We Move on with Julius Hacker, Jr.

These blog essays have been about the origins of the Julius Hacker family in America, and how family members moved from the east to the west over two or three generations.  We have dealt with “history” based on stories presumably passed down word-of-mouth about the origins of Julius Hacker, the founding father, and his wife Martha Beeler (Buehler).  We have discovered a reference here and there, and the 1784 Land Grant for land in Sullivan County, N. C. that Julius Hacker received. 

The first record of Julius Hacker’s son, Julius Hacker, Jr., was his presence on the 1796 Sullivan County Tax List.  This was the first tax list created for the new state of Tennessee.  Before that, Sullivan County had been part of North Carolina, then part of Virginia.  It had also been part of Washington County, N. C. Colony before a large area was broken off in 1779 to form Sullivan County.  The earliest pioneers who moved into this area came from Virginia Colony, for the most part.  And that was true for the Hacker family, as well.

Julius Hacker, Jr. was born abt 1765 in Virginia Colony.  When his father moved the family from wherever they were living (possibly in Fredericks/Dunmore County, VA) to the new area on the Holston River in North Carolina, he came along as a child of about 10.  This move might have occurred about 1775.  There was no government in the area, no authority from which a family could legally buy land.  So, it is probable that they found someplace to “squat” and staked out a claim to some land. 

The Wautauga Asociation had been formed by then, and they negotiated a treaty with the Indians to buy a large tract of land.  But this was later declared to be illegal.  The Beeler family, with which the Hackers were associated, were part of something called the Loyal Company.  John Valentine Beeler, Julius’s uncle, had surveyed tracts of land in 1774 for himself and his brothers Joseph and George.  But these were never registered and purchase of the land was never completed.

Meanwhile, the Revolutionary War was raging in the coastal areas.  Pioneers in this “Overmountain” area, however, dealt mainly with Cherokee Indians who were sometimes hostile.  The “Overmountain Men”, as they were called, formed militias and fought the Indians.  The British supplied the Indians with food and weapons, asking them to fight the white pioneers.  The British hoped to keep these men busy so that they would not join the rebel armies fighting in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Julius Hacker, Jr. would have been an observer of all of this activity, for he was too young to participate.  He would have witnessed the excitement when men, young and old, gathered with their families at a certain place.  Col. Isaac Shelby and Col. John Sevier were selecting men from Sullivan and Washington Counties respectively that would form two regiments.  These would join with regiments commanded by Col. Campbell, Col. McDowell, and a few others, to travel to King’s Mountain in South Carolina.  British Col. Patrick Ferguson had been leading his regiment on several skirmishes and battles in the general area.  There weren’t many revolutionary forces that could protect the common citizens who lived there.  The two colonels, Shelby and Sevier, selected 240 men for each of their regiments.  A local Sullivan County company commanded by Captain Pemberton formed part of Col. Isaac Shelby’s regiment.  These two regiments set out on the journey, but in doing so, they left many families of women, children, and the elderly behind with no protection from the Indians who would often attack without warning.

A “fort” had been built on Shelby land.  Years later in 1856, John Hacker—Julius’s brother—wrote an affidavit, which was certified, about how he had helped guard this old fort, known as Shelby’s Fort or the Old Block House.  Several families took refuge in this structure for protection while the men were gone to fight the Battle of King’s Mountain.  Among them was the Julius Hacker family.  Julius Hacker, Jr. was about 15 years old in 1780 when that battle took place.

The Overmountain Men were victorious against British Col. Patrick Ferguson, and he was killed during the battle.  Gradually, the men returned from South Carolina, and picked up their lives.  Some of them continued to fight in various battles and skirmishes that were fought in this area for a few years.  But the Revolutionary War wound down after the King’s Mountain battle embarrassed the British.  There was one more major battle, and then the British surrendered.   Many years later, historians decided that the Battle of King’s Mountain was the last major battle of the Revolutionary War, and it helped convince the British that they had lost.

Another major thing happened in 1780.  North Carolina, which had originally claimed this Overmountain area as part of its colony, decided to step back into some sort of governance of the area.  The state set up land offices and began to process land grants for people that enabled them to legally buy land.  Many of the land grants were made to soldiers who had fought in the Revolutionary War.  But, just as many were made to men who had been living on certain tracts, and had built improvements on them.  Improvements included a house or cabin, a barn, fencing, and the like.  In May, 1784 Julius Hacker, Sr. was awarded Land Grant #266 for 640 acres.  The grant included a legal description of the land, which was located on two sides of Beaver Creek, a tributary of the Holston River.  This land would have been located in Sullivan County, North Carolina at the time.  But sometime in the early 1790s, North Carolina ceded its claim on this area to Virginia, and Sullivan County was then part of Virginia.

