Preceded by Roger Skinner Name Nathan Hall | Role American Politician | |
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Similar People Samuel Wilkeson, George W Clinton, Philip Becker | ||
Nathan Kelsey Hall (March 28, 1810 – March 2, 1874) was an American politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and as U.S. Postmaster General.
Biography
He was born on March 28, 1810 in Marcellus, New York. He began his career as a shoemaker and farmer, but then studied law in Buffalo, New York, alongside future U.S. President Millard Fillmore, and later served him as a law clerk and still later as a law partner. After passing the bar examination in 1832, he practiced law and held various elected offices in Buffalo and Erie County, New York. He was elected a member of the New York Legislature in 1846. In 1846 he was elected as Whig to a seat in the 30th Congress, but was not renominated at the end of his term. He was also "particularly active in procuring the charter" of the University at Buffalo, which Fillmore founded.
In 1850, Fillmore appointed him Postmaster General of the United States. He served from 1850 through 1852, but for a brief stint as acting Secretary of the Interior. He left the office in 1852, when he became a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York. He held that position 24 years until his death in 1874. He is buried close to his old friend Fillmore (who died six days after Hall's death) at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York.