Hackney Family Genealogy

I have received several requests recently for information on the Hackney family, so I decided to post the brief genealogy that my husband created on this family. Unfortunately, the family tree boxes that were included in this write-up from our Reunion software did not paste into the blog. This is not our family, but my husband did the research because a friend of ours moved to the neighborhood where the Hackney castle once stood and she wanted to know the history of the castle and the family. One thing led to another and here is what was found. I hope the family researchers who contacted me will share any new information on this family so I can post it here. 

 

The Hackney Family Genealogy

A.S. Hackney was born in 1846, the second son of Joseph and Mariam Scull Hackney.  His full name was Armour Scull Hackney.  The middle name, Scull, was found on a public family tree so it hasn’t been confirmed but it seems reasonable.  His older brother was Mahlon, his two sisters were Almeda and Rejoice and the last child in the family was Clark, the younger brother.  Joseph’s occupation is listed on the census as seaman or bayman.  The family lived in the Egg Harbor Township of Atlantic County, New Jersey, near Atlantic City.

Armour followed his father’s footsteps and earned his living from the sea.  His occupation is variously listed as bayman, or oysterman and it appears he lived most of his life in the Atlantic County area of New Jersey, although he is unaccounted for on the censuses beginning in 1900.  Armour, born in 1846, was a bit too young to participate in the Civil War.  His older brother, Mahlon, did, however, enlist with the New Jersey 7^th Infantry Regiment which saw extensive service in such notable battles as Fredericksburg, Gettysburg and The Wilderness. 

Armour married Elizabeth Ackley shortly after the end of the Civil War.  The wedding date is reported on a public family tree as May 12, 1866 with the location of Egg Harbor City but no primary source was given.  Elizabeth was the daughter of Amos and Ann Ackley.  She was born in 1850 so she was about sixteen when they married.  Eight children were born to the couple.  Elizabeth died in 1892 and no census information has been found for Armour after the New Jersey state census of 1885.  He had young children so he presumably would have remarried but his history in this period remains a mystery.  He died January 24, 1925 and is buried, along with Elizabeth, in the Salem Cemetery, Pleasantville, NJ.  His obituary, if found, could provide details of his last forty years of life.  The Atlantic City Free Library reported they researched their local papers on microfilm and found no obituary for Armour Hackney.

No information has been found to explain Armour’s construction of the “castle” in Kilmarnock or his interest in that area.  His vocation as a waterman explains how he became acquainted with the area and, perhaps, after the Civil War and the resulting decline in the Virginia economy, land became very cheap.  Whatever his plans, Elizabeth’s early death in 1892 may have changed his level of interest.

Harry Samuel Hackney was six years old when his mother died.  His oldest sister, Nora, had married the year Harry was born so presumably she was out of the household.  There were two other older sisters who could have taken over raising Harry and his younger sister, Susan, but little information on the family has been found after 1885.  There is, however, ample evidence of Harry’s appearance in Virginia.  On January 17, 1911, he married Leora (aka Lola, Lela, Lelia) McKenney in Lancaster, VA.  Leora was the daughter of James (already deceased) and (Livinia) Opal Farley.  A public family tree reports Leora’s birth date as July 2, 1893 and gives the McKenney/Farley family bible as the source.  Harry was twenty-five and Leora was about seventeen.  Nine months later, on October 26^th, their first and only child, Christina Olivia was born.  Some public family trees show Christina being born at “Hackney Castle” but no primary source is provided.  At least one tree says she was born in 1912 but the Social Security Death Index shows her birth date at 1911.

Their marriage lasted only a few years.  Leora, now reported as Lola, married Roland B. Ferguson, February 2, 1914 in Lancaster, VA.  Little subsequent information has been found on Leora.  Her second marriage may not have lasted long.  A WWI draft registration card for Roland Brooks Ferguson, born December 1893 in Virginia, living in Norfolk, has been found.  If it is the same person who married Leora in 1914, he now is single and has no left arm.  Both the marriage record and the draft card indicate the man was born in Middlesex County so it’s probably the same man.  Roland, Lola and Christina do not appear on any 1920 census under the Ferguson name.  He reappears in 1930 and 1940 married to Nannie, who was previously married to a Cardwell.  Roland Ferguson of Middlesex, VA died in March 1973 according to the Social Security Death Index.  No further verifiable information on Lola has been found.

 Harry Hackney also remarried in 1914.  He married Bessie Hale who was born in Virginia about 1897.  No official marriage record has been found.  Seven children were produced by this union.

Harry died in 1974 and his obituary is included.  It said he was a retired oyster boat captain and a WWI veteran.  No military information was found for Harry other than his “old man” draft card for WWII.  If he served in WWI he must have been in the service prior to the draft for WWI as no card for him was found and almost everyone had a WWI draft card.  His obituary indicates Bessie had preceded him in death.  It’s assumed both are buried in the Dividing Creek Baptist Cemetery.

Christina Hackney married Edward McGowan sometime before 1930.  Her obituary, shown in the appendix, said she was born and raised in Kilmarnock but no supporting evidence for a Virginia childhood has been found.  The 1940 Census indicates Christina completed 8^th grade and Edward completed four years of high school.  He was an iron worker.  They had three sons, Edward, Harry and Clyde.  At some point prior to 1974, Christina married an Anderson.  It’s not known if this was before or after Edward’s death.  She subsequently married a Ralston.  Her obituary shown in the appendix implies she outlived all her husbands as none are mentioned.

Appendix

·      Armour Hackney family per New Jersey State Census of 1885

·      Harry S. Hackney birth record, 26NOV1886, Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic Co., NJ

·      Tombstones for Armour and Elizabeth Hackney per FindaGrave, Salem Cemetery, Pleasantville, NJ

·      Leora McKenney/Harry Hackney marriage record, 17JAN1911, Lancaster, VA

·      Lola Hackney/Roland Ferguson marriage record, 02FEB1914, Lancaster, VA

·      WWI draft card, Roland Brooks Ferguson

·      WWII draft card, Harry Samuel Hackney

·      Harry Hackney obituary published 16JAN1974

·      Christina Ralston obituary published 10AUG2001

·      Lawrence Aulffo, spouse of Shirley Hackney, obituary, 09JUN2010

·      Horace Godown, spouse of Emma Hackney, obituary, published 29NOV2007

·      Myrtle Hackney Schwegel obituary, published 29JUN2012