Charlie Hall is what Texas is about, born in Cleo, Kimble County, Texas, the 2nd son of Fred and Florence Hall. He leaves many descendants, friends, and relatives living throughout Texas. His daughter, Brenda Cason shared his accounting of his life….fascinating if you have not read it.

March 10, 1988
I am John Charles Savignac Hall, born on the “Bear Creek Ranch” at Cleo, Kimble County, Texas on September 7, 1911 – Cleo is no longer a Post Office – nothing left there – at one time there was a school there where my sister Helen and older brother Fred started to school. The native stone house where I was born, approximately two miles north west of Cleo is still there, in good repair and the Huggins ranch is owned by Ed
and Betty Huggins (E.M. Huggins, Jr.) who live in Junction and have this and other ranch interests in that area. A Dr. Stone was attending
physician when we four children were born at this ranch house.
My mother’s name was Florence Black Hall, born in St Louis, Mo. Her
parents moved from St. Louis, Mo. toFt. McKavett Texas in the late
1800’s. A large family and my grandfather, William Leslie Black, was wealthy when he came to Texas to enter the cattle ranching business. In getting into the cattle business, the native ranchers started relieving my grandfather of some of his money – real soon – They would drive a herd of cattle by a certain point and my grandfather would count them. The sellers would then circle this same herd of cattle through some brush and return after a short lapse of time and run them by to be counted again by the buyer.

When my grandfather Black and family moved to Fort McKavett they
lived in the old Fort Hospital building while their ranch home was being built approx. two miles west of Ft. McKavett close to head waters of the San Saba river. This ranch house still stands, in good repair and since
the 1920’s has been known as the C-B Ranch.
My grandfather Hall followed my Father, FrederickSavignac Hall from
England. GrandPa Hall built what is now known as Brambletye (dad’s
writing makes it look like Bramelton but from our childhood memory it’s
called Brambletye. I had been told his grandfather named it after the
house/castle that he admired in West Sussex, England..also Mary Hall Peterson’s book “I Remember”, spells it this way and says he got the
name from a novel written by Horace Smith called Brambletye
House) located approx. three miles southeast of Cleo, Brambletye is a
large two and ½ story stone building approx. 1 mile north of IH 10,
approx. twelve miles West of Junction, Tx. A historical marker on road by Brambletye #31189…(the number is not clear, 3-11-89 maybe).
When my dad first arrived in Texas from England, he and two friends
landed in San Antonio with about $10 between the three. They walked
part way, then caught a ride with a freighter (Wagon and team) to
Junction and then had I believe .50 cents between the three.
My dad got a job herding sheep at $12 a month and his “grub” as he
called it. He stayed with these sheep around the clock. His employer
would bring his “grub” consisting of bacon, beans, flour, etc. when
needed.
My grandfather Black had five girls, young men of the area were invited
to the Black Ranch Hdg, house for dances and other social events. My
dad was one of these invited and met my mother there.
The last I remember of my grandmother Black, was onher death bed in Brownwood, Tx. I was told she was near death, to go and see her.
My grandfather Black died in 1931 so I got to know him well. My
grandfather Hall died in 1900 and is buried in San Antonio in
old San Fernando Cemetery at Colorado and Vera Cruz St. His grave is very close to the fence, N. W. corner at San Marcos and Vera Cruz St. His wife died in England before he came to the United States.
Back to the “Bear Creek Ranch”, the head waters of “Bear Creek” are on
the ranch. My dad bought a part of that ranch for approx. $1.50 per
acre (the taxes that were against it). I do not know how many acres he
got at that price. Before I was 6 years old, my dad traded this ranch for the “Pecan Motte Ranch” at Eden, Concho Co, Texas that the family still owns. I started to school at a country school known as “Hills School” just beyond the North East boundary of our ranch. This was 2 miles from our ranch house. Helen, Fred, myself and later my younger
brother, Robert, went to school here. We either drove a buggy, rode a
horse or walked to school. This was a two room, one teacher, school. She took care of all grades. I went there through the 6th grade and then into Eden School where they made me go through the 6th grade again. I graduated from Eden High School in 1930.
