Robert Jackson Hackley b. 4 Jul 1798 Virginia d. Jan 1845 Tallahassee, Florida: Verts Virts Werts Wirts Hackley Leigh Lind Lynn Mann Families Genealogy

1798 - 1845 (46 years)

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Name	Robert Jackson Hackley
Born	4 Jul 1798	Virginia
Gender	Male
Died	Jan 1845	Tallahassee, Florida
Buried	Saint Johns Episcopal Church Cemetery, Tallahasse, Florida
Person ID	I39266	Virts
Last Modified	7 Oct 2015

Father	Richard Shippey Hackley, b. 27 Aug 1770, Fredericksburg, Virginia , d. 16 Feb 1843, Norfolk, Virginia (Age 72 years)
Mother	Anne Battaile Jackson, b. 9 Oct 1773, Essex County, Virginia , d. 29 Jan 1802, New York, New York (Age 28 years)
Married	16 Oct 1790	Maryland
Family ID	F15644	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family Mary Strachan, b. 28 Mar 1808, Petersburg, Virginia , d. 1883, Gordonsville, Virginia (Age 74 years)

Children

	1. Harriett Randolph Hackley, b. 1827, Tallahassee, Florida , d. 18 Jun 1849, Brunswick County, Virginia (Age 22 years)
	2. Jane Strachan Hackley, b. Abt 1828, Florida , d. 27 Apr 1854, Brunswick County, Virginia (Age ~ 26 years)
	3. Lucia Beverly Hackley, b. 12 Apr 1829, Tallahassee, Florida , d. 22 Feb 1879, Brunswick County, Virginia (Age 49 years)
	4. Sarah Feild Hackley, b. 1831, Tallahassee, Florida , d. 8 Mar 1917, Richmond, Virginia (Age 86 years)
	5. Elizabeth Madison Hackley, b. Nov 1836, Orange County, Virginia , d. 2 Jun 1918, Powhatan County, Virginia (Age ~ 81 years)
	6. Robert Jackson Hackley, Jr., b. 1841, Tallahassee, Florida , d. 23 May 1899, California (Age 58 years)
	7. Mary Hackley, b. 1842, Tallahassee, Florida , d. 12 Feb 1870, Montgomery, New York (Age 28 years)
	8. Alexander Strachan Hackley, b. 1842, Tallahassee, Florida , d. 7 Feb 1885, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York (Age 43 years)

Last Modified 27 Jun 2014

Family ID F16701 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Notes

In 1800, KING FERDINAND of Spain had executed three crown land grants to favored coutiers, but President John Quincy Adams flatly refused to honor them, a fact the courtiers never knew. That confusion led to New York attorney Richard Shippey Hackley, the American consul in Madrid, to purchase approximately eleven million acres of south and western Florida from the Spanish Duke of Alagon in 1819. The duke had received a land grant from Ferdinand VII, King of Spain in February, 1818.

Hackley then sent his son, Robert Jackson Hackley in November 1823, to Tampa to establish the family plantation. Soon, rows of orange, grapefruit and lemon trees were planted, and land was cleared for a house. At the close of 1823, Hackley set sail for a vacation in Pensacola, scarcely imagining what would greet him upon his return: the official arrival of the United States government.

When the United States acquired Florida from Spain in February, 1821, the Adams-Onis Treaty, which transferred Florida to the United States, had nullified all Spanish grants made after January 24,1818. One of the most pressing problems facing President Andrew Jackson was the disposition of the Seminole Indians. It was a problem that became more and more complicated over the next two years, and it was directly responsible for the establishment of Fort Brooke. After much bloodshed and fighting, the Indians were relocated to reservations further south. In reports to their superiors, officers George Mercer Brooke and James Gadsden were enthusiastic about the site they had selected for the fort. Gadsden reported that the "location is judicious...There is a small body of good hammock land already cleared and well adapted for gardens" Colonel Brooke explained that the choice of the site had been influenced by the quantity of cleared land. Neither man mentioned why or by whom the land had been cleared. Indeed, they chose not to report that they had evicted a man who otherwise would have been Tampa Bay's first permanent American settler.

Thus, because of the Adams-Onis treaty, the transaction with Hackley was voided. Nevertheless, Hackley later maintained his claim was valid, as it had been made in good faith, and furthermore, the Adams-Onis Treaty was not ratified until 1821 after the senior Hackley had completed the transaction. Hackley's heirs subsequently brought suit to get back the land. In affidavits sworn in 1834, both Gadsden and Brooke admitted that they had taken over the clearing and a house built by Robert Jackson Hackley, the son. However, the courts ultimately ruled against Hackley's heirs. (1884, 1905)