Ralph Hackney Jr. was the son of Ralph Hackney and Catherine Shippy. He was born in Howard Township, Kent Co., Ontario in 1831. The family farm was a short distance east of the present village of Morpeth. He was the second child and second son in the family. Ralph’s marriage to Caroline Foster is recorded on 8 May 1855 in the Register of Trinity Church Howard. This marriage must have been short because other sources say that he married Mary Brown and in all censuses collected (1861-Ont; 1870,1880, 1885, 1900 - Neb) his wife is Mary. In the 1900 census of Nebraska he was enumerated twice and the length of his marriage to Mary is reported to be 44 or 45 years. It is possible that Caroline died at the time of the birth of the first child.
In 1856 Ralph’s father sold him 50 unimproved acres of the family farm for 5 shillings ($1.25), which was essentially a gift. It was lakeshore property which does not seem to have been highly valued in those days. Ralph and Mary lived on this farm until they moved to Nebraska and at least 5 of their 6 children were born on it. Shortly before 1870 Ralph Jr. moved his family to Cuming City Precinct, Washington Co., Nebraska. He was part of a great influx of settlers to Nebraska at that time (400% growth in the 1861-70 decade) and many came from Ontario. By 1885 he was farming 280 acres. By 1900 he had moved once more to Custer Co., Nebraska and was still reported to be a farmer.
In the 1900 census Ralph and Mary reported that only 2 of their 6 children were alive. Their daughter Alice is supposed to have married Henry Walter and have died in 1886. I do not know if she had any children. Two sons, Ralph Benjamin Hackney and William Lovel Hackney married and had families. They moved to Wyoming and William later moved to Montana.
At present the last records I have for Ralph Jr. and Mary
are found in the 1900 census.