I have fond memories of living at the ranch at Eden. Everybody had
their “chores” to do. There was milking of cows, chopping and bringing in the wood for the fire places and the kitchen cook stove, bringing in water, feeding chickens and turkeys and hogs. Usually had dogs, cats, pet rabbits, etc. to care for. There was always fences to be repaired, gates to be fixed, wind mills to be repaired, cattle, sheep, horses,goats, to be taken care of. Not much money but plenty of good food, mostly from on the ranch or from the approx. 1 acre garden.
My dad did NOT like any part of farming. We had an 80 acre cultivated field but my dad “share cropped” it out to a neighbor by name of John Jacoby. He farmed the land for one half the crops. I worked for him. He paid me 10 cents a row for chopping cotton and told it on me that I wanted my 10 cents at end of each row. I really don’t remember
that. I picked cotton for him @ $1.00 per 100 lbs. Most I ever picked in
a long day was 125 lbs. John Jacoby was as good a man as I have ever
known. His place joined ours on South West corner.
I later worked for Applewhite Grocery store in Eden after school and on Saturday’s. My pay on Saturday was $1.00 per day. Believe, I got up to $1.50 about my senior year in High School. About this time, I learned that Vanilla Extract, that I stole from the grocery store, would make me feel real important. You know, just drink a bottle of it when you got off work about 8pm Saturday. I later learned that grape juice (that I could
also steal from the grocery store), after being left open for a day or so to ferment would give me that same feeling that vanilla extract did. Course later on I learned that stealing my Dad’s home brew (Beer)
did the same thing for me. This use of alcohol started in about 1928.

I, through the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, quit drinking on October 22, 1961. I quit approx. 1000 times between 1928 and 1961 but not for very long at a time. Today, March 10th, 1988, I still have not taken that first drink since 10-22-1961.

After graduating from Eden High School in 1930 with about sixteen
other students, I went to Austin and got a job as a life guard at a privately owned (Club Membership) swimming pool. The Westenfield swimming pool. That pool is now owned by the City of Austin and is in use, at the corner of Mo-Pac Blvd and Enfield Road. I got $60. 00 per month and that was a good job in 1930. In September of that year I entered Texas A & M. Played football on the Freshman team but did not get “invited” to participate, for varsity Football my sophomore year. I also worked for the Agriculture Dept. at Texas A & M taking care of their livestock, worked approx. two hours before class and two hours after class and was paid 25 cents per hour. There were plenty of grown men
with families working for $1 per day so I was very fortunate to have that job with the college.
At mid-term my sophomore year, February 1, 1932, I had notes due to
the Ex-students Association, a total of $600.00. money I had borrowed
above what I made to attend A & M for that 1-1/2 years. That scared
me and I wondered how I would ever pay it back and go to school for
the 2-1/2more years. Besides that, I was not too much interested in
attending A & M. I had been to Austin several times where my sister
Helen owned and operated the “Westenfield Riding Club”. At Austin
and other co-educational colleges, I had seen all those girls. A lot better
than looking at those uniformed Cadets down at College Station. So, Iwent to Austin and lived with my sister in the frame house that was on the property of Westenfield Riding Club. This property is now a City Park owned by City of Austin at Mo-Pak Blvd and Enfield Rd.
As well as I remember, Helen did not pay me a salary. Just room and
board and maybe a dollar or so occasionally to go to a show. About this time, Helen became engaged to be married to M. G. Michaelis, Jr.of
Kyle, Texas and Muzquiz, Coahuila, Mexico. In June, of that year, Helen
and Maxie did marry. I took over the riding stable. I borrowed $400 (I believe correct amount) from my mother to buy out the horses,
equipment, etc. to operate the stables.
Helen had bought this property and I then owned the business and
rented the real-estate from Helen. The rent I paid her was equal to her payments on this property so I made the note payments twice a year to a Mr. Craven (Don’t remember firm name).
I ran this business for seven years, 1932 to 1939. During these
depression years, I was very fortunate I had a verbal contract with Miss Anna Hess, Director of Women’s Physical Education at the University of Texas to furnish riding horses for girls at U.T. that could afford an extra $20 per semester to take horseback riding for their P.E. I had to furnish
and pay a female riding instructor for these physical education
horseback riding classes. These students paid for their riding classes – in advance – whether they rode or not. Miss Anna Hess was the sister of
Alger Hess, a very few years later to become very well known as a
communist infiltered into the U.S. State Dept. in Washington, D.C.