In 1793, the name of Julius Hacker is found on the rolls of the “Sullivan County Militia, Southwest Territory,” Colonel Gilbert Christian’s Command, Captain Andrew Beatty’s Company.  The term of this list was from Sep 1 to Dec 1, 1793.  He was paid $9.30 for three months of service.  This listing indicates that Julius, Jr. was ready to take his place in the community and be a part of the local militia. 

Sullivan County, Washington County, Hawkins County, and other nearby counties were placed in the new state of Tennessee when it was formed in 1796.  During all of these changes of jurisdiction, the Julius Hacker family continued to live on the 640 acre farm that Julius Hacker, Sr. had acquired in 1784.  Sullivan County created its first tax list under Tennessee jurisdiction in 1796.  The following sequence of names is found on the list:

Hacker, John, 1 white poll
Hacker, Julius Sr., 640 (acres)
Hartleroad, Martin, 1 white poll
Julius Hacker, 1 white poll

A white poll was a fee that a male individual who was from 21 to 50 years of age paid for the privilege of voting.  Male citizens over 50 years of age did not pay the white poll.  This listing indicates that John Hacker and Julius Hacker were 50 years or younger, but they did not own property.  (Actually, Julius was about 31 and John was about 28.)  Julius Hacker Sr. paid taxes on 640 acres, but did not pay a white poll.  He was well over 50 years of age.  It also suggests that John and Julius were still living with their father and mother on their father’s farm.  Jacob and Joseph, the other two sons were not on this list, so they were living somewhere else.  I have already discussed Jacob’s life in Greene and Monroe Counties.  I will discuss Joseph in another essay.

In 1797, Julius Hacker, Sr. began selling off his land in Sullivan County—mainly to James King—and prepared to move to an area on the Clinch River near Knox County.   It appears that Julius, Jr. followed him. 

In 1802, Julius Hacker is shown on a list of Col. Hugh Francis’s company in Roane County.  The list is found in the The History of Roane County by Emma Middleton Wells.  This may have been a tax list rather than a military list, as taxing districts were usually placed under the authority of someone with the rank of Colonel.  This would prove his residence in Roane County by that year.  I do have a land record for his father’s purchase of land on the Clinch River in an area that later became Roane County.  But I have no record of land owned by Julius Hacker, Jr.

The next record of note was the marriage record of Julius Hacker to Sarah Haggerty on 29 Oct 1809 in Roane County.  The marriage bond for $1,250 was signed by Julius Hacker and Samuel M. Caul.  In those days, marriage bonds were purchased to cover any loss if something occurred to prevent the marriage from taking place.  They were void if no objections were raised to the marriage.  Apparently there were no objections and the couple was duly married!

No Hacker researcher has ever found information about Sarah Haggerty’s family.  She was, however, the sister of Priscilla Haggerty who married Joseph Hacker, Julius’s younger brother in either 1802 or 1810.  The surname was sometimes spelled Hagerty.  Both couples were married at different times in Roane County, Tennessee but there was no one else by the name of Haggerty or Hagerty living there at that time.

Julius Hacker, Jr. left very few records to tell us much about his family.  There were military records, and I believe he fought in the War of 1812.  His name also appears in a few court records for Roane County.  His name does not appear, however, on the first real Federal Census for Roane County in 1830.  Rather, Sarah Hacker is listed as Head of Household with six young boys living with her.   These are presumed to be sons of Julius Hacker, Jr. but Hacker researchers have had quite a time identifying who they were.

As of now, I have three sons I am fairly sure about listed as follows:

• Alford M. Hacker, Sr., b. 1810 in Roane Co., Tennessee; d. 28 Apr 1863 in Jackson, Mississippi.  (Died during Civil War)
• Eli Hacker, b. 28 Jan 1811, Roane Co., Tennessee; d. abt 1900, Sacramento, California
• Julius “Pete” James Hacker, b. 30 Jul 1815, Roane Co., Tennessee; d. abt 1872, Linn Co., Missouri.

A Hacker researcher (and distant cousin) named Alexis Scholz has identified two more possible sons of Julius and Sarah:

• Cyrus Hacker, found on the 1850 Fed Census in Arkansas
• John C. Hacker, m. Margaret (Brown?), d. probably in California 

Identity of the sixth son is uncertain.  Both Eli Hacker and Julius James Hacker have been well-researched, and I could write an essay about each of them, or one essay that covers both of them.

