William Samuel Hackley (II)

1827-1913

The second oldest son of James and Frances(?), William S. Hackley was born in September of 1827 in Culpeper County, Virginia. He married Martha Ellen Harrell (1826-1891), the daughter of John Harrell and Susan Strother, on December 4, 1845 in Fauquier County.⁽¹⁾ The ceremony was performed by Methodist Episcopalian minister, Irvin H. Torrence. Accompanying the marriage bond was a consent, dated December 13, 1845, given by William's father and witnessed by his older brother George.

William Samuel Hackley & Martha Ellen Harrell, ca. 1885

William remained in western Fauquier County until around 1855 when he and his family moved north to Jefferson County, Virginia (now West Virginia), and settled in Charles Town. By this time William was practicing in his chosen trade as a wheel wright or wagon maker (essentially a carpenter). There were several wheel wrights in the Harrell family, and he most likely apprenticed to one of his in-laws while living in Fauquier County.

When civil war broke out in the spring of 1861, William was still residing in Charles Town. On April 18, 1861, one day after Virginia voted to secede from the Union, William enrolled for service in the Confederate army at the Jefferson County Court House in Charles Town.⁽²⁾

It was in this very same court house that the legendary abolitionist John Brown was tried, convicted and sentenced to hang for leading the failed uprising in nearby Harper's Ferry. William was mustered into State service in Harpers Ferry on May 13, 1861 as a private in Company A (Jefferson Guards) of the 2^nd Virginia Infantry Regiment.⁽³⁾ This regiment was part of the soon-to-be-famous "Stonewall" Brigade,⁽⁴⁾ led by General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson of Virginia.

The Stonewall or 1^st Brigade drew most of it's men from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. It earned its nickname and immortality at the First Battle of Manassas on July 19, 1861, when Jackson and his troops stood "like a stone wall", rallying the broken Confederate lines, and turning the tide of battle on that day.

midi (6kb)

An unbroken line swelled across the open plain and delivered a murderous fire into the face of the unsuspecting Federals. The Union line fell apart. Before it could recover, "like wild men" the Second, Fourth and Twenty-seventh Regiments charged down the hill by companies, leaning forward as if bucking a strong wind. Above the crash of musketry and roar of cannon came that piercing cry forever after known as "the Rebel yell."(5)

C.S.A. Battle Flag

First Manassas turned into a route of the Federal army, with thousands of Yankee soldiers dropping their weapons on the field and fleeing for safety in the general direction of nearby Washington. The Stonewall Brigade eventually developed into the elite fighting unit of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. As a result of their many long and arduous forced marches, sometimes covering 50 miles or more in a single day, the men of this brigade were often referred to by other soldiers as "Jackson's foot cavalry". A familiar verse of the time emphasized the status these men of the Stonewall Brigade had attained during the war, "memories of which must have sustained them in the years following Appomattox".

And men will tell their children, Tho' all other memories fade, How they fought with Stonewall Jackson In the old "Stonewall Brigade." John Esten Cooke "The Song of the Rebel", 1863

Most of the war records for William and a good number of other members of the 2^nd Regiment were lost or destroyed, but Green's "Notes on Culpeper County, Virginia"⁽⁶⁾ states that William participated in 4 battles, served 2 years and was discharged in 1863. Sometime after the War, William and his family settled across the Shenandoah river in western Loudoun County, in an area known as "Between the Hills", a narrow valley squeezed between the Short Hill Mountain on the east and the Blue Ridge mountains on the west. This is not far from Harper's Ferry and lies just south of the Potomac River. Here they farmed, as did most of their neighbors, and probably tended orchards, which were once prevalent in this area. Census records place the family in this vicinity by 1870.

