The Haley Brick Wall

Roberts/Scott/Haley
By Don Taylor

I hate to ever admit it but, I think I may have hit a brick wall on my Haley line. I think I’ve followed all the reasonable paths and I’m down to speculation and looking to see if I can find any evidence to support or conflict with my speculation.

My Speculation

1860 Census[1]

The 1860 Census indicates that living with my third-great-grandparents (Andrew & Malinda Haley) were Benjamin and Nancy Haley (ages 81 and 70 respectively) were both born in North Carolina. Andrew as only 23-years-old during 1860, so it is unlikely that Benjamin and Nancy are his parents. More likely, they are his grandparents; but they could be related in some other way. Through this post, I’ll consider facts that may confirm or refute this speculation/hypothesis.

1850 Census[2]

An Ancestry search of the 1850 Census resulted in finding four individuals named Benjamin Haily (or Haley or Hailey) who were born in North Carolina. Ancestry indicates birth years for the four as, 1802, 1805, 1818, and 1830. None of these seemed to fit my Benjamin Haley. I then searched Family Search using the same criteria. There, the same four individuals were presented, however, the one identified as born about 1830 is identified as being born about 1780 which fits my Benjamin Haley. Looking at the image carefully, it is not clear if the entry is 20 or 70. In my opinion, many of the other twos on the page support the idea that this entry is a 70. If this is the case, then the household would consist of

Clay County, Kentucky – Enumerated 24 Aug 1850 – Dwelling & Household 383, Lines 30-36.

• Elizabeth Haily       Age 44 North Carolina (cannot read or write)
• A??zy  Jr.                    Age 14 Tennessee
• Edward                       Age 12 Tennessee
• Solomon                    Age 8   Tennessee
• Sarah                           Age 5   Tennessee
• Asa                               Age 7/12 Kentucky
• Benj.                            Age 70 North Carolina (cannot read or write)

It is my sense that this is my Benjamin and he is living with his daughter-in-law and her five children.

1840 Census

My Benjamin Haley should be about 60 years of age during the 1840 Census. A review of the census indicates there are two Benjamin Haley’s enumerated in Tennessee. One was in Madison County and appears to be between 30 and 40 years of age[3]. This is clearly not my Benjamin Haley.

The second Benjamin is in Henry County[4]. He is between 20 and 30 years of age. Clearly not my Benjamin Haley either. So, the question is, is he with a son and daughter-in-law or could he still be in North Carolina.

Conclusion

I feel I’ve come against a brick wall. I am not finding any records which are shedding light upon any of these individuals. I think I’ll set this family line aside for a while and come back to it afresh later.

My speculation is that the parents of Andrew J. Haley (1836-1905) are unknown. I believe Andrew’s grandfather was Benjamin Haley (1779-c.1860). I suspect that Benjamin’s apparent wife, Nancy,  during the 1860 census is a second wife and not Andrew’s biological grandmother.[5]

If you have evidence which supports Andrew J. Haley’s parentage or evidence with contradicts this conclusion, I’d love to hear about it.  Please use the comment form below.

ENDNOTES

[1] 1860 Census (NARA), 1860 – A G Haly (A J Haley) – Coffee, Tennessee – 6th Civil District, Page 105, Family 747. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8TT-CY9.

[2] 1850 Census ; Census Place: Kentucky, Clay, Kentucky; Roll: M432_197; Page: 105A; Image: 24 – Ancestry.Com

[3] “United States Census, 1840,” database with images,  FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHYG-6DX : 18 August 2017), Benjamin Haley, Madison, Tennessee, United States; citing p. 113, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 529; FHL microfilm 24,547.

[4] “United States Census, 1840,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHY6-M3G : 18 August 2017), Benjamin Haley, Henry, Tennessee, United States; citing p. 442, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 522; FHL microfilm 24,544.

[5] Benjamin does not appear to have a wife living with him during the 1850 census. However, he has a wife that is 11 years younger during the 1860 census.  I believe this to be a second (or more) wife.

– – – – – – – – – – – – Disclaimer – – – – – – – – – – – – –