1614-1670
Thomas Hall, who had come to New Amsterdam by way of New England, was a native of Gloucestershire in England. He was born in 1614 and was an indentured servant to George Holmes, one of 16 men from the English Colony in Virginia who attempted to establish settlement on the Delaware River within the territory of New Netherland. When the attack on Fort Nassau failed, reputedly because the Dutch had advance notice and had reinforced the garrison there, the attackers were taken prisoner and brought to New Amsterdam.
Thomas Hall and George Holmes elected to settle in New Amsterdam, and Jacob van Curler hired Thomas Hall to superintend his farm. Hall and Holmes were granted a land patent near Turtle Bay, Manhattan on November 15, 1639, and formed a partnership to set up a tobacco plantation. They had a tobacco barn built on the land that was one hundred feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and ten feet high. Hall sold his interest in the plantation to Holmes in 1641 and over the course of the next several years, he became a wealthy man. In 1654, Hall owned a large farm in the vicinity of Spruce and Beekman Streets and also operated a brewery.
Thomas Hall was selected as a member of the Eight Men in 1643 and of the Nine Men in 1647. He was a signatory to the Great Remonstrance of New Netherland. Thomas Hall was one of the fire wardens appointed under the fire ordinance of 1648, the first in the colony.
In 1666, Thomas Hall took an oath of allegiance to the English Crown. He died in 1670.