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.