Hall, Charles Martin, 1863-1914

Chemist, inventor, manufacturer, and Oberlin College benefactor.

Born in Thomson, Ohio and raised in Oberlin, Ohio, Hall was educated at Oberlin College (A.B. 1885, A.M. 1893, honorary L.L.D. 1910). In 1886, Hall discovered the electrolytic process of reducing aluminum from its ores (patent applied for, 1886; granted 1889). When the Cowles Electric Smelting and Aluminum Company of Lockport, New York gave up the option on the patent, Hall obtained financial backing from the Mellons and other investors to form the Pittsburgh Reduction Company in 1888. Litigation over patent infringement raged from 1891 to 1903. A member of the Oberlin College Board of Trustees from 1905 to 1914, Hall left a bequest of over $10 million to Oberlin College following his death in 1914.

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