Hall Elementary School
2001 Heather Drive
Aurora, IL. 60506
Frank Haven Hall, a soldier, educator, businessman, inventor, and author was born on February 9, 1841 in Mechanic Falls, Maine. Following his formal education in Maine, he served as hospital steward at Edward's Ferry during the Civil War. After his discharge, he became principal of Towle Academy in Maine -- the first of many times he would hold that position in education. In 1866 he left Maine and came to Illinois to become principal of the public school systems in Earlville, West Aurora, Sugar Grove, Petersburgh and Waukegan. At the start of his term in Sugar Grove, he also built and ran a store, owned a lumberyard and creamery, was a postmaster and a township treasurer and clerk.
He married Sybil Norton and they later became the parents of three children. In 1890, at the age of 49, he became the superintendent of the School for the Blind in Jacksonville. Until he invented the Hall Braillewriter, most teachers of the blind resisted the Braille System. His was the first practical embossing typewriter that made the learning process easier for the blind students. In 1893 he co-invented the stereo typewriter which produced copies faster and cheaper. Today most books for the blind are made on updated versions of this machine. In the late 1800's, the Underwood Building in Aurora displayed an electric clock built by Frank Hall. He wrote many books on mathematics which were used in schools all over the world. Frank Hall and his wife settled Aurora in 1902 and he remained active in his church and community until his death in 1911 at the age of 70.
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