In this stable business and playing polo in this area for those seven
years, I had several influential people as customers and/or just
acquaintances. These included former Governor Dan Moody and his children, Ida Nell Brill, later to become Mrs. John Connally, Mr. Herman Brown – Founder of Brown and Root Construction Co., Arthur and Ann Temple of Temple Lumber Co. of Diboll, Texas, John Buckley from Conn. All the well known polo players at that time including Cecil Smith, Rube Williams, George Miller, Gilly Gilmore. The local Austin players included Vernon Cook, Ross Malone, Wilbur George Allen, Mike Butler, George Carlson, Bill Floyd, Jack Love, Hoss Cook, Harold Wentworth, Paul Crusemon, C.M.Caboniss (I remember dad talking about a Cecil Caboniss), Deen Smith, Victor Albert, Richard Riley,Jack Sparks, and Jimmie Burr.
I sold my business to Mary Helen and Jimmie Burr, effective, February 1, 1928.

Seven years to the day from the time I moved from Texas A & M
to Austin and started living in the house at the stables. Mary Helen Caswell Burr had been an instructor of riding classes for me. Another instructor had been Mrs. Tiny Caswell Ward. These ladies were cousins and well known Austenite’s. Both very good horse women and played some polo when the females had a polo team. Mary Helen and Jimmie
Burr, due to the growth of Austin had to move these stables a short time after they bought me out. They changed the name to “Hobby Horse Stables” and were last located on FM 1325 just beyond IBM’s present location. These stables operated as a business until 1986.
At the age of 27-1/2years, when I sold the stables, I had no idea what I wanted to do for a livelihood. A friend by the name of Ned Starkey had rented the “Black River Motel” close to Carlsbad Caverns at Carlsbad N.M. He had turned this into a “Dude Ranch” and wanted a polo team to publicize his dude ranch. So he got me to go out there and work for him and play polo. He also got a friend of mine and polo player by name of Charlie Waring from San Angelo, I persuaded another polo playing friend of mine from Houston by name of Louis M. Pearce II to move out there and work and play polo.
Louis Pearce II later told me that the $30 a month job I got him was the best job he ever had. He got paid – my salary was $125 per month but I never did get a pay check. He gave me and my string of four polo horses, food and quarters. Ned and I spent most of our time at the “Cavern Bar” in Carlsbad. Louis Pearce II at the time, he told me about the good job I got him, was chairman of the board-Waukesha-Pearce
Industries, Inc. of Houston. A firm doing 100 million dollars of business per year. Ned Starkey and myself would go into Carlsbad nearly EVERY day for some kind of supplies, or on some kind of business. Many times, Ned spent more money at the Cavern Bar on drinks than he had taken in at the Ranch on that day. We could always find an excuse to go into Carlsbad. We seldom returned to the ranch before 7 or 8 in the evening. Many times, much later than that.
Don’t suppose I have to tell you Black River Ranch, Black River Polo
Team, nor our jobs lasted very long. Well as I remember, Waring,
Pearce and I stayed there about four months. Lots of fun while it lasted. Played polo in Lubbock, Lamesa, and El Paso, Texas and Las
Vegas, New Mexico and our field at Black River Ranch.
This was happening in late 1939. I was twenty-eight years old and still
had no idea what I wanted to do for a permanent livelihood. My dad
had told me he would like to see me settle down into something more permanent. My brother Fred, had gotten into the Wool and Mohair Warehouse and feed business in Eden. Dad said, he would like for us to be in this thing together. So I tried it. I had some money coming from Jimmie and Mary Helen Burr from sale of my stables in February of this year. No inventory was taken, I just put my approximately, $1300 into
the business, started drawing a small salary and lived at the ranch with Mother and Dad.
