Representative Sam Blakeley Hall

Samuel Blakeley Hall Jr. (January 11, 1924 – April 10, 1994) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge who served as a Democratic Representative from Texas and later as a United States district judge. He represented Texas’s 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1976 to 1985, encompassing six terms in Congress, and subsequently served on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas from 1985 until his death in 1994. His congressional service and judicial career spanned a significant period in late twentieth-century American political and legal history.

Hall was born and raised in Marshall, Harrison County, Texas, on January 11, 1924. He attended the College of Marshall, a local institution where he met his future wife, Mary Madeleine Segal. He graduated from the College of Marshall with an Associate of Arts degree in 1942. Following this, he enrolled at the University of Texas, continuing his studies there until the United States’ involvement in World War II altered the course of his early adulthood.

During World War II, Hall enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, serving his country in the global conflict. After the war, he returned to his hometown of Marshall, where he married Mary Madeleine Segal. He resumed his education and completed his undergraduate studies at Baylor University, receiving his degree in 1946. Hall then pursued legal training at Baylor Law School, from which he earned a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) in 1948, preparing for a career in the legal profession.

Upon admission to the bar, Hall returned to Marshall to practice law. He engaged in private practice there from 1948 to 1976, building a reputation as a local attorney and community leader. His interest in public affairs led him to seek elective office; in 1962 he made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Party nomination for Congress in Texas’s 1st congressional district. Undeterred, he remained active in civic life and later served as chairman of Marshall’s board of education from 1972 to 1976, reflecting a sustained commitment to local governance and public education.

Hall’s national political career began in 1976, when he won a special election to the United States House of Representatives following the death of long-serving incumbent Wright Patman. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to represent Texas’s 1st congressional district and was subsequently reelected five times, serving continuously from 1976 to 1985. In total, Sam Blakeley Hall served as a Representative from Texas in the United States Congress from 1975 to 1987, contributing to the legislative process during six terms in office. During his tenure in the House of Representatives, he served on the Judiciary Committee and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his East Texas constituents during a period marked by shifting political alignments in the South and significant national debates over legal, economic, and veterans’ issues.

Hall’s congressional service concluded when he was elevated to the federal judiciary. On April 17, 1985, President Ronald Reagan nominated him to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, filling the vacancy created by the departure of Judge Joseph Jefferson Fisher. The nomination was part of a broader political calculation by Republican Senator Phil Gramm, who sought to demonstrate southern support for the Reagan administration and anticipated that Hall’s departure from Congress would open the way for a Republican to capture the 1st district in a special election. Hall was swiftly confirmed by the United States Senate on May 3, 1985, and he resigned his seat in Congress shortly thereafter. He received his commission as a United States district judge on May 10, 1985, formally beginning his federal judicial service. Gramm’s expectation that a Republican would succeed Hall in Congress did not materialize; Democrat Jim Chapman won the ensuing special election, defeating Republican Edd Hargett and keeping the seat in Democratic hands.

As a United States district judge for the Eastern District of Texas, Hall served from 1985 until his death in 1994. Based in his hometown of Marshall, he presided over a broad range of federal civil and criminal matters during a time when the Eastern District was gaining increased prominence in areas such as commercial and intellectual property litigation. He remained on the bench for nearly a decade, continuing his long record of public service in the federal judiciary.

Hall died in Marshall, Texas, on April 10, 1994. He was buried at New Grover Cemetery in Marshall, underscoring his lifelong ties to the community in which he was born, educated, practiced law, and ultimately served as a federal judge. In recognition of his contributions to the law and to public life, the federal courthouse in Marshall was later renamed the Sam B. Hall Federal Courthouse in his honor, commemorating his dual legacy as a legislator and a jurist from East Texas.