A Culpeper County deed dated February 15, 1877⁽⁷⁾ shows that William Hackley purchased property in Oak Shade, Virginia which he subsequently sold on November 28, 1888.⁽⁸⁾ William apparently moved back to Culpeper County during this period in order to help care for his aging parents, who incidentally are listed in his household in the 1880 census for Jeffersonton Township. Culpeper Land Books for 1880 and 1884 (Jefferson or Eastern District) list William at Oak Shade with 1 acre of land having a total value of $150 of which $100 is on account of buildings located on the property. The village of Oak Shade is located just east of present day Route 229, about 10 miles north of the town of Culpeper, and in 1880 lay within the Township of Jeffersonton. A great-great-grand daughter of William still lives on property adjacent to the Oak Shade land on which he resided in the 1880's.

He is also believed to have had a wheel wright's shop in Oak Shade during this period. The shop was located just across from the Little Fork Church, which the family may well have attended. The Little Fork Church (shown left) is the oldest colonial church in Culpeper County. Originally belonging to St. Mark's Parish, the current building dates to 1776.⁽⁹⁾ During the Civil War, Union troops, while quartered there, destroyed much of the interior furnishings, burning the wooden pews for firewood.

William and family were back in Loudoun County by 1890. In a deed dated November 21, 1891 the heirs of Martha E. Hackley, deceased, conveyed two properties belonging to Martha.⁽¹⁰⁾ William's name appears first in the list of heirs in this deed, followed by all the children and their spouses. Two more Loudoun County deeds, in March of 1892 and November of 1893, show William buying and subsequently selling a piece of property in the "Between the Hills" area.⁽¹¹⁾

William shows up next in Howard County, Maryland, where he registered to vote on September 30, 1896, reporting his age as 69 and his residence as Poplar Springs, near Lisbon, in the western part of the county.⁽¹²⁾ He had been in the state and voting district for 3 years, so he must have moved there just after selling his property in Loudoun County in 1893. The last election in which he voted was in November of 1897. He was stricken from the record after that for reason "out of the county".

Several of William's children had moved to Howard County before him. William's son, James, shows up in the register for the Poplar Springs Methodist Church in 1889, while another son, George, and wife Rosa, were residing near Ellicott City, the county seat, by 1891. Daughter Mary, widowed, also shows up in that county by 1891, while her older sister, Sarah, had moved to nearby Carroll County between 1887 and 1891, and lived for a time in Poplar Springs. Some of Sarah's children are buried at the Methodis Church in Poplar Springs. It would seem likely that William was residing with one or more of his children in Maryland from 1893 until at least 1897 and possibly as late as 1913 when he died. He cannot be found in the 1900 or 1910 census records for either Virginia or Maryland, but a Howard County death record shows that he died in Savage, Maryland on November 23, 1913 as a result of "senile gangrene of the foot."⁽¹³⁾ This date was independently confirmed by family records.⁽¹⁴⁾ William was buried in the Savage Cemetery on November 25^th. At the time of his death he may have been at the home of his widowed daughter in-law, Annie Olivia Hackley, who had moved with her children to Howard County from Loudoun County in 1901

Children of William & Martha Hackley

1. Sarah Catherine Hackley (1846-1924) Sarah was born in Fauquier County and married Charles E. Ross (1846-1921), of New York City, on March 17, 1864 in Charles Town, West Virginia. On the marriage record, he lists his occupation as painter and his residence as Baltimore. Apparently, Charles had served in the Union army in some capacity, possibly as a drummer. His name is a source of some confusion, as he used the name Charles E. Ross and also Lewis Valentine during his military service. It is unclear which, if either, is his real name. According to statements he made in a Federal Pension application for his Union Army service, Charles and Sarah's locations of residence from 1882 were: Rixeyville, Culpepper County from 1882 until 1888, then Poplar Springs from 1889 until 1901, then Ellicott City, Maryland.through 1916. Several of their children are buried in the Methodist cemetery in Poplar Springs. Regardless of the pension records, the 1900 census shows Sarah and family living on W. Barney Street in Baltimore. At that time she reported to be the mother of 15 children of which 10 were still living. Sarah is buried in Good Shepherd Cemetery located in Howard County. Maryland. The known children of Sarah and Charles were: Charles Edward (b.1865), Martha Ellen (b.1866), Josaphine (b.1868), William, George W. (b.1869), Turner Ashby (b.1871), John Louis (b.1872), Alpheus Jackson (b.1873), Samuel Tildon (b.1877), Catherine (b.1885), and Mabel (b.1877).
   
