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The HACKER FAMILY
(1781-1846)
William Hacker was born in Week St. Mary of the Poundstock Parish in the county of Cornwall in England in 1781 to Thomas and Mary Orchard Hacker. He was baptized June 29, 1781. William married Betty Jenn on December 10, 1810, in Poundstock. To this union, three children were born: Mary Jane, who was born August 17, 1814, and baptized on September 11, 1814, in Poundstock, William baptized March 2, 1817, and Henry baptized November 13, 1819. With the birth of their first two children, it is noted that the Hackers were living in the nearby village of Heelscott. William was listed as a laborer. With the birth of their third child, Henry, the Hackers had moved to the nearby village of Widemouth with William now listing his occupation as farmer. William’s wife, Betty, died shortly after the baptism of Henry on November 15, 1819, probably from complications of childbirth, at the age of 35, in Widemouth, leaving William to care for their three small children. Henry then died two months later.
Two and one half years later, William remarried. On June 18, 1822, William Hacker married Elizabeth “Betsy” Jasper who was born January 5, 1800, in England. They were married in Poundstock. Their marriage license noted that William was a “widower,” and Elizabeth as a “sojourner,” meaning a person with a temporary residence. To this union, three of their next ten children were born in the nearby village of Tregole where William was a farmer. Richard was born February 26, 1823, and baptized in Poundstock on March 23, 1823. Charlotte was baptized on July 22, 1824. Nathaniel was born June 12, 1824, and was baptized in Poundstock on September 18, 1825.
According to Munsell’s book on the History of Carroll County, William and Elizabeth Hacker and their family left England, immigrated to North America in about 1830, and landed at Prince Edward Island in Canada. They lived on Prince Edward Island for more than four years before moving on to Wayne County, Pennsylvania where they lived until 1836. The Hackers then left Pennsylvania and moved to Ulster County, New York where they resided until after the birth of their son, John in September of 1844.
They then settled in Whiteside County in northwestern Illinois, where William farmed land along the Whiteside and Carroll County lines.
During this period of time in America, William and Elizabeth had seven more children. Elizabeth, “Betsy Ann,” was born. The twins Eliza Jane and Anna Belle, were born February 24, 1830, on Prince Edward Island. James was born March 19, 1832, in Nova Scotia, along with Mary born on June 19, 1834. Edward was born October 1, 1839, in New York. John, their youngest child, was born on January 22, 1842, in Ulster County, New York.
Munsell’s History of Carroll County maintained that William and his family left New York and settled in northwestern Illinois in 1844. William Hacker cleared the land and built a home for his family and after toiling for two years to make a home for his family, died in Whiteside County “in the new home leaving his children fatherless” on September 27, 1846, at the age of 65. He was buried in the South Elkhorn Cemetery in Carroll County. His wife, Elizabeth, died 37 years later on April 18, 1883, and was buried there, too.
WILLIAM HACKER JR.
William Hacker was the second child born to William and Betty Jenn Hacker in Heelscott, England. He was baptized on March 2, 1817, in nearby Poundstock of Cornwall County, England. At the age of thirteen, William immigrated to America with his family.
After landing at Prince Edward Island in Canada, the Hackers settled in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. In Wayne County, William married Anne Bellamy(1817-before 1880), a woman who had also emigrated from the nearby town of Jacobstow in Poundstock Parish. The Mt. Pleasant of Wayne County, Pennsylvania Census for 1850 states that William and Anne were 33 years old with a daughter, Eliza, age 6, son, David, age 4, and daughter, Christiana Jane, age 2. The Hackers are mentioned again in the 1860 Census for Mt. Pleasant with William and Anne having four children. Another son, Charles was born in 1853 and was age 7. The final time that William Hacker is mentioned in Pennsylvania records is in the 1880 Census for Whites Valley of Wayne County, Pennsylvania. William Hacker was widowed, age 65, and was living with his son, David, age 34 and a farmer. William Hacker is not mentioned in records again.
(1819-1820) Henry Hacker was born in Widemouth of Cornwall County, England to William and Betty Jenn Hacker. Henry was baptized on November 13, 1819, in Poundstock. His mother died two days later. Henry Hacker died two months later on January 18, 1820, in Widemouth.
