My original purpose in constructing a brief historical account of the Hackley & Ridgway families was to provide close relatives with some tangible perspective on the origins and genealogy of their ancestors. I was motivated by their enthusiastic response to my ongoing research, coupled by a need to better organize my records, documents and notes in such a way that I could share the information more readily. The hypertext documents contained here are derived from a written paper that I put together in November of 1995. Since that time, I have found many new "cousins" on the internet, a list that keeps growing every day, and so decided to make this information available electronically. I have updated and modified the original text for HTML, and enhanced it with images drawn from my collection of photos and historical documents. This work represents roughly five years of effort. It focuses primarily on the Hackley and Ridgway families of Savage, Maryland who's ancestors first settled in the colonies of Maryland and Virginia in the 17th century, and essentially traces my paternal lineage. This genealogy is far from complete, and the family tree remains sketchy in places, but enough is now known to form a fairly reliable and continuous picture of Hackley and Ridgway family history over the past 300 years or so.
Most of the information on the early Hackleys in Virginia I gleaned from a manuscript compiled by Woodford B. Hackley of Culpeper County, Virginia who researched this family for over 30 years until his death in 1978. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Alice Brown Plotner, also deceased, whose research notes on the Ridgway family, compiled during the 1930's, gave me a significant jump-start on that lineage. Last, but not least, I wish to acknowledge the many relatives, both close and distant, who have made contributions to this effort. I couldn't have done it without your help.
Although this document is not exhaustively referenced, sources are quoted in many instances throughout the text, and all source information is available upon request from the author. Information was compiled from census records, state and county records (land, birth, death, marriage, probate, chancery, etc.), military records and various other published and private sources, including various family records and oral communications. However, I offer no guarantee as to the accuracy of information contained herein. It is accurate to the best of my knowledge. In conducting my research, I have been as meticulous as was reasonably possible, given the nature of historical and genealogical records from early periods. Vital information concerning living relatives was purposely restricted out of respect for their privacy.
This history is divided into two sections, which separately treat the Hackley and Ridgway families. Within each section, the early origins of the family are first described, followed by the primary lineage beginning with the earliest known ancestor, and proceeding through each subsequent generation in a direct line to the author. The histories of these two families converge with my paternal grandparents. You can navigate most easily by using the table of contents shown in the left frame, but the pages are also hyperlinked to each other through each successive generation (labeled with Roman numerals adjacent to the primary individual in the direct lineage). Additional, supporting documents are hyperlinked in appropriate locations, including several links to maps which are generated on the fly, and may take one or two minutes to appear. In order to return to the previous page within the main window, simply use your browser's "back" button.
I hope this work will serve to answer
many questions and perhaps stimulate further interest in our
family roots.
Enjoy!
Vince Hackley January 16, 1997