I don’t really believe I helped the business very much. Especially
one Saturday nightwhen my friend Charlie Waring from San Angelo
brought down a couple or three of his girl friends from San Angelo. (He may have had to pay, these girls to come down with him – I do not know). Charlie and I put the big pot in the little one around the drinking holes and motels in Eden that Saturdays evening – Any and everybody that was in Eden that night knew Charlie Waring and Charlie Hall were there with these girls. I really don’t remember just when this party broke up but I can assure you it lasted all of Saturday night and into Sunday. About this time, Fred decided it was about time to end this partnership business.
My brother in law, M. G. Michaelis Jr., by this time was quite large in the cattle business in Mexico and the U. S. He had what was known as the O-2 Ranch, 50 miles south of Alpine the big bend of Texas. From memory, there were about 330,000 acres of land on this ranch. It was 15 miles from the ranch house to the rural mailbox. Maxie offered me a job at $150 per month to board and room. Not a bad job for those years and it was the ONLY thing I knew of available so I snatched onto it. I want to add here that, Maxie tried very hard to help me. He cut out 50 yearling steers and sold them to me @ $50 each – He deducted $50 a month from my salary to pay off this debt. Of course it cost me nothing to run these steers on his grass land – I had no cost at all – no salt –
Would have been hard to keep from doing well in the cattle business under those conditions – not even paying any interest on the debt.
On this ranch, we operated an old time Chuck Wagon, drawn by mules – MANUEL ESPINOSA, was the camp cook and a good one. We had a black man as a cook for the Hdg. Ranch by name of Pat – not near the man nor the cook that Manuel was. Two and sometimes three brothers from across the border from Eagle Pass, named FISHER (they were half breed) worked for us as cow hands and they were good ones. I remember OSCAR SALAMON AND FRED OR RED. THEY WERE REAL RANCH HANDS. I once saw Oscar rope an antelope, don’t really remember details but I believe the antelope was let go with Oscar’s
lariat still on him. It was not un-usual for us to eat breakfast in camps at approx. 4AM and
by the time the sun came up at around6:30, we would have ridden
(usually in agallop) for approx. 30 miles and would be at the back end of a large pasture. Ready, when the sun came up, to start getting cattle
out of the brush – Valleys mountains, etc. and on the way to pens to be worked – de-horned, vaccinated, branded, castrated, Dr for worms, etc.) Quarter Horse racing was very popular at this time. Maxie and Helen had several of the better ones in the area. Jimmie Allred and Bull were
two that I remember well. One time in Alpine, Maxie had “matched a
race” with a horse supposedly owned by the McElroy Brothers (large prominent ranchers in the Marfa-Alpine area. Maxie had matched BULL with their horse. They brought in a “ringer” (this is a substitute – not the horse we agreed to race). This fact became clear just before this two horse race started. This race was held, I believe on a Sun PM in an
open pasture just west of Alpine and South of the main hiway. In order to have a smooth track a motor grader had been hired to “strip” the grass off and level the ground for this approx. 300 yd race. In making this track smooth, naturally there was grass and soft soil on each side of the race track. In order for our horse “Bull” to get out of the starting shoot, we always used a Hotshot (a tool with very little electric in it used for getting stubborn cattle through a shoot or into a dipping vat) and had been agreed (as always) for us to use this Hot shot on Bull. Bull was known for this and just would not leave the shoot without that encouragement. It was my job to give Bull this shot on his rear end – R.D. Hay was our jockey – as I said the fact that they had brought in a “ringer” was known to us just before the race – Usually this “ringer” looked a lot like the horse we had agreed to run against – Between R. D (Jockey) and my-self with the “hot shot” we got Bull out of the starting shoot in good order – Bull was a fast starter and as his name indicates, was a large and stocky built horse. R.D and Bull were doing real well and in the lead for approx. 100 yds. Then this “ringer” started gaining on and was getting even with Bull and R.D. when R. D. made his move. His move (his own idea) was to bump the heavy rear end of his
horse into the front of the horse about to pass him and knock him off stride and into that soft dirt and grass on the side of our specially prepared race track. R.D. did a super job and the race was over and Bull had won before our opponent got straightened out on the smooth part of the track again.
