Copied from "Crimes, Criminals and Characters of The Cumberlands and Southwest Virginia" by Roy L Sturgill 1970

The story of Talt Hall has been told and retold throughout the years, this man, who according to the pen of Henry P. Scalf after shooting one of his victims climbed upon a fence, flapped his arms crowed like a rooster and made the statement: "After this I'm going to be called Bad Talt Hall." Upon which he turned and calmly walked away with the smoking gun in his hand.

To the law abiding citizen this man was no hero in his ability to evade for so long the punishment he so richly deserved, who by threats and his callous unconcern for human life was able to strike fear in the hearts of honest jurymen. To them he was just another unsavory character, a badman and outlaw as he had proclaimed, an individual who wrote another bloody chapter in the criminal history of the Cumberlands.

Following is a collection of newspaper stories just as they were written and word for word as they appeared in the Lynchburg Times just prior to and immediately after Hall's execution. The stories are datelined Big Stone Gap, and Norton, Virginia, however there is little doubt but that they were written by Lynchburg reporters. These reporters were allowed to interview Hall in person and get his story in his own words. It is regrettable their names did not accompany the stories in order they could be given proper recognition. Expressions of appreciation are in order to Thomas Lee Mason of Lynchburg, Virginia without whose help the securing of these stories could not have been.

PREPARATION FOR HALL'S EXECUTION COMPLETED Great Interest in Wise County.

Big Stone Gap, Virginia September 1, 1892 (Special) If Hall is not released by his friends (which is hardly possible)… NOTE: These friends were Hall's gang from Kentucky, who was to have stormed the jail at Wise in an attempt to free Hall. Tomorrow, Friday, will be a memorable day at Wise Courthouse. The guard has been increased to the number from 75 to 100, and on the day of execution there will doubtless by several hundred law-abiding citizens on hand to see that the law be upheld with all its dignity and power, Tis said that the desperado's actions have not been characterized by much religious influences since his return from Lynchburg and doubtless the persons and services of his priest duing his latter days are quite indispensible. Judge Kkeen has been in the County seat since Monday to be present to direct in case of any emergency, and is to remain until after the execution. All sorts of rumors concerning what Hall's friends are doing and going to do are being circulated but it is not generally believed that his friends are desperate enough to go through what would be necessary to effect his release. Mr F Josh Bullitt, Captain of the Police Guard of Big Stone Gap, and which has done so much toward the peace and quietude of that town is head of the guard in Wise, and with his cool deliberate management together with his superior military tactics and experience that feat is quite formidable. This being the first execution to take place in Wise County with its unpleasant association and realization is of absorbing interest and anxiety to the people at this time.

The Lynchburg News (Friday Morning, September 2,1892). On the eve of his departure from earth he keeps his spirits up by pouring spirits down - Some talk of attempted suicide - He sets fire to his bed clothing and treats the matter as a joke - a final message to his sister.

Norton, Virginia September 1, 1892 (Special). This is the last night on earth for Talt Hall, the keen desperado, alledged murderer of so many men, and he is preparing to shuffle off in a gleeful manner. Liquor is constantly pouring down his throat. For two days he has been more or less under its influence, and most any visitor to his cell is permitted to give him a drink. It is predicted by many that he will cheat the gallows by suicide. Tonight his sister, Mrs. Bates, was in conference with him for a long time, and gave him some tea. What it might have contained there is no telling. The conversation with his sister was long and earnest. He told her there were three men whom she must put out of the way "if she had to sell the cattle on every hill and all the feathers in the tick." He refused to give her the names saying he would do so tomorrow on the scaffold. It was thought he had reference to Judge Skeen, who sentenced him, and Detective Pride and Doc Taylor, who is now confined to jail for the killing of Moonshiner Ira Mullins and family, at Pound Gap. It will be remembered that Taylor is his bitter enemy. He is the murdered Hilton's brother-in-law and busied himself in Hall's capture. Last night Hall applied the blaze from his lamp to the bed, and would have burned the jail, but for the timely arrival of the guard. He made the attempt twice when questioned to his reason he laughingly replied that he wanted to smoke Doc Taylor out of the adjoining cell. Two reporters called at the cell late this afternoon. He was dressed elegantly in a well fitting suit of black. Conversation flowed fluently and wittily. "You see," he said, "in order to keep my spirits up I have to keep the spirits down." Then he asked for another drink. Hall informed the reporters that he was certain to go to Heaven. F. J. Lucky, of Lynchburg, will be here tonight and will remain with Talt, who is a member of his church.

