Benjamin Homer Hall

Born in Troy, New York, on November 14, 1830, Benjamin Homer Hall was a lawyer and author who studied at private schools, Phillips Andover Academy, and Harvard, graduating in 1851. He was admitted to the bar in 1856 and practiced law in Troy, where he was also active in public life.

Hall wrote across several genres, which gives his work a broad, curious feel. He is associated with A Collection of College Words and Customs, an early and lively record of student language and traditions, and History of Eastern Vermont, a substantial historical work. Sources also describe him as a poet, and note that he served as city clerk of Troy.

His name remained tied to the city through the Hall Building, later known as the Rice Building, which he had built in 1871. Hall died in Troy on April 6, 1893, leaving behind a career that blended law, local leadership, and literary ambition.