Short Biography of Philemon Hall & Erastus Hall

Philemon HALL, born in Guilford, Conn., about 1772, was a cook in the Revolutionary War. He married, in his native town, Mary PARMALEE and a year or two later removed with an ox-team and sled to Bloomfield, N. Y. and located on his father's claim of 150 acres given to him for service in the Revolutionary War. He was there a farmer and later a hotel keeper in Bloomfield village, where he was burned out. In 1820, he settled in the southwest corner of Napoli. In 1822, he built a saw-mill on the location now occupied by the grist-mill of Enoch Holdridge. About 1824, he built a grist-mill on the same dam and near the saw-mill. He brought the few irons from Bloomfield and the mill-stones were wrought from a pebble rock in Great Valley. Mr. HALL carried on quite a business. He died in 1857 and was succeeded by his sons, Joel, Horace, Amos, and Erastus, of whom only Erastus, an octogenarian, is living. He was born in Bloomfield, N. Y., May 24, 1809 and is a natural mechanic. As a millwright he has built numerous mills in western New York and in Canada. He invented and patented a shingle-mill, and is now the senior member of the firm of E. HALL & Co.. In Sept., 1827, he married Emeline RATHBONE, who has been his helpful companion sixty-four years. Children: Lyman, Milo, Henry, Philander (a soldier in the Civil War), and Mary (deceased, who married Jefferson, a nephew of Judge CHAMBERLAIN.

Source: "Historical gazetteer and biographical memorial of Cattaraugus County, N.Y" ³³³⁶

Philemon (2), son of Philemon (1) Hall, was born October 3, 1769, in Connecticut. He and his family moved to Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York, in the spring of 1793, where he owned and conducted a tavern. A tavern keeper in those days was quite a personage. In February, 1819, the tavern burned. About 1822 he with his four sons moved to the then almost unsettled wilds of Cattaraugus county. He kept the first inn, and store at Cold Spring. He with his sons built a saw mill, which was probably the first in the town of Cold Spring. They built a second mill on the Little Conewango, another in 1836, another in 1839, one in 1841, and one in 1844, on the site now known as the Stewart Mills. They erected a small grist mill with one run of stone on Spring Brook in 1824, and a larger one with three run of stone, in 1833, on the site now known as the Holdridge Mills. They later had a cabinet shop on the site of Morton's Mill, where they made good hand-made furniture, tables, chairs, bureaus, etc. The business was conducted under the father's death, where the brothers separated, and Amos took most of the business. Philemon died in East Randolph, May 12, 1851, and after his death his wife, Mary (Parmalee) Hall, lived with her son Amos until her death, July 7, 1865. Her father, Reuben Paramalee, was a revolutionary soldier, sergeant in Captain Vails company, stationed at Guilford for defence of coast, 1781; served eight months, twenty days. Children of Philemon and Mary (Parmalee) Hall: Joel, married Lydia Evearts; Horace, married Lydia Rathbone, Erastus, married Emeline Rathbone; Amos, mentioned below. Twelve more children were born, but died in infancy.

Source: "Genealogical and family history of central New York : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the building of a nation" ³³³⁷