The gallows were constructed in a small square barrick, which will hold 50 people, to be composed of medical men, preachers, newspaper men, guards and the sheriff and jailer. People are now flowing in and by 10 o'clock tomorrow there will be 5,000 here, who will only be allowed to see the corpse. There are no signs of any attempt at rescue, though 100 soldiers are vigilant. The hanging will occur between 10 and 2 o'clock.

Talton Hall's criminal record has probably never been paralleled in the United States. He is credited with 99 murders, and while this is an exaggeration, there is no doubt that he is responsible for the death of 8 or 10 men. He was born in Letcher County, Kentucky, 46 years ago, and grew up with such desperadoes as John Wright, who is credited with 27 murders, and Doc Taylor, against whom he is now so bitter. These men joined General Morgan's band when the war broke out, and made themselves conspicious for their deeds of reckless daring. When the war ended they returned to Kentucky and inaugurated a rein of terror in the mountains. Murders were the daily amusement of the gang, and although they were frequently arrested, the terror of which they inspired assured their acquittal when brought to trial. It was well known that any juror who fought to convict any of the desperados would be marked for their friends, and as a consequence they always esaped. In this way Hall was acquitted of the cold blooded murder of Henry Maggard in 1866. He killed Don Pridemore in 1875 and was acquitted; a cowardly jury acquitted him of Mat Baker's Murder in 1881, and he went free when he murdered his brother-in-law Henry Houk in 1883, and was indicted, but no officer dared arrest him, and in I 85 he killed his cousin, Mark Hall, and laughed at the sheriff, who tried to arrest him. Finally, on July 14, 1891, he deliberately murdered chief of Police Hylton, of Norton, Virginia. By this time public sentiment was too strong for him and he fled to the country. He was captured in Memphis, Tennessee, however, and brought back to trial. He was tried and convicted. An appeal to the Supreme Court resulted in affirmation of the sentence and the Governor refused commute. The result is that tomorrow he will at last face the fate he so often meted out to others. The jail is under heavy guard and picket lines have been thrown out on all roads leading to the town. If any of Hall's friends attempt to interfere there may be some bloodshed, but nothing short of a general uprising can stop, or delay the execution of sentence. The guards at the Courthouse which make number 50, will be increased hourly. The scaffold is built and everything is in readiness for the execution. Hall still bears up well.

The Lynchburg News (Saturday Morning September 3, 1892). IN ETERNITY: Talton Hall pays the Penalty of his crime. He mounts the scaffold with a firm tread and meets death bravely - four thousand people surround the jail, but only a limited number witness the execution - his sister bids him goodbye while standing on the trap - history of his life and crime.

Norton, Virginia September 2, 1892 - (Special) Law and order have triumphed in Wise County today and outlawry and crime have received a black eye from which they will not recover for years. Talton was hanged a little after high noon till he was dead, and now his lifeless body is on the road to Letcher County, Kentucky where relatives, will give it a decent burial.

Last night the quiet village of Gladesville or Wise Court House was guarded by one hundred and fifty soldiers, no disturbance was created except the arrest of a few moonshiners who had large quantities of liquor on sale. The pickets were instructed to halt every man who came into town and ascertain if he had any kind of concealed weapons, if so he was relieved at once, and a wagon load of pistols more or less were deposited. Hall had no rest during the night and seemed to be completely prostrated by nervousness. When day dawned at 6 O'clock his breakfast was served up, but he did not touch it, and called for liquor, which was given him. His spiritual advisor, Father O'Livier of Abingdon, remained with him for several hours. No one was admitted inside the jail yard save the guard and half a dozen others. By ten o'clock the crowd, composed of the outlaw's intimate friends and strangers, numbered thousands. By 11 :30 there were anywhere from four thousand five hundred, to five thousand men and women surging to and fro in the principal streets. Everybody was anxious to get a glimpse of Hall, who was to appear at an upper window in the jail in a moment. When the clock struck twelve, the impatience of the spectators became manifest. Just at 12:03 P. M. he stepped to the window and looked out; not a word did he say except to speak to a friend from Floyd County. At 12:16 members of the press, the guards, Drs. Board and Cherry and Talt's cousin, Allen Hall, and one or two others entered the barracks where the execution was to take place. In a moment his sister, Mrs. Bates, mounted the platform. All eyes turned toward her. Hall was to give her instructions about putting three men out of the way, but he only said, "I don't want anybody killed, let the matters rest. I did not disobey the law in killing Hylton, it was done in self-defense." His sister said: "Talton, farewell forever in this world, but I hope to see you in the next," and she stepped down. Father O'Livier kissed the doomed man and said a final prayer, which was repeated slowly and audible by the condemned man. Sheriff Holbrook adjusted the black cap, said "God have mercy on this unfortunate man," cut the rope and Hall dropped six feet. His neck was broken. In 17 minutes he was dead. He faced death bravely.

