Gilbert Lewis Hall was one of Henry Hervey Hall’s four children (Henry was a popular resident very much involved in civic affairs. Verne Dyson wrote of him, “culture, conservation ,and a steadying influence were brought into the community by Henry Hervey Hall and his family in the Summer of 1886”).

He was born in Brooklyn on September 5,1876, and attended the public schools in Brentwood after his family moved to Brentwood. He graduated from Friends Academy in Locust Valley in 1896, and then from Swarthmore College in 1899. He later attended law school at both the University of Minnesota and George Washington University, from which he graduated in 1918. He was then admitted to the bar in Washington, D.C., that same year.

Gilbert practiced law in Washington from 1918 to 1948. In addition to being a successful lawyer, he also became involved in education. He was a teacher and later Division Superintendent of Schools in the Philippine Islands from 1901 to 1910.He was also Superintendent of an Indian reservation in Oregon from 1912 to 1915.Later,he joined the faculty of his old law school at George Washington University, and taught there from 1920 until his retirement as Emeritus Professor in 1942.

Gilbert married Rose Cecilia Bennett in Manila on June 16,1906. Rose was the daughter of territorial pioneers. She was born in Hastings, Minnesota, on June 8,1876. She taught in Minnesota ,the Philippine Islands, and Oregon. As of 1950,the Halls were living in Arlington, Virginia, where Gilbert was president of the Arlington Hospital .He was also secretary and treasurer of the Committee on Admissions and Grievances, United States District Court, Washington, D.C. At that time, he kindly provided detailed information about his family to Verne Dyson for “A Century Of Brentwood”.

N. Ziino, Local History Newsletter,  September 2009