A native of Georgia, Thomas Hunt Hall came to Texas in 1854 and settled in Smith County. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he became a Methodist minister. He enlisted in the Confederate Army at the outbreak of the Civil War and served in the 14th Texas Cavalry. Afterwards, he studied medicine and opened a practice in Smith and Henderson Counties. Active as both a minister and doctor, he settled in the New York community in 1895.