East Tennessee Hackers in the Civil War
Old cabin, Morgan Co., TN East Tennessee Footsteps

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Families:

   Delaney:
    Daniel H. Delaney
    Daniel H. & John
    Malissa Delaney

   Mayton:
     Jacob & Mary Jane

   Hacker:
     The Civil War
     Joseph & Priscilla
     Jacob & Martha
     Julius Jr. & Sarah
     John & Massie
     Susan & Allen
     Betsey & James
     Alford Hacker Sr.
     Alford Hacker Jr.  

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Alford M. Hacker Sr.

Alford (spelled Alfred in some documents) M. Hacker Sr. was the grandson of Julius Hacker Sr., and appears to have spent most of his life in the Meigs, McMinn, and Roane County areas.

Most of what we know about Alford Hacker Sr. and his family is the result of three sources:

  • Two newspaper articles published in the Chattanooga Times about his son Alford Hacker Jr., one an anniversary story in 1935 and the other an obituary in 1937. James Swanson, an Alford Hacker descendant and researcher (jswa50@adelphia.net) kindly scanned the articles and sent them to me.

  • A Civil War questionnaire sent to 5,000 former veterans circa 1922 by the Tennessee Historical Committee and returned by Alford Hacker Jr. (Later references to this questionnaire will be made as THC CW questionnarie.)

The first official record I found for Alford Sr., was in Meigs Co. in 1836, when he appeared on page 153 of the 1836 Meigs Will Book 1836, owing the estate of Samuel McAdoo, "Dec'd," a sum of $5.00.

According to the anniversary story and the THC CW Questionnaire, Alford married a Margaret Freeman; based on the birthdates of their children, this was probably around 1834-36. In the same THC CW Questionnaire, Alfred Jr. named his mother's parents as Pete Freeman and his wife Sallie Moorehead, who lived at Rutherford Co., NC on Big Pee Dee River.

Alford Sr. was born about 1810 in Morgan Co., Tennessee and Margaret was born about 1811 in North Carolina. Knowing where she was born was key in helping me originally place several Hackers as belonging to this family; and when I eventually uncovered a document listing all of Alford and Margaret's children, it confirmed all of their births.

In 1840 Alford Sr. was listed in the Meigs County census as a farmer, as he was in the 1860 Roane County census. He was, according to the 1935 newspaper article, also a stagecoach driver and served in the Mexican War. I have been unable to locate a service record for him; but depositions contained in the Civil War pension file of his son-in-law John Delaney make it clear that his service was well known in the family.

Alford Jr. indicated in the THC CW Questionnaire that his father also fought during the Civil War for the Confederacy in McKenzie's Co.. If he meant the McKenzie's unit from Morgan Co., I could not find a record of him serving with this unit. But an Alfred Hacker, listed also as A.L., served with the Confederate 62nd Tennessee Infantry Regiment, also called Rowan's Infantry Regiment, and also called the 80th Tennessee Infantry Regiment. His Confederate service records shows that he entered service in 1862 and died in a Confederate hospital in Jackson Mississippi on 28 April 1863 from chronic diarrhea. I have accounted for all other known Alfred Hackers and believe this man to be Alfred Hacker Sr.

A death between 1860, when the family was living in Roane Co. TN, and 1870 is borne out by 1870 census information showing Margaret living with her son-in-law John alias "Casson" Delaney and daughter Martha Jane in McMinn County. In 1880, Margaret was living with Alford Jr. and his second wife, Nancy. She appears to have died after 1880.

Alford Sr.'s & Margaret's Children

In 1908, Samuel M. Hacker, oldest son of Alford Hacker Sr., made a deposition to establish the birth date of his sister Martha Jane. She was applying for a military widow's pension. The partially-extracted affidavit reads:

"I am the son of Alford Hacker. I was born 1838 on the 12th day of February."

Question: "How many brothers and sisters have you?"

Answer: "Three sisters and two brothers."

Question: "What was the order of their birth?"

Answer: "Elizabeth was born next to me, Martha Jane next and Alford M. was the fourth, and G. Franklin [Alexis' note: Named elsewhere in the pension as George] was the 5th and Arminda Tennessee was the 6th."

Question: "How many of these were born before your father went to Mexico to that war?"

Answer: "Four of us were born before that time."

Signed and dated: S. M. Hacker 20 July, 1908

©Alexis Hacker Scholz 2002-2014.

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