PORTSMOUTH — Without Herbert Hall III, who knows what fate may have befallen the Portsmouth Historical Society. 

The Society has a robust membership now — about 400 — but years ago there were only 20 to 30 people on the rolls, according to Town Historian Jim Garman, a former president and now a board member.

After Mr. Hall first joined as treasurer and custodian in 1975, “over time the organization really become diminished; the numbers really ran short,” Mr. Garman said. “Herb was the one consistent thing all the way through. He really held the thing together.”

Mr. Hall died on Jan. 27 at the age of 78. A graveside service with military honors — he was an Army veteran of the Vietnam War, serving as a military police officer stationed in Seneca, N.Y. — was held Friday in Portsmouth Cemetery.

Before he grew ill several years ago, Mr. Hall was the Society museum’s main steward, and his knowledge of local history was unparalleled.

“He really had an incredible knowledge of Portsmouth history,” said Mr. Garman, no slouch himself. “You could ask him anything about Portsmouth. He had the answers.”

Of course, you’d have to be the one to break the ice and ask. Mr. Hall was known for his shy demeanor, and wasn’t prone to starting up a conversation with a stranger.

“When I started being the docent at the museum, he had the only set of keys and he would open and close it. He would sit there for the two to three hours you were there,” recalled Mr. Garman. “He wouldn’t go up to people and say, ‘How can I help you?’ But he would answer anything you’d ask him.”

Another friend of Mr. Hall’s, board member Dave Duggan, agreed.

“He was very shy, even when we had a meeting. I would have to prime him to get some words out of him. He was a very humble guy who lived by himself — Army guy, never married,” Mr. Duggan said. “His heart and soul was in the Society and the Town of Portsmouth as well. He was there for a long time and kept that Society going from the ’70s until we started coming in. I think I came on in 2011 or so. Herb was there and he was really the mainstay on the museum, and he was also the maintenance guy.”

Mr. Hall didn’t just embody Portsmouth history. With his trademark white beard that ran down to his chest, he looked like history.

“There’s a photo of him at the Oakland Farm auction in late ’40s,” Mr. Garman said. “It’s funny, because he looked exactly the same then as he did afterwards.”

Mr. Hall published a monthly newsletter when he was president and came up with the idea of having yard sales. “He was just really a great caretaker of the building and the Society, and that was good because it was a time when we needed it,” Mr. Garman said.

Lifelong resident

Mr. Hall was born in Newport and attended Rogers High School, but he was a lifelong resident of Portsmouth. After graduating, he worked for Rainier Bulk in the cemetery business. After his Army discharge. He started working for T.J. Brown, a landscape contractor in Newport, where he remained for 50-plus years. 

He also served as caretaker for Portsmouth Cemetery for many years and was a board member of the Portsmouth Historical Society for 49 years. After Mr. Garman took over as president in 2015, Mr. Hall continued to serve as president emeritus. 

Even when his health deteriorated and he entered a nursing home, the Society was still on Mr. Hall’s mind.

“I went to visit him right before COVID in February (2020) and that was really devastating,” Mr. Duggan said. “His memory had gone downhill. But once you started talking about the museum, it all came back. He was very much interested in the Portsmouth Historical Society.”

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