James T. Hale was born October 14, 1810, in Towanda, Pennsylvania, the son of Reuben & Wealthy Ann (Tracy) Hale. He studied law partly with his brother-in-law, General William Patton (1799-1877), and partly with his uncle, Elias White Hale (1775-1832). He was admitted to the bar in 1832 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, and where he practiced for several years. He married Jane Walker Huston (1815-1883), daughter of Justice Charles Huston of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and Mary Winter. Afterward Mr. Hale and his bride moved to Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, where his father-in-law resided. After practicing there for a short time in 1851 he was appointed president judge of the twentieth judicial district and served in that office until 1858.[1] Hale served as president of the Tyrone and Clearfield Railroad from 1856–1858.[2]
In 1858 Hale was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-sixth and in 1860 elected to Thirty-seventh Congresses and in 1862 as an Independent Republican to the Thirty-eighth Congress. During his last term he served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Claims. He was conservative in his political views and urged Congress to pass compromise resolutions soon after the outbreak of the Civil War.
He was a Christian, and a member of the Episcopal Church.
Children of James T. Hale and Jane Walker Huston: Charles H. Hale (1837–1872), James Tracy Hale (1848–1877) & George N. Hale (1850–1885).
James T. Hale, Sr. died after a short bout of typhoid fever on April 6, 1865, in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and was there buried at Union Cemetery. He was the first cousin of Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles.
References
^Obituary of James T. Hale, Bradford Reporter, Towanda, Pennsylvania, Thursday, April 20, 1865, p.3
^Bezilla, Michael; Gette, Luther (2017). Branch Line Empires: The Pennsylvania and the New York Central Railroads. Railroads Past and Present. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. pp. 22, 26. ISBN978-0-253-02958-4.
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