Son of farm­er George G. Hall and Eliz­a­beth Tho­mas Hall, Ja­cob at­tend­ed sing­ing schools taught by Tim­o­thy Funk when he was a boy. As his love of mu­sic pro­gressed, he earned mo­ney by trap­ping quail and bought a Ger­man ac­cor­di­on; he soon learned to play one part while sing­ing an­o­ther. Af­ter he and his bro­ther joint­ly pur­chased an or­gan, he taught him­self to play hymn tunes, Gos­pel songs, and an­thems. He went on to stu­dy mu­sic the­ory, har­mo­ny, and com­po­si­tion in Har­ris­on­burg and else­where, and in 1877 at­tend­ed a Nor­mal Mu­sic School in New Mar­ket, Vir­gin­ia, taught by Ben­ja­min Un­seld and P. J. Merges. Af­ter­ward, he par­tnered with H. T. Wart­man for two years to con­duct sing­ing schools and con­ven­tions. In 1890, Hall at­tend­ed Da­na’s Mu­sical In­sti­tute in War­ren, Ohio, and a nor­mal school run by George & F. W. Root at Sil­ver Lake, New York. He lat­er served as prin­ci­pal of the Na­tion­al Nor­mal School of Mu­sic. Hall’s works in­clude:

• Hall’s Songs of Home, 1885
• The Star of Beth­le­hem (Day­ton, Vir­gin­ia: Rue­bush-Kief­fer Com­pa­ny)
• Musical Mil­lion (as­sis­tant ed­it­or)
• Spirit of Praise, with Will­iam Kirk­pat­rick & Charles Case (Day­ton, Vir­gin­ia: The Rue­bush-Kieff­er Com­pa­ny, 1911)
• Hall’s Quar­tettes for Men, 1912
• Biography of Gos­pel Song and Hymn Writ­ers (New York: Flem­ing H. Re­vell Com­pa­ny, 1914)

• Hall, pp. 329-34

1. Glorious Morn­ing Dawns, The
2. O Thou Whose Match­less Pow­er Con­trols