Bell Hill School was established around 1885, and the county sent a teacher. The original schoolhouse burned, and another building was built around 1928. School was held at Bell Hill until the 1960s when schools were consolidated.

When the land was put up for sale, several of the Halls gave money to Uncle Milburn Hall to purchase the land so that the Halls would be able to return to Bell Hill for our reunions. Bell Hill Baptist Church now owns two acres. We used the old school building pictured above for our Hall Reunion singing until it burned just days before the August 1992 reunion.

The steps, twisted tin from the roof, and charred wood were all that remained of the old building on reunion day. We met with heavy hearts on a cool, rainy August day. The singing was held under a tent provided by the National Guard. Valley View Baptist Church loaned a piano for the reunion to use that day. After the fire, the Hall family rallied together and raised money to build a new building. The present building was designed and built by cousins and friends. Each person who worked on the new building has their name written on the rafters. It was completed in time for the next reunion in 1993. Restrooms and an additional parking area have been added since.

The Hall Reunion began in 1941. Rachel Hall Baxter and Arbell Hall Green, granddaughters of Allen and Emeline Bible Hall, were returning from a funeral, and they talked about organizing

a reunion. They talked it over with their parents and cousins, and soon plans were made to have the first reunion. Penny postcards were mailed out, and the reunion details were published in the newspaper. Halls came from everywhere. A few came in cars but most came on horseback or walked. Today hundreds attend the reunion. Most are Halls but many friends attend. They come to visit with their family and friends, to reminisce about loved ones who are gone, to swap stories, to sing or listen to the music, to visit the old graveyards, and to eat. The Hall Reunion has a reputation for the bountiful tables of food. The Halls are friendly people, and everyone is welcomed at the reunion and made to feel like a Hall.

The Hall Reunion was filmed as part of the Heartland television series the year of the fire. The filming had been planned before the fire. This video documented the day and was shown on ETV throughout Tennessee and later on the Travel Channel. Several of our older family members were interviewed. Many treasured family photographs were shared. They told the story of the Halls, the tradition of our reunion, and the importance of the singing.

The singing started with the children of Allen Hall. Allen Hall’s son, Sam, known as Singing Sam, was especially instrumental in spreading the love of Southern gospel music. He taught shape-note singing schools throughout eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. It has been said that Singing Sam did more to promote shape-note music than any other person in the area.

There are two types of shape-note music. One is called the Sacred Harp 4-note method, and the other, the Aiken eight-note method is what we use. Jesse B. Aiken created the 8-note method in 1847. The shape indicates the position on the music scale. Notes are represented by the seven shapes shown below:

Shaped Notes

Singing Sam, along with his brothers and sisters, would gather and sing. On Sundays, Bell Hill would be covered with people who would come for the singing. The loud and enthusiastic singing from Stamps-Baxter and James D. Vaughan-type songbooks with shaped-notes could be heard for miles around. Singing Sam and others had taught the shaped notes and “timing” to the people. The love of singing has been passed down to the next generations. Today it is a tradition at the reunion for the Halls to “sing the notes” on at least one song.

The Hall Reunion meets the 4th Sunday of August.

Bell Hill Baptist Church Dedicated 1993

Our Trustees want you to know that our reunion is a cherished tradition being carried on because of the love that your parents, grandparents and great grandparents had and have for Bell Hill. We are proud of this place they called “Home.” Their desire was that the reunion would continue and create strong family ties and cherished memories.

The Hall Reunion isn’t about last names. It is about family roots, family history, who you are, where you came from, and where you are going. Our family tree has many branches - strong, weak, large, small, great and not so great. It takes all of us to make that tree. We encourage you to take the time to know your heritage. Get involved with all it takes to keep this reunion going. Keep the tradition alive so that your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will know who they are and where they came from. Then they will be able to say as we do: “Our parents and grandparents loved us so much that they made the HALL REUNION a part of our life.”

Freida Green Ashton, Joyce Hall Ogle, Gayle Caughron, Clyde Good, Carlos Hall, Gale Hall, Grant Hall, Jed Hall, Ransom Hall – Trustees of the Hall Reunion – 2006

The Halls moved from South Carolina to North Carolina after the Revolutionary War. By the 1820s, they were living in Cocke County, Tennessee. In the early 1830s, the Halls settled on a mountain known now as Hall’s Top. There were Halls, Finneys, James, Balls and Ellisons living on or near the mountain. When there were 10-12 families, they built a log schoolhouse, and the county sent a teacher. The log building was used as a church, also. At one time, 17 families lived on the mountain, but most had moved away by 1900 and settled in the communities around Bell Hill. Some of Hall’s Top settlers are buried on Hall’s Top. The above monument is in the Halls Top Cemetery. Most of the graves are unmarked but a few are marked by a stone.

A small James Cemetery is behind the Bell Hill Church. Most of these are descendants of the Halls. The larger Bell Hill Cemetery is beyond the picnic area. The marker below sits in the Bell Hill Cemetery.