I was full of spirits and having a good time celebrating our victory at the finish line – imagine doing some bragging (The next was told to me). Earl McElroy (one of the brothers that owned the horse we were supposed to race and had brought in this ringer) had a large lead loaded walking cane with him. He had this large cane over his shoulder and was in process of lowering it on my head when a very small man (turned out to be a local barber) saw what was about to happen. This very small man grabbed the end of the loaded walking cane just before Earl McElroy lowered it on my head. Again, I am told, the small man was raised off the ground. It was time to leave. I was taken to the Holland Hotel to a room. Not registered in my name – nor in Michaelis’ name. I never saw either of the McElroy Bros. after this episode – I was not really looking for them. I was 5’7” and about 160 lbs. Each of them were in the 6’3” range – 200 + lbs. I did get around to seeing and
thanking that barber.
Not many weeks after this was December 7, 1941, R.D. Hay, Pat the colored cook, several of the cowboys and myself had been playing poker the biggest part of this Sunday. I believe it was R.D. that left the game for a while and around 4 PM came back and told us “the Japs have bombed Pearl Harbor”. I did not know at that moment where Pearl Harbor was but it did not take me long to learn where it was. There was no T.V., just radio.
I had registered for the draft but was in a necessary industry
(ranching). I knew this classification would be changed and I would be drafted – so – Since I had recently played polo, against 1st Cav. Div. Team at Ft Bliss, Tx, I wanted in that out-fit.
Helen and Maxie had a Quarter Horse friend by name of Myrick in Norman, OK. Mr. Myrick knew an influential Cav Officer at Ft. Riley, Kan– Get the connection. I drove to Norman, OK, and stayed day or so with the Myricks before driving on to Junction City and Ft. Riley, Kan where Myricks friend the Calvary officer had been advised when I would get there. I volunteered for the service at Ft, Riley, Kan rather than Alpine, Tx where I was registered with draft and was supposed to go. It was all set up for me, rather than be shipped out to the East or West Coast, I was placed in the CRTC (Cavalry Re-placement Training Center) at Ft. Riley, Kansas (our Training Center was known as the “FLATS”) . We had our own Polo field and Team there and I played polo while taking my basic training.
While going through this basic training (Joe Louis there at the same time) I had heard if your entrance I-Q was over a certain figure – 120 I believe – one could go before a board of officers and possibly enter officer candidate school which was right there at Ft. Riley. I was over the required I-Q figure so, decided to go before the board. I had been exposed to the military at a Citizens Military Training Camp at Camp Bullis in San Antonio and my year and a half in the Cadet Corps at Texas
A & M, looked to me like officers had the best go. I would try. Before
this board it is more how you handle questions, etc., and yourself that counts. In my case, after telling them of my A & M Tour, owner and
operator of stables, in Austin, Tx. and possibly some other things. A Col. Thompson (turned out to be Ernest O. – FORMER MEMBER OF R.R. COMMISSION in State of Texas) asked me if HELEN HALL was my sister – Helen had become well known in Austin partially due to she and Fred driving approx.15 horses from Eden to Austin when she started the stable business and got horseback riding recognized as a credit in the Women’s Physical Training . Back to my going before officer candidate Board at Ft. Riley – I will always believe one reason they “passed” me was because Col. Thompson knew who I was – There were lots of men went before that board and a small percentage of us were accepted for Cavalry Officer Candidate School. I did graduate and got my commission as a 2nd Lt. and was sent to Ft. Bliss (El Paso) Texas to join the 1st Cav. Div. I could go on and on about my four years and 2 days in the U. S. Army.
Will just try to fill you in from Ft. Bliss to Tokyo, Japan – We, the 1st Cav. Div. were shipped from Ft. Bliss to “Camp Stoneman” California where we were put aboard the “George Washington” for transport to Brisbane, Australia. This ship, the George Washington had been captured from Germany during the World War I. It was large enough for the entire Division. We landed in Australia in July 1943,were put in training approx. 15 miles out of Brisbane,trained here several months before being sent to New Guinea. Here is where the C.O. of 6th Army, Gen Kruger, was looking for some men to train as “Alamo Scouts”. We were to be trained to go in to the Jap occupied Islands before the landing of fighting forces – We were to get all information we could in any way that we could and radio it back to the Hdg. of 6thArmy. I volunteered and was accepted for this special 30 day training which at that time was done on Ferguson Island. While I was in this school, the 1st Cav was used to knock the Japs out of the Admiralty Islands. By the
time I re-joined my out-fit – the 1st Cav had taken the Admiralty Islands from the Japs.
