Willard Preble Hall was born in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, on May 9, 1820. He moved to Missouri in 1840 with his parents John Hancock Hall and Statira Preble Hall and siblings William A., George H., Mary, and Anna Hall. His sister Lydia Hall Marmion stayed behind in Virginia with her husband Dr. Nickolas Marmion. After studying law and opening a law practice in Sparta, Missouri, Willard P. Hall served in the First Missouri Cavalry Regiment in the Mexican-American War. He married Anne Eliza Richardson on October 29, 1847, and they had three children: William Richardson Hall (1848-1901), Willard Preble Hall (1851- ), and John Nathaniel Hall (1853-1885). Hall’s political career began when he served as a Democratic representative from Missouri in the United States House of Representatives from 1847-1853. Following his terms, he moved to St. Joseph, Missouri, to continue practicing law in 1854. Anne Richardson Hall passed away on December 22, 1862, and he remarried Olitippa L. Oliver on June 22, 1864. Their children include: Ollie Emma Hall (1865- ), Herbert Scott Hall (1872-1883), Theodore Cotton Hall (1874-1875), Edward Hall (1879-1880), Stephen Luther Hall (1881- ), and George Hall (1882-1882). During the Civil War, Hall served as lieutenant governor under Hamilton Gamble, and became the governor himself for a year after Gamble died in 1864. After the war, Hall continued practicing law in St. Joseph. He died in early November 1882.