Cal--
An important aspect of the teaching of reading in the 19th century was the
teaching of reading out loud. Any 19th-century reading text will easily
convince you of this. A concommitant of that and the widespread illiteracy,
or rare knowledge of "classical, edifying" works was some sort of result
that reading aloud to an audience was an important activity.
I would assume, therefore, that getting the 19th-century morgues of a paper
in a place like Pinckneytown would show you how these halls were used. You
might find Chatauquas and other things going on.
Good luck in unearthing that strange time, the 19th century.