2. Alpheus Jackson Hackley (1849-1926) Alpheus was born in Fauquier County. On January 18, 1869 he married Elizabeth R. Russell, daughter of John and Ellen Russell of Loudoun County. In 1881, Alpheus was conveyed the land and house originally belonging to his father in-law, John Russell, deceased.⁽¹⁵⁾ This log and stone home (shown right), located off rural Route 683 and nestled against the Short Hill Mountain, was built in the early 19^th century, probably by John Russell himself, and subsequently enlarged by Alpheus. A door which originally led from the kitchen to the attic has the words "Hackley 1884" carved deeply into it. The dwelling, which has been renovated, was at one time surveyed by the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission.⁽¹⁶⁾ Alpheus was commonly called by the name"Mann", or as Uncle Mann by his younger kin. Alpheus and Elizabeth are buried not far from their home, in the cemetery at Ebenezer Methodist Church off Route 671 near Neersville. They had ten children: Charles William (b. 1868), John R. (b.1871), Edward M. (1874), Jane R., Alice Lorinda (b.1878), Joseph L. (b.1881), Robert (b.1884), Clarence E. (b.1885), James (b.1887) and Daisy B. (b.1891). Some of their descendants are still living in the Short Hill area.
   
3. Mary Anna Hackley (b. 1851) Mary was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, and married William B. Welsh on January 12, 1869 in Loudoun County. She was a widow by 1891, and living in Howard County, Maryland according to a Loudoun County deed of that year. They had one known child, a son named James (b.1869). No other mention of Anna has been found after 1891.
   
4. Eliza Jane Hackley (1854-ca.1893) Eliza was probably born in either Fauquier or Jefferson County around the same time the family moved from the former to the latter. On January 3, 1880 in Culpeper County, Eliza married Joseph Milton Hackley (1854-1935), her first cousin and the son of Joseph Hackley (1832-1917). She moved to Franklin County, Ohio with her husband and father in-law sometime prior to 1884. Eliza and Joseph had fourknown children: Benjamin Franklin (b.1883), Laura R. (1886), John F. (b.1890) and Ola. Son Benjamin married and eventually moved back east to Stanley, Virginia around 1906, where he remained. Eliza died about 1893 in Ohio, and Joseph remarried in 1894 to Florence M. Speeks. This second marriage produced eight children, Maggie A. (b.1895), Etta S. (b.1897), Francilla (b.1899), Addison (b.1904), Cora Mae (b.1907), Eugene (b.1910), Mary Lucille and Gladys Leona.
   
5. Millard Filmore Hackley (III) (1856-1901) Philip married Annie Olivia Riley (1859-1917)on April 18, 1881 in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. They settled in Loudoun County near where his parents had lived. Philip died at age 45, and Annie moved the family to Howard County, Maryland. They had eight children in all: Martha Louisa, Frederick, Maude S., James Willard, Ethyl M., Grace E., Cornelius A. and Agnes L.
   
6. George Washington Hackley (1858-1939) George was born in Jefferson County, Virginia (now W.VA) and married Rosella McDonald (ca.1865-1936), of Culpeper County, on July 4, 1886. By 1891 they were living near Ellicott City in Howard County, Maryland, according to a Loudoun County deed . They resided in the Hyattsville, Maryland area, and possibly in the adjacent District of Columbia, in the years prior to his death, and from at least as early as 1916. He apparently returned to Oak Shade, Virginia after the death of his wife in 1936, where he subsequently died of pneumonia in 1939. His children grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland near Hyattsville. However, one of his daughters, Ethel Genieve, lived near and worked at the Savage Mill in Howard County at some early point in her life. His occupation, at least in his early years, was farming. George is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Bladensburg, Maryland. The known children of George and Rosa are: Ethel Genieve (b.1894), Norman, Thelma Grace (b.1905), Minnie, Pearl Mae and Alma.
   
