This page has been updated as of November 6, 1999. I welcome any stories, census records, wills and photographs or other documents that you may wish to contribute. I promise to give you full credit/acknowledgement. This is what family genealogy is all about ----- sharing what you have for the enhancement and preservation of our family history for future generations. I also extend my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to my cousin, John Sheppy of Victoria, British Columbia who has provided many of the stories listed below.
I dedicate this "Hackney" page to my paternal grandmother, Ora O'Neill Hackney-Ratcliff. She is the reason why I have pursued our family history for over 20 years. She is the grandmother that little girls dream about...the grandma whose home I went to visit during summer vacations...who used to give the biggest and most loving hugs....who could make the kitchen a magical place of aromas with her baking of doughnuts, breads and cookies.
But most of all I admired my Grandma Ora because she lived her life as a true Christian....not spending every waking moment in church but doing good for those in need within her immediate family and her community. She raised a mentally challenged son to manhood and prepared him to care and support himself in his own home long after she was gone from this life. She was a survivor who raised four boys after her husband died of a brain tumor at a time in her life when they should have been enjoying the joys of parenting and celebrating a wonderful marriage together.
God bless her and I hope that these pages have made her smile on me once again as she did when she first saw us pull up into her driveway during our many, many visits to the "Old Home Place" located at 117 West Park Street in Newcastle, Weston County, Wyoming which is no longer.
Grandma Ora was a woman before her time....she was well educated during a time when women stayed at home and tended the hearth and homeplace. She was well versed and had the opportunity to travel to Europe in 1911.
Please take a moment to read the story of this wonderful woman whom I was blessed to call my "Grandma Ora".
