There were several Hall families in early southeast Kentucky which may or may not be related to each other. Hezekiah Hall and his descendants were in the Martins Fork area of Harlan. However, there was another group of Hall families in the northern end of the county, extending into Letcher and Perry Counties. This second group of Hall families appear to be closely related. Preston Hall and his wife, Ann, were in Harlan County in 2850 as was Cynthia Hall and her husband, Eli Lewis. At her death in 1859, Cynthia's father is listed as a Joseph Hall.

Living in Letcher County at this time was an Alfred Hall and his wife, Roxanna Pauley. Traditional information in that family says that his father was also a Joseph Hall. At this time, 1850, there were three Hall families in Perry County: Elias Hall and his wife, Mary Early; Phillip Whisman Hall and his wife, Elizabeth Branson; and Ezekiel Hall and his wife, Chloe Branson.

All six of the Hall individuals named above (Preston, Elias, Phillip, Alfred, Cynthia and Ezekiel) were born between 1808 and 1818 in Virginia and circumstantial evidence suggests that they were closely related and, if Cynthia's death record is correct possibly all children of Joseph Hall. Although these families were in three separate counties by 1850, they still did not live far from each other. Alfred and his family lived in that part of Letcher County that was Perry County until 1842 and Preston and Cynthia's families were located in the extreme northeast part of Harlan near the Letcher and Perry County lines.

Alfred was born about 1816 in Virginia. In 1836, in Perry County, he married Roxanna Pauley, or Polly as it was sometimes spelled. Roxanna was born about 1820, probably in Perry County, and is believed to be a granddaughter of Revolutionary War veteran Edward Pauley. They eventually settled in the Smoot Creek area of Letcher County, where Alfred died Nov. 30, 1880, and Roxanna died sometime after 1893. Both are said to be buried there.

Alfred had served on the Union side in the Civil War but Roxanna was denied a widow's pension as his service was with the Harlan County Battalion, a state guard unit, rather than with a federal military unit. Alfred and Roxanna raised 12 children. Their oldest child was named Cynthia and was born about 1837. She first married Abner Lewis and then, by 1880, to Willis Franklin. Her sister, Mary, was born about 1839. She married Clark Cornett.

Alfred and Roxanna's oldest son was Ira D. Hall, born Oct. 17, 1840. On Dec 6, 1866, he married Louisa Cornett. Ira served in both the 47th and 4th Kentucky Union forces in the Civil War. Alfred and Roxanna's fourth child, Preston, was born about 1843. He died March 3, 1854, at the age of 11 of what is listed as `head fever' on his death record. His sister, Martha, was born about 1845. The next two children were girls, Rutha born about 1847 and Sarah born about 1849. They were followed by Joseph, born about 1851. On Oct. 3, 1878, he married Letitia Day. Joseph died in Letcher county on March 14, 1900. The last four children were all boys. Henry was born Feb. 19, 1854; John P., born Oct. 17, 1856; Alfred, born about 1858; and Abner, born about 1861. Henry married Louise Halcomb and is living near his parents in 1880.