Thomas Hall was born in Illinois on January 5, 1853. That year, his father moved to Sacramento to work on the Folsom and Placerville Railroad. This didn't pan out so well, and they left on the Yankee Blade, which wrecked off the coast of Santa Barbara. After being rescued and taken to Los Angeles, he returned to Sacramento, deciding that he was meant to stay out West. He bought a farm in Solano county and worked the farm there until he died in 1889. Thomas grew up on the farm, gained a love for agriculture, and after his K-12 education in Sacramento, went on to the Pacific Business College of San Francisco. He became a porter at a wholesale grocery firm in Sacramento (Milliken Brothers), and after seven years, established his own business of Hall, Luhrs and Company in 1876. By the 1880s, he was the largest wholesale grocery business in the city of Sacramento. His personal history shows a wide variety of positions and involvment, both local and global. From the military to the Masonic temple, from the freeholders to the framers of the city charter, it seems that Thomas Hall left his fingerprints everywhere. "Hall, Luhrs and Co was a prolific distributor of whiskey as well, and the dates of that business were 1882 to Prohibition. Some of the early glop tops from the company (Snowflake Whiskey) are very pricey, but the tool-tops have never been hot sellers." I guess the top grocer was also the top distributor of whiskey for the locals!