7. William Rutherford Hackley (1861-1910) William was born in Jefferson County on January 31, 1861, a couple months before the outbreak of the Civil War. On November 29, 1888, he married Melmora Roselie McDonald (b.ca. 1859) of Oak Shade in Culpeper County. William and Roselie were residing in Loudoun County near his parents in 1891, but apparently moved back to Oak Shade, and eventually settled on land belonging to his wife's family. Michelle North Hackley, a great-grand daughter of William, still lives on this same property in Oak Shade (1990s). Her house is a short distance from, and within site of, the Little Fork Church, and is adjacent to land on which William S. Hackley lived and practiced his wheel wright trade in the 1880's. William R. was a carpenter, like his father, and also a farmer. He and Roselie had four children, of whom three survived into adulthood, Guy, Beulah (b.1891), Lena Catherine (b.1894), and H. Conrad (Michelle North's grandfather, a carpenter and violin maker).
   
8. Lourinda R. Hackley (1864-1918) Lourinda was probably born in Jefferson County, West Virginia. She married Lewis R. Edwards of Loudoun County in 1888. They apparently resided "Between the Hills" the remainder of their lives, and are buried in the cemetery at Ebenezer M. E. Church off Route 671 in Neersville. Lourinda died in 1918, but Lewis survived until 1954, dying only a few days short of his 84^th birthday. Their known children are: Jessie Laurinda (b.1901), Mabel, Bertha, and Willard.
   
9. James Benjamin Hackley (b. 1868) James was probably the only child of William and Martha born in Loudoun County. By 1891 James was living not far from his sister Sarah and brother in-law Charles Ross who had moved to Carroll County, Maryland. He apparently was residing in nearby Howard County by February 10, 1889 when he petitioned to join a Methodist church in Poplar Springs.⁽¹⁷⁾ He was elected to full membership on May 21, 1890 by Pastor James S. Killgore. An October 1892 Howard County voter registration shows him residing in Dorsey. Nothing further is known about him.

Footnotes

1. Fauquier County Marriage Bonds, 15 Dec 1845, County Court House, Warrenton, VA.

2. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, National Archives & Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

3. 2nd Virginia Infantry, 4th edition, by Dennis E. Frye, H.E. Howard, Inc., Lynchburg, VA, 1984.

4. The Stonewall Brigade, by James I. Robertson, Jr., Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1963.

5. ibid, Page 42.

6. Genealogical and Historical Notes on Culpeper County, Virginia, Embracing a Revised and Enlarged Edition of Dr. Philp Slaughter's History of St. Mark's Parish, Compiled and published by Raleigh Travers Green, Culpeper, VA, 1900.

7. Culpeper County Land Records, Deed Book 18, Page 601, County Court House, Culpeper, VA.

8. ibid, Book 24, Page 203

9. An 18^th Century Perspective on Culpeper County, Virginia, Chapt. XII, The Old Brick Church in the Little Fork, by Mary Jo Browning, Culpeper County Historical Society, Culpeper, VA, 1976.

10. Loudoun County Land Records, Deed Book 7F, Page 369, County Court House, Leesburg, VA.

11. ibid, Book 7H, Page 328 & 329.

12. Howard County Register of Voters, 1896-1905, 4^th District, Howard County Historical Society, Ellicott City, MD.

13. Death Certificate No. 15566, microfilm records, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD.

14. Family records of Michelle Hackley North, Oak Shade, VA.

15. Loudoun County Land Records, Deed Book 6R, Page 92, County Court House, Leesburg, VA.

16. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, Survey File No. 53-880, on file at Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

17. Methodist Church Records, Lisbon Circuit Meth. Prost. Church, microfilm no. M3243, pp 17-20, 40-42, Maryland State Archives, Annapolis, MD.