TALT HALL'S CAREER

The crime for which Talt Hall suffered the extreme penalty of the law today was one of the most atrocious murders ever perpetrated in this section. On the 25th of July, 1891, Enos B. Hylton, who a short time before had been appointed a special policeman of the town of Norton, Wise County, Virginia, had taken into custody Miles Bates, a desperate character of the region, for the theft of a watch and pistol. While taking his prisoner down the railroad track, Talton Hall came across a field, diagonally from the town and overtook them. When he came up he demanded the release of the prisoner, which Hylton, of course refused. Before Hylton had time to draw a weapon or say anything further, Hall pulled out a 38 calibre pistol and shot him, the ball passing clear through him, killing him instantly. Hall and Bates started off together immediately, going up the railroad, the way Hylton and the prisoner had come, and after going a short distance turned into the woods. Bates making his way into the mountains. The next seen of Hall was at Coeburn whence he went to Roanoke. He remained in Southwest Virginia several weeks and went back through Norton, Big Stone Gap to Middlesborough, where he stayed all night registering at the hotel. Then he went by way of Knoxville and Chattanooga to Memphis, where he joined his family. As to the cause of the murder: - Hall claimed on his trial that he had never seen Hylton before that day, which was possibly true; but it is not believed that the murderer's only motive was the refusal of Hylton to turn his prisoner loose. Two important facts have been elicited since the trial, which throw some light on the matter. First, Hall had eloped with a married woman named Sayler, who was a sister in-law of Hylton. Hall had met this woman and fallen in love with her, and it seemed the passion was mutual. Shortly after this meeting Sayler was assassinated, it is now pretty certain by the hand of Talt Hall, and Hall took the woman and her children and left the country, passing the woman as his wife. Hylton is said to have sworn to kill the man who killed his brother-in-law and took his wife, and it is pretty certain that Hall had heard of this, and it is the theory that he took advantage of the fact of Hylton having Bates under arrest to pick a quarrel with him and kill him. Another theory is that Claib Jones, another mountain desperado, and Hylton were bitter enemies. They had a fight some time before the murder in Hindman, Kentucky, in which Hylton, trying to arrest Jones, was shot in the face. Jones determined to have Hylton assassinated, and went to work with this end in view. He found a ready tool in Talt, with whom he made friends for the occasion, they having previously been bitter enemies. The money found on Hall's person when arrested in Memphis, amounting to several hundred dollars, was thought to be the price paid for the murder of the policeman. After a stay of several months in Memphis, he was arrested by Detective Pryde and brought back to Wise Court House, where he was brought to trial in the early spring, and convicted of murder in the first degree. He was immediately taken to Lynchburg after his sentence and lodged in jail for safe keeping, for it was feared that a mob would lynch him, or that his friends would rescue him if he remained at Wise Court House. His counsel took an appeal to the Supreme Court, where the decision of the lower court was affirmed, when Hall was taken back to Wise Court House, and resentenced to hang on the 2nd day of September. Instead of returning him to Lynchburg, the sheriff summoned a guard of fifty men from Big Stone Gap, Norton and other towns in the county, who have been on guard, heavily armed, up to the day of execution.