With these sons of Julius, and Sarah Hacker, we can see that members of the Hacker family begin to move west.  They were leaving Virginia and Tennessee which had nurtured the Hacker beginnings, and were seeking opportunity in Illinois, Arkansas, Missouri, and California.  Other families were moving to these places—especially to Missouri.  The movement occurred as cheap land opened up when it was vacated by Indian tribes that were forced to move further west, especially into Oklahoma, Indian Territory.  We will learn more about  Hackers moving into Cherokee Indian Territory later.

  

More About Jacob Hacker's Family

I want to talk briefly about three more of Jacob Hacker's grandsons before we move on.  They were Newton Hacker, William R. Hacker, and Joseph Earnest Hacker--sons of Jacob Jr. and Sarah Lloyd Hacker.  To reiterate, Jacob Hacker is a brother of Joseph Hacker, the ancestor of Hackers related to me.  So these people are, at best, very distant cousins to us.  However, Julius C. Hacker--Joseph's son and my gg grandfather--was a first cousin of Jacob Jr., the father of these three young men.

Jacob Hacker Jr. was born in Greene County, Tennessee in 1802.  He grew up, married Sarah Lloyd on 3 Nov 1831, and lived out his life in Greene County.  On the 1850 Federal Census, he is listed with his wife and three children, owning real estate worth $500.  His occupation was as a teacher.  So he had acquired some education, and did not become a farmer.

Each of Jacob's three sons also were well-educated and followed professions other than farming. Newton Hacker is listed as a lawyer on the 1900 Federal Census.  William R. Hacker was listed as a teacher on the 1880 Federal Census, but was operating lead mines in Jasper County, Missouri soon after.  Joseph E. Hacker was listed as working for the Dept. of Internal Revenue as a collector on the 1880 Federal Census for Greene County, TN.

A biographical was written about Newton Hacker and published in a book called "A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans by Will T. Hale and Dixon L. Merritt."  This biographical described his distinguished military career during the Civil War, his law studies, his career as an attorney general of the 1st judicial circuit of Tennessee, a judge, and a lawmaker of the State of Tennessee.  Early in the Civil War, Newton Hacker chose the Union side of the conflict and organized a Union militia company, believing that his company would be supplied with arms by the Federal Government.  This did not happen, however, and Confederate forces in Tennessee forced such Union militias to disband. Their leaders hid out in the hills or escaped into Kentucky.

Newton Hacker joined a large company led by Captain James Lane that crossed the Cumberland mountains.  He was eventually captured by Confederate forces in Kentucky and was held as a prisoner for several weeks.  He was finally released in Lexington, Kentucky (where I now live), and returned to Greene County, Tennessee.  There, he was formally recruited for the Federal Union army by Captain James Lytle Carter.  They crossed the mountains into Kentucky, and he attached himself to Company A, Fourth Tennessee Volunteer Infantry.

Newton now had official papers from the Federal army, and he returned to Greene County, TN to recruit a force of 200 men that were to be sworn into the Federal US Army.  So, he was right back where he started--leader of a small force of 200 men.  This force traveled by night (the only way to do it) through the Tennessee mountains to reach Kentucky.  His recruits were mustered into the Fourth Tennessee Volunteer Infantry in Louisville.  Newton Hacker was given the rank of Lieutenant, but was later promoted to the rank of Captain.  He served with that rank until the end of the Civil War.  He was mustered out of the army in August 1865.

This story gives us a microcosm of the role that Kentucky played as a border state that never joined the Confederacy, but that had many Confederate sympathizers among its citizens.  Both Union and Confederate armies functioned in different parts of Kentucky.  Kentucky became the go-to place for Tennessee Union sympathizers who did not want to join, or fight for, the Confederacy.  However, Newton Hacker was captured by a Confederate force in Kentucky, and held prisoner.  In Tennessee, Confederate units would patrol the countryside looking for able-bodied men that they "recruited" for the Tennessee Confederate forces.  Men were forced into Confederate service whether they liked it or not.  So, many of them fled by night through the Tennessee mountains into Kentucky.  Joel Hacker, son of Joseph Hacker and first cousin of Jacob Jr. (Newton's father), made the same journey through the mountains to Louisville, KY so that he could join the Union army.  It was a difficult journey for the men who undertook it.

At the same time, the story tells us of the ideological split that existed in Tennessee.  A large part of the populace did not want to join the Confederacy.  But politicians at the top made that happen, and then they tried to force the general population to support the Confederacy.  Census records show that the Hackers who lived in Tennessee did not own slaves.  They were of German descent and, perhaps, did not believe in holding slaves.  Or, they had smaller farms, and did not need slaves.  Something like that.  So, they saw no reason to fight in this war that was--to a great degree--about slavery.  I say "to a great degree" because I have learned, while living in Kentucky, that Southerners do not believe the Civil War was about slavery.  They believe it was about the Northern states trying to prevent the Southern states from developing a manufacturing-based economy which would compete with the North.  So, the Southern states had to depend on an agricultural economy, and that meant large plantations growing cotton that needed slaves to provide cheap labor.  I have heard this argument stated by people who are native Kentuckians, and I was a little surprised to say the least.