RICHARD HACKER
Richard Jasper Hacker was born February 26, 1823, in Tregole of Cornwall County, England to William and Elizabeth Jasper Hacker. He was baptized in Poundstock on March 23, 1823. At the age of seven, Richard immigrated to America landing at Prince Edward Island in Nova Scotia where he and his family lived from 1830-1834. His family then left Canada for the United States and moved to Wayne County, Pennsylvania and then to Ulster County, New York. Richard was fascinated by river travel as documented in Munsell’s book, The History of Carroll County, which noted that Richard “toiled on a canal in boyhood and worked his way to being captain.” The Hudson River ran through Ulster County. Like many in his family, Richard finally moved to Whiteside County, Illinois “owning a good farm and becoming a prominent man in the community.” Richard was a member of the Methodist Church and Superintendent of the Sunday school. On January 1, 1856, he married Lois Johnston, a Canadian immigrant, in Carroll County. To this marriage, two sons were born: Edward on November 19, 1866, and died December 21, 1928, and James in 1873 and died in 1951. A daughter, Ida, was born in May 11, 1860, and died August 21, 1865. In the 1870’s, Richard and his family moved to Township 12 of Wakeeny, Trego County, Kansas where he farmed. He died in Kansas on January 30, 1885, at the age of 62. His family moved back to Whiteside County in 1890 where his two sons bought and farmed 240 acres of land. NATHANIEL HACKER
Nathaniel Hacker was born in Tregole of Cornwall County, England on June 12, 1824, to William and Elizabeth Jasper Hacker. He was baptized in Poundstock on September 18, 1825. At the age of five, Nathaniel and his family emigrated to America landing at Prince Edward Island around 1830. Four or five years later, the Hackers left Canada, and lived for awhile in Pennsylvania and New York. They finally settled in Whiteside County, Illinois where Nathaniel’s father took up farming land in the northeast corner of Whiteside County.
Nathaniel married Adeline Emma Reed on July 3, 1853, in Whiteside County. To this union, five known children were born: Wilbur who eventually moved to Sac City, Iowa, Stella who eventually married William Woodring of Rock Falls, Illinois, Minnie Belle, Recha born in 1855, and Carrie born in 1858. Nathaniel became a successful farmer in Whiteside County. Nathaniel Hacker died in Whiteside County October 25, 1865,
and was buried in South Elkhorn Cemetery in Carroll County.
(1830-1849)
(1830-1895) (1834-1924) Mary Jasper Hacker was born June 19, 1834, to William and Elizabeth Jasper Hacker on Prince Edward Island, in Nova Scotia, Canada. Mary lived in Canada, Pennsylvania and New York before settling with her family on a farm in northeastern Whiteside County in 1844. Mary married William H. Reed (1831-1890) in Sterling, Illinois on October 26, 1856. They farmed 41 acres in Hopkins Township of Whiteside County where William was considered a “prominent and large landowner in the county.” Seven children were born to the couple: Nathaniel, Jasper in 1857, Nettie in 1865, Daniel in 1867, Mary Elizabeth in 1873, Ida in 1877, and Lovie in 1880. Mary’s husband, William, died on August 20, 1890, leaving Mary to raise her family on her own. Records show that in 1913, Mary had moved to Emerson, Illinois. Mary Hacker Reed died on February 15, 1924, in Wheaton, Minnesota at the home of her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Kerling and her husband, Jerome, formerly of Whiteside County. Mary Reed died just one month after the passing of her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Kerling, who died in January of 1824. EDWARD W. HACKER
Edward Hacker was born October 1, 1839, to William and Elizabeth Jasper Hacker in Ulster County, New York. At the age of five, Edward and his family left New York and headed toward the western frontier. They settled in Whiteside County in northwestern Illinois on a farm located on the county line between Carroll and Whiteside County. Two years later, in 1846, Edward’s father died, leaving his mother to raise their large family. During the Civil War, Edward enlisted in Company A of the 34th Illinois Volunteer Infantry on March 5, 1864. Serving in the regiment, Edward Hacker was killed three and one half months later in the trenches at Kennesaw Mountain near Marietta, Georgia along with 3000 other Union soldiers and 1,000 Confederate soldiers on June 27, 1864. (1842-1907)
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