HAILEY FAMILY
HISTORY

(NOTE: This site is under construction.The following information has not been 100% substantiated but we feel it is reasonably accurate.)

In attempting to write of the Haley Family, we should begin our record with the London Company, which planted the first permanent settlement at Jamestown in 1607. . . . Mr. JOHN HALEY had been a stockholder in England in the London Company, and either because it paid no dividends, or for some other reason, we find him disposing of some of his stock in the Company in 1618. He had been interested in the venture, to the extent of placing his money in the enterprise, and was thus instrumental in the planting of the first English Settlement in the New World.

Virginia Chronology by Michael Hailey

I don't know if the above mentioned John Haley is related at all or if we can trace the family history back that far but it will be fun trying.

WILLIAM HAILEY(? - 1782) - was the first Hailey to settle in Anson Co., North Carolina. We think this is when the "i" began appearing in the surname. Quaker records indicate that he lived in Louisa Co., VA before moving to North Carolina. On November 5, 1754 he purchased 213 acres of land on the east side of the Pee Dee River for 75 lbs. Virginia money.

The following is excerpted from a letter from May Beredrow ( a great granddaughter of Wesley Tarrant Hailey) to Bobbie Hailey Sapp (a g-g-granddaughter of Lorenzo Dow Hailey) dated May 30, 1982.

On the group family sheet you sent me on William Hailey (died 1792) you show his wife as Elizabeth. I have found the marriage record of William Hailey/Haley and Elizabeth Henarnitta(SIC) Forrester on 23 October 1755 in Kent County, Shrewsbury Church, Maryland. Does this sound correct?

Also the records of the (Quaker)Monthly Meetings were abstracted and published in 1936 by William Wade Hinshaw in Volume I of his ENCYCLOPEDIA OF QUAKER GENEALOGY. .....The records of the Virginia MM's are on Vol. 6, William Hailey was at the Fork Creek Meeting, Louisa Co., VA at least by Sept. 8, 1746. This was a meeting subordinate to the Cane Creek MM which is now Richmond (NC) MM. William and Elizabeth removed to the Cane Creek MM (photos), North Carolina in 1755-1756. Some of their children married at Cane Creek MM and they later moved to South Carolina. There is no mention of Elizabeth prior to 1755 in the MMs.......

If the above Elizabeth Forrester was indeed the wife of our William Hailey, she may have been his second wife.