I had been back with my out-fit a short time before they needed some scouts to go into Philippine Islands and I was one of them picked along with 19 other men. We were all sent to Perth, Australia – Here we were put on Submarines for our trip to the Philippines – Two subs were to be used, one could handle 17 men and I wanted to go on this one because my best buddy was on it – but – no – I was put on the other sub with a man named ROMEL from Pennsylvania and James O. Johnson from Spencer, Iowa. The sub with the 17 men on it was sunk by the Japs and never arrived – All were lost – our sub put us out around mid-night off the coast of SAMAR in the Philippines. Natives picked us up in native
boats and took us ashore – We were now on East Coast Samar and had
to get across this Island, then across Leyte Bay to the Island of Leyte. We walked across Samar in a couple of days and had no trouble – our native Philippine friendly “guerillas” knew pretty well where all the Japs were and they kept us away from them.
Want to add here we took in Millions of $ in Jap occupation Philippine money – we spread it everywhere we could to de-value their currency – also took case after case of American cigarettes to hand out to the friendly Philippine troops.
When we got to S. W. Coast of Samar where we were to take native boats and go across Leyte Bay to Island of Leyte – There were more Japs and we had to be more careful – We were detected twice trying to cross Leyte Bay late at night but the Philippine soldiers again did a good job of keeping us under cover and we returned to Samar – on our third attempt, we made it to Leyte Island and immediately got back off the coast into the mountains and among other Philippine forces that had been fighting the Japs since the Japs had been there. We were safe in those hills and had radio communication to 6th Army Hdg. in Brisbane, Australia. Johnson & Romel were on their way to another communication center on Leyte when Romel was hit by shrapnel and was lost. By this time, the main landing of troops was taking place in Leyte Bay. About a week later, Johnson and I returned to our units and our mission was completed. After Leyte, 1st Cav. went to Luzon Island and from there down to Manila. After Manila, it was mostly cleanup work, just a few Japs in the hills. The 1st Cav, was training again and on a “dry run” practicing landing from boots, getting ready to go
into Japan when the Atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. I later saw where our 1st Cav.was to land in Japan. I can assure you it would have been rough! I was C.O. (Commanding Officer) # of “F” Troops, 12th Cav. at this time. We were one of the first troops to land on Jap soil in Yokohoma Bay. My out-fit, “F” Troop, passed by the Missouri at the time the treaty was being signed on the Missouri. It was timed so troops would land a very few minutes after this surrender was signed. My out-fit was one of the 1st to hit Jap soil. A Jap woman holding a small child was one of the few japs right where my out-fit landed. She gave us the V for Victory sign. As soon as we got a 100 yards or so on to soil, I stopped my troop – a Jap young man came up to me and in Englishpointed out a two story frame building and told me there were Geisha girls there and we were welcome. The Division went by land from Yokohoma to Tokyo and set up camp on a very large Air Port. The first night we were camped at this Air-Port, the C.O. of Jap forces by name of ToJo tried to commit suicide and one of our squadron Dr’s by name of Williams, kept him from dying. This happened in our immediate area at the Air-Port.
I had enough “Points” to come back to the states even before the Atomic bomb was dropped. You earned these points by length of time over-seas, time in combat zone, etc. So, I was in Japan about 60 days. Enough time to see a little bit of that immediate area of Tokyo and Yokahomo, ate differ at the Imperial Palace Hotel. Real close to the Imperial Palace and then was shipped back to the good old U.S.A on a ship named the PENNANT – not an America owned ship and I have forgotten what country owned it. We landed in Seattle, Washington and travelled via Troop Train down the coast to California and then to Ft Sam Houston in San Antonio. They asked me here if I wanted to stay in
service or have a discharge. I had no trouble in making up my
mind. Just a discharge – Please!
Back to the riding stable business; I had gotten know and did some part
time work in the State of Texas, Department of Agriculture – J.E. McDonald, Commissioner. Since I still did not have a profession, did not know what I wanted to do-After working for Maxie Michaelis again on a ranch at Las Vegas, N. M.