Kirjahaku

This book traces the descendants of Nicholas Ackley in the fifth through the eighth generations in Oswego County, NY: Lot West Ackley, Arthur William Ackley, and Frank A. Ackley and this children. In addition to the Ackley paternal line, the ancestry of as much of the maternal line as possible is traced: Taylor, Matteson, Donovan and Wessels. Included are details such as maps, census data, obituaries, and family trees and photographs. The stories are set in historical context to better understand the lives of these families.

Nicholas Ackley was an early settler of Hartford and a founder of Haddam, CT. This book traces the lives of the second through the fourth generations of this family in Connecticut and New York: James Ackley, Nicholas Ackley, and Abel Ackley. The narrative uses the culture and norms of their times to help understand the lives of these ancestors and to solve puzzles created by sparse official records.The book contains all the reliable documentation for these families and debunks persistent myths about the ancestry of some of the women. Details include the true story about the witchcraft allegation that involved James's sister; the involvement of Nicholas, three of his sons and other Connecticut Ackleys in the French and Indian War; and the record of Abel's service in the Revolutionary War.

This genealogy focuses on Nicholas Ackley, born about 1630 most likely in the East Anglia area of England to Puritan parents. He arrived in Hartford, Connecticut about 1650. In 1662, Nicholas was one of 28 young men who agreed to carve a new town out of the wilderness at what became Haddam, Connecticut. Nicholas and Hannah Ackley welcomed 10 children, 5 boys and 5 girls. After Hannah's death in the mid-1680s, Nicholas married the widow Miriam. Less than a decade later, Nicholas Ackley died, on 29 April 1695 in Haddam. Nearly half a millennium later, myths and errors about Nicholas Ackley and his family are splashed over various genealogy sites on the internet. This book details what documented facts exist and what else is most likely to be true, using the norms and customs of the time as a guide. It sets the Ackleys in the context of early Connecticut, providing a richer view of their lives than just names and dates.