Source, Rutland (Vt) Weekly Herald--9 July 1803. Rutland (Vt), William T. Hall, merchant, was killed by bursting cannon on 4 July, 32 nd yr. People gathered at Courthouse to hear oration by Capt. Samuel Walker. At sundown a cannon, formerly used in the Revolution at the fort in Pittsford, was discharged. It burst with a violent explosion. Hall's head was blown off. George Down was seriously injured in head and breast. Several others slightly wounded. Hall survived by a widow and two children and was buried on Tues. [ Another newspaper states Hall formerly resided in Manchester, Vt.]