THE NUMBER OF MEN HALL KILLED

A short time before the execution your correspondant was accorded the privilege of an interview with the famous outlaw. The jail in which he was confined is a small, square, two-story, flat topped building constructed of fawn colored sand stone. A wooden addition has been recently placed in front, to serve the purpose of a residence for the jailor and his family. Entering the door leading into the jail, the first sight that struck the reporter's eyes were the cells of the famous Doc Taylor, charged with the murder of Ira Mullins, on the right, and the cell of Talt Hall on the left. Hall was reclining in a hammock, barefoot, and clad only in a cotton undershirt and trousers. Instead of the clean-shaven face he usually has, he wore a shaggy beard of some weeks growth and close-cut hair. When the reporter told him the object of his visit, he consented at once to an interview, saying that he wanted to set himself right before the world as the newspaper reports had done him great injustice. "Give me an account of your flight from Norton and your arrest in Memphis," said the reporter. He detailed his flight to Memphis substantially as given above. However, he related the following story which shows the superstitions of the man. "After killing Hylton, I fled to the woods and traveled through the wilderness in the direction of Coeburn, brooding over the course I should pursue to get away, I was surrounded and overshadowed by a thousand little birds that screamed incessantly and fluttered about me, and darted at my hands and face with their sharp bills trying to peck my eyes out. It was with great difficulty that I fought them away with a brush, for they seemed eager to do me harm. The singing and chirping of these birds rang in my ears for several days. After I fled to Memphis, and took up my abode in that city, the sounds ceased to haunt me, until a few days before my arrest, when I again began to hear the birds as distinctly as when they attacked me in the woods of Wise County. I heard nothing more of them, and had quite forgotten the cruel sound until quite recently when they began again, and are now annoying me greatly." The reporter told him it was only a superstition, but Hall thought, it was a punishment for the great crime he had committed. "As to my capture in Memphis," he continued, "I went there under the name of Hill, and remained undiscovered for six weeks. During that time I worked on the railroad. I had met Pryde, who knew me as Mr. Hill, but did not know that I was Talt Hall, whom I knew he wanted. I saw him every day, and knew that he was looking for Talt Hall but thought I could continue to be unrecognized, as I had been there so long. One night I played poker until 2 O'clock and overslept myself until 9 O'clock the next morning. I sent my little girl across the street to a saloon go get some beer. The woman who kept it asked my daughter if she wanted it for her Papa, and the little girl answered that she did. The woman knew me as Hall, and it was not long after that I saw Pryde coming, and I knew what was up - that he had found me out. I had my pistol near, and could have killed him before he reached the top of the steps, but did not think it necessary as I was satisfied that I would come clear of killing Hylton, whom I shot in self-defense. "Pryde told me that they wanted me in Mississippi, but as soon as he had me fast I found out that he was going to send me to Virginia." "Mr. Hall, the papers credit you with killing ninety-nine men, of course it is not true. Will you state just how many you have killed?" After some hesitation he replied: "Not counting those I killed in the war, the number will probably reach five. First I killed Hanry Maggard, and was acquitted on the ground of self defense, I killed Triplett, Houk and Mark Hall in Floyd County, Kentucky between 1875 and 1885, and was tried and acquitted in all three cases. These men were killed in political quarrels. The last one was Hylton, I killed him because I thought he was drawing his pistol, and I didn't want him to get the drop on me." It will be noticed that Hall says nothing of the killing of Sayler whom it is generally thought he killed. This would swell the number to an even half dozen.

TALT HALL AND DOC TAYLOR

Doc Taylor who is confined in the cell opposite Hall's charged with the murder of Ira Mullins and his family, is a more noted desperado, perhaps, then Hall himself. He is 56 years of age and weighs 180 pounds. His blood red beard and large "pop" eyes are a fit setting for a countenance that has murder written in every lineament. For thirty years he has been a medical practitioner, riding all over Lee, Scott, Wise and Dickenson in Virginia, and Floyd and Letcher counties in Kentucky. When Hall was questioned as to his feud with Taylor, he replied: "We have been bitter enemies for years and will ever remain so. I have heard that the papers say that Taylor and I have shaken hands and made friends. It is a d---d lie. I have refused to shake hands with him, because I knew him to be a villianous murderer. Through his treachery I am condemned to die. I had fifteen witnesses, whose evidence would have acquitted me, but at the point of a pistol he drove them off from the country before my trial came off."