The following is excerpted from SECTION I - LOUISA COUNTY QUAKERS

William Haley, formerly thought to have been a son of John of Louisa, was probably a brother to John and also a Quaker. His name first appears in Louisa on February 14, 1742, when his cattle mark (of two smooth crops) was recorded. Again his name appears on October 10, 1743, when his negro boy was adjudged to be eight years old. His first land in Louisa was probably acquired before 1742, when Louisa was severed from the western portion of Hanover. Hanover records prior to 1742 might reveal more of William. His first patent to land in Louisa was "granted to him, the said William Haley, by his Majesty's letters pattent bearing the XXV day of June, One Thousand seven hundred and forty seven, and the revertions, To Have and to Hold." His next grant of four hundred acres was "granted to him the said William Haley by his Majesty's letter pattent bearing date the 10th day of February, 1748." On the 9th of August, 1746, William Haley was appointed Co of the newly settled Meeting at Fork Creek in Louisa. This Meeting was near the Louisa and Goochland County line. On the 16th of May, 1748, William and his family were received in membership in the Camp Creek Meeting. On April 16, 1750, William requested to be released as overseer of the Fork Creek Meeting, as he was now a member in good standing in Camp Creek. On the 25th of August, 1752, William was granted a certificate to the Cain Creek Monthly Meeting in North Carolina. He was no doubt thinking of leaving Virginia, probably due to persecution, as he was an outstanding Quaker among this sect. However, he seems to have attempted to remain in Virginia for the time being, and on April 13, 1754, he was serving on a committee of his Church and signed a marriage certificate for a couple. Conditions must have still remained critical, for in 1754 his property was seized due to the zeal of the new Minister of the Established Church in Louisa. On October 12, 1754, he requested a Certificate to Friends in North Carolina. His fellow Quakers seemed loath to see him leave their midst, for though he applied for a certificate to the Cane Creek Meeting in North Carolina on August 9, 1755, it was not until October 11, 1755, that the certificate was granted. He and his family moved to Anson County, North Carolina, in the fall of 1755, where the Established Church was of no consequence, and the majority of the population were Quakers. On December 6, 1755, William Haley was received on certificate by the Cane Creek Monthly Meeting in North Carolina from the Camp Creek Meeting in Virginia. So at last he had left his home state, no longer able to abide by conditions that prevailed there. On the 11th of November, 1756, having been in North Carolina for a year, William Haley sold to Elkanah Anderson, of the County of Hanover in Virginia, the 400 acre plantation on the branches of Fork Creek, which he had patented on the 10th day of February in 1748 for £40. Two days later, on November 13, 1756, William Haley, of the Colony of North Carolina and County of Anson, sold to Joseph Crews, of the Colony of Virginia and County of Hanover and Parish of St. Peters, 200 acres of land for £20 which had been granted to William Haley by his Majesty's Letter Patent bearing the 25th day of June, 1747. John Haley and Benjamin Clark were witnesses. On September 20, 1758, Elkanah Anderson and his wife Sarah sold back to William Haley of Anson County, North Carolina, Planter, apparently the same 400 acres for the original selling price of £40. On April 25, 1772, John Haley, of the Parish of Fredericksville in Louisa County, received a Letter of Attorney from William Haley, Senior, father of William Haley, Junior, both of whom were in Anson County, North Carolina, instructing him to see that the 400 acres on branches of Fork Creek were granted to his son William, Junior, which was accordingly done. Nowhere is the name of the wife of William Haley, Senior, mentioned, and it is assumed she was deceased, else her signature would have been required on the sale or transfer of property. Having the 400 acres on branches of Fork Creek in his own name, William Haley, Junior, of the Province of North Carolina, lost little time in disposing of the tract, as he sold it on June 13, 1772, to Nicholas Merewether of the County of Goochland for £20. This had apparently been a gift from father to son and seems to have been sold for far less than its true value. William Haley, Senior, made his first purchase of land in Anson County, North Carolina, on the 5th day of November in 1754, when he paid Joseph Kemp of Anson County £75 for 213 acres of land. He seems to have spent the remainder of his life in North Carolina, but had moved across the Pee Dee River into Richmond County prior to the making of his will on April 28, 1780. He was deceased prior to December Court, 1782, as his will was admitted to probate at that time. His sons Silas Haley and William Haley were named as his executors. He left the following to his seven children:

I William Haley of Richmond County and State of North Carolina being weak in body but sound in mind and memory do make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner following to wit. I give unto my son Isam five pounds current money. I give unto my son Randolph Haley one feather bed, two cows and calves, and a heifer and five pounds in currency. I give unto my son Silas Haley one feather bed, two cows and calves and five pounds in currency. I I give unto my son William Haley five pounds in currency. I give unto my daughter Mary Jones twenty pounds equal to god or silver. I give unto my daughter Milly Haley one feather bed, two cows and calves, one mare and saddle commonly called hers and part of my household furniture and I do hereby constitute and appoint my sons Silas and William Haly executors of this my last will and testament revoking all other wills whatsoever in witness (?) where of I have herewith set my hand and seal this twenty eighth day of April one thousand seven hundred and eighty.

Signed William Haley (Signed with his mark)

His will only mentions six children but I have found some unconfirmed evidence of an additional daughter named Lucy who is not named in his will.

William Hailey died about 1782 in Richmond Co., N.C. and is buried in the Old Quaker Cemetery, Richmond County, North Carolina.

The Children of William Haley

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