After the Civil War, Newton Hacker returned to Jonesboro, Tennessee and resumed his profession of teaching school.   He studied law under Chancellor Seth J. W. Lucky, and was admitted to the bar at Jonesboro, Washington Co., Tennessee in 1866.  In 1867 he was elected to the State legislature representing Washington County.  In 1870 he was elected attorney-general of the first judicial circuit of Tennessee.  In August 1878 he was elected to a judgeship for that same first judicial circuit of Tennessee and served an 8-year term.

Newton Hacker retired from the bench in 1886 and returned to his private law practice.  He lived out his life practicing law, living in Jonesboro, Washington Co., Tennessee.  He was active in the Republican Party and was highly regarded throughout the Eastern Tennessee region.  He died in 1922.  (Biographical information from "A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans by Will T. Hale and Dixon L. Merritt, Volume V, The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago and New York, pub. 1913.)

Moving on to William R. (W. R.) Hacker, we find that he also had a biographical written about him.  It was published in the "The Biographical Record of Jasper County" by Malcom G. McGregor, Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, 1901.  This biographical began with a description of W. R.'s family tree, beginning with Julius Hacker and Martha Beals of Pennsylvania.  Julius Hacker, W. R.'s paternal great grandfather, came from Germany; the date 1720 is stated.  It is not clear whether that is the date he was born or the date of his arrival in Pennsylvania.  However, Hacker researchers have long stated that he was born in 1720 in Germany and emigrated to Pennsylvania sometime after that.

The Biographical continues with a fairly complete rundown of the children of Julius and Martha.  It also states where some of them lived, who they married, and some of the grandchildren.  This biographical was found by a Hacker researcher and made available on a Hacker forum in the late 1990s.  Everyone was delighted because it was the first document to provide a relatively complete picture of the Julius Hacker family tree.  Before that, information about this branch of the Hacker family was based on stories handed down verbally within families.  Little documentary evidence had been found.  For instance, no one has yet discovered what ship Julius Hacker came over on, or when he came to the New World.

The biographical has provided Hacker researchers with some guidance for their research.  But it has been proven to have errors in it.  It was probably based on family records kept by the Jacob Hacker family.  Therefore, records for descendants of Jacob's brothers and sisters were somewhat less detailed, and error-prone.  However, it is surprising how much information in the biographical has stood up under further scrutiny.

As to W. R.'s own life, the biographical states that W. R. was born in Greene County, TN and was the son of Jacob Jr. and Sarah Lloyd Hacker.  He also served in the Union army during the Civil War, joining the 3rd Regiment, Tennessee Volunteer Infantry in 1864.  He served until the end of the war.  In 1870 W. R. Hacker was living with his mother, Sarah Hacker, and younger brother Joseph in Greene County, TN.  His father had died.  His occupation was listed as "reading the law."  So, he was getting an education as a lawyer.  He married Margaret M. Brown of Greene County in 1872.

In 1880, W. R. Hacker moved to Joplin, Jasper Co., Missouri.  His occupation was listed as "teacher."  However, the biography states that he soon began prospecting and opening lead mines.  It describes three different mines that he opened and developed.  This brought great prosperity to Joplin and Jasper County.  I can testify that when I visited my nephew John Hacker in Carthage, MO, I saw large mansions that had been built by citizens who were wealthy because of the lead mines.  Since the biographical was describing an ongoing career, it showed him when he was at the height of it.

By the way, the lead mines petered out around 1945, partly due to a drop in the price of the metal. They are no longer the basis of the Jasper County economy.

In 1913, W. R. Hacker was listed as living in Leavenworth, Kansas at the National Military Home.  He was 66 by that time.  He lived out his life in that home, and died 23 Feb 1920.

Joseph Earnest Hacker was the 3rd child of Jacob Jr. and Sarah Lloyd Hacker.  He was also well-educated, and went into the field of accounting and banking.  No one wrote a biographical about him.  He married Jessie R. Britton in Greene County in 1879.  They lived in Greeneville, Greene Co., TN and had three children.  His occupation was listed as a bank teller in 1900.  By 1920 he was a bank vice president.   He apparently held that position until his death 23 Dec 1932.

Although we are not descended from these distinguished gentlemen, we can take a little pride in knowing that some of our relatives did very well and distinguished themselves in their professions.