martha Frances Hall (England) (Swearinguin), 1837 -1902
Sarah Margarett Hall (Mitts), 1838 - 1926
Eliza Jane Hall (Cline), 1840 - 1934
William Henry Hall (Larkins), 1844 - 1935
Charles Wesley Hall (Hodges) (Adamson), 1846 - 1938
Amanda Elizabeth Hall (Alexander), 1848 - 1920
James Newton Hall (Pestel), 1849 - 1928 +
Thomas Roe Hall (Ford), 1853 - 1926
Abner Banks Hall (Bertha ?), 1855 - 1924
Rosa Belle Hall (Cover) (Seesmuller), 1858 - 19
Catherine Anna Hall (Neer), 1859 - 1921
Emma C. Hall (Showalter), 1861 - 1954
Ella (Elvira) Hall (Cullom), 1863 - 19


+possibly a descendant of the pioneer Levi Claypool family, this is supported by evidence in the 1850 census.
Hall-Overstreet Families Book by Carrol Carman Hall, 1981.