George Riley Hall
George Riley Hall
“The editor of a small town newspaper…has to be a fighter, he protects his community as truly as the doctor or the lawyer, he is a pioneer in many senses of the word, he is inevitably an idealist and usually an optimist. If he writes poetry, it is bound to be romantic.”
Biography
George Riley Hall was born in Missouri and was a self-educated young man when he came to Indian Territory and Eufaula in 1888. He tried cotton farming but became a teacher in 1890 and worked in neighborhood schools of the Creek Indians near Henryetta until 1897, when he became President of the Creek National Teachers’ Normal School. He farmed in Okmulgee around 1900 and established the Henryetta Free Lance newspaper in 1902. Mr. Hall was a poet and many of his works appeared in publications across the United States. He also instituted the Masonic Lodge in Henryetta, was on the committee making the first selection of books for the Henryetta Public Library, and served as president of the Henryetta Board of Education for ten years.
Fun fact
George Hall grew up in poverty on a rented farm and only went to school through the fifth grade, but grew to become a celebrated editor and newspaper man – he even signed his own daughter’s and son’s high school diploma while he was president of the board of education.
Oklahoma connections
Hall came to Indian Territory in 1888 and settled near Eufaula.