Background
Dominic A. Hall was born on January 1, 1765, in South Carolina, British America (present-day United States), according to most accounts ( some says he was of English birth).
(Excerpt from A History of Louisiana, Vol. 3: The American...)
Excerpt from A History of Louisiana, Vol. 3: The American Domination; Part I, 1803-1861 Jefferson and communicated by him to Congress on November 14, 1803: The precise boundaries of Louisiana, westward of the Missis sippi, though very extensive, are involved in some Obscurity. Data are equally wanting to assign with precision its northern extent. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Dominic A. Hall was born on January 1, 1765, in South Carolina, British America (present-day United States), according to most accounts ( some says he was of English birth).
Hall began his legal career in Charleston. In 1801 he was appointed by President John Adams judge of the Fifth United States Circuit, then composed of the districts of North and South Carolina and Georgia, but he retired the following year upon the repeal of the Judiciary Act under which the appointment was made.
By act of Congress, March 26, 1804, which provided a temporary government for the newly acquired Louisiana territory, a district court having the powers of a United States circuit court, but consisting of a single judge, was established for the Territory of Orleans. President Jefferson selected Hall as judge of this court, apparently because of his special qualifications, including his command of French and his knowledge of maritime jurisprudence.
Hall arrived in New Orleans in the fall of 1804 and continued to perform the duties of the position until 1813, when, a state government having been formed, he was induced to give up his United States judgeship and accept an appointment as a judge of the supreme court of Louisiana.
Since he had long been accustomed to individual modes of decision, he found his new position less congenial than the old, however, and since the vacancy caused by his resignation had not been filled, he applied for and received back his federal judgeship, which he held for the rest of his life. Hall's relations with Gen. Andrew Jackson in New Orleans during the War of 1812 brought him into national prominence. Jackson had declared martial law, which was submitted to with little objection so long as the enemy was upon the soil of the state.
After the British had taken to their ships and newspapers printed accounts of peace, however, people and legislature clamored for the restoration of civil law and the dismissal of the militia. Jackson's refusal to comply with their demands or to relax his vigilance until he was officially informed of peace involved him in a violent quarrel with people, legislature, governor, and judge. During the progress of the controversy, he arrested a member of the legislature, one Louaillier, for writing an objectionable letter. The request of the prisoner's counsel for a writ of habeas corpus was refused by the state courts on the ground of no jurisdiction, whereupon the prisoner made his demand of Judge Hall, who willingly complied. Jackson, very angry, ordered the arrest of Hall. About this time a messenger arrived from Washington with an important letter for Jackson and an order to postmasters to facilitate the progress of the bearer of news of peace. When the General broke the seal he found that through an error the wrong letter had been enclosed, and, in spite of the fact that the orders to postmasters made it evident that war was over, he would not relax his martial law. Louaillier, although not in the army or navy, was court-martialed, but acquitted. Jackson, however, set the sentence aside and retained him in prison.
Realizing that it would be useless to try Judge Hall by court-martial, Jackson sent him out of the city with orders not to return until peace was regularly announced or the enemy had departed from the coast. Official news of peace came next day, and the General immediately revoked martial law and freed his prisoners.
The able, popular, but over-punctilious judge, returning to the city thirsting for revenge, summoned Jackson into court to show why he should not be held in contempt for refusal to recognize the court's writ of habeas corpus. The General was tried, convicted, and fined $1, 000, which he paid at once. After this one notable episode of his career, Hall continued in the routine work of his office for some five years, until his death, which occurred on December 19, 1820, in New Orleans, Louisiana.
(Excerpt from A History of Louisiana, Vol. 3: The American...)