John Gillespie Hall was born in York County, South Carolina on november 23, 1849. He graduated from Davidson College in 1871. A member of the Eumenean Society, he came to Davidson from Rock Hill, South Carolina and went on to attend Columbia Theological Seminary, graduating and receiving ordination in 1874. He married Virginia Wilson of Charleston, WV on November 12, 1874. He served as a missionary in Columbia (1875-1877), Mexico (1877-1895), Bethel Presbytgery (1895-1898) and Cuba (1898-1903). He died in Arizona on February 14, 1904.