The Jarrow man who was first on the scene after President Lincoln's assassination

William H Hall was the man who had gone to the aid of US president Abraham Lincoln after he was mortally wounded by an assassin

Son of a Jarrow clergyman

William was later to receive retrospective recognition back in his home area of South Tyneside in 1952.

A wreath-laying ceremony was being staged at the grave in Harton Cemetery, in memory of him.

Mr Hall was son of a Jarrow clergyman. He swapped the South Shields area for the USA when he went to America as a young man and began a business in Memphis, Tennessee.

He served with the 12th Illinois Cavalry

When the American Civil War broke out he joined the Northern forces, and in 1861 served with the 12th Illinois Cavalry.

After being wounded, Mr Hall attended an army appointment in Washington in 1865 and found himself near President Lincoln’s box in the Ford Theatre when a shot rang out.

Shot by a crazed actor

He rushed in and found the president dying – he had been shot by a crazed actor – and helped carry him to a house nearby.

In recognition of the efforts of Mr Hall, who had died at the age of 89 a few years earlier, a wreath in his honour had been sent from the American embassy in London.

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