HALL AND CLAIB JONES

It was said that Hall's brother had bailed Claib Jones out of jail for the purpose of having him head the mob to rescue Hall from the clutches of the law; but this Hall denied saying that he had never made friends with Jones, who had tried to kill him, and that he had not seen him for a long time. Jones is the man who, while jailer at Hindman, Kentucky had a gattling gun and howitzer sent him by the governor of Kentucky, to defend the jail against a party who threatened to rescue some prisoners. When he threw off the robes of office he impressed the guns for his own use. Jones is now in jail, charged with several murders and the burning of a village in Kentucky. "Do you suppose," said Hall "that I would want such a man as that to head a mob to rescue me?" "To show you what kind of a man he is, read that," said Hall, handing the reporter a clipping, as follows: "I come nigh gittin' Talt onst," said Jones. "A little shower of rain is all that saved him, I had been that two days without a bite to eat. At last Hall come out with a paper and set his cheer agin' the house and began to read. I took aim at him, but I been looking so long that my eyes become weak and I took off my glasses to wipe them. While I was a rubbin' em, a shower of rain begun a drippin' and Talt picked up his paper and cheer and went into the house before I could shoot."

TALT HALL - A PROMINENT MAN

While Hall had the reputation of being such a wild desperado, he was at one time a prominent man, and has probably had many crimes laid at his door of which he is innocent. Little Talt Hall - no relation to this one - committed many crimes in Kentucky, though he has not been heard of for some time. It is probable that this Talt Hall has been responsible for many of the offences credited to the man hanged today. Hall was for two years sheriff of Floyd County, and made a good officer. He was also United States Marshal, and resigned the position because he was tired of the place.

NOTE: Hall, from his grammer, if quoted correctly, must have been fairly well educated.

He was so well pleased with the reporter's notes of the first interview, that he sent for him, and had another long talk with him. He expressed himself freely as resigned to his fate. He declared the truthfulness of all he had told the reporter, saying he had only a short time to live, and had no motive to go out of the world with a lie on his lips. Hall comes of desperate stock, his father old Dave Hall, killed several men in private brawls. Talton Hall is said to have committed his first murder when 14 years old. The victim, Henry Maggard was an old man. Some say that the band of which Hall was a member took Maggard from his home, made him kneel on a log, and let the boy shoot him in the back. Hall was in hiding with another man when he killed Triplet, who, with a posse of seven or eight men came to arrest him. The two, hidden in a cornfield, seperated when pursued, and all the pursuers except Triplet had a revolver and Hall a Winchester. Triplet could not get his weapon out in time, and he sprang upon Hall and there was a terrible struggle for half an hour. The corn was torn down in a square of a dozen feet. Hall wrenched loose at last, and shot his antagonists. Then he lay down by the side of the dying man, hoping that his groans would bring the others of the posse to him and give him a chance to kill some of them, but none of them came. Triplet was his brother-in-law. In the Jones-Wright feud, Hall was shot to pieces. His comrade, Wright, gave it out that he was dead, and dug his grave and pointed it out to people who were looking for Hall, meanwhile he was nursing Hall back to life in his own cabin.

NOTE: The Jones-Wright feud was between the Claib (or Clabe) Jones who was jailor at Hindman, Kentucky and none other than John W. "Devil John" Wright who John Fox, Jr. depicted as "Devil Judd" Tolliver in his famous novel "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine." It has long been told that Wright sent his confederate Hall a note while Hall was confined in Wise Jail awaiting his execution, asking if he'd want his body returned to Kentucky for burial. Hall sent a note back with one word "yes." And so it was that Wright had a man at the hanging to claim the body of his lieutenant and bring it to his cabin for a wake before its onward journey to Kentucky. Hall did not know and was not to know that his comrade John W. Wright was in later years to gain prominence through story after story that was written about him. Some showed Wright as a good man, others wrote of "Devil John" as a feared desperado. Nor did he know that within a few short months his bitter enemy Doc M. B. Taylor was also to feel the wrath of the hangman's noose. So ends the story of Talt Hall. The beautiful laurel covered slopes of the Cumberlands would never again echo to the thunderous roar of his blazing murderous guns.

Thomas Talton Hall