Rev. J. T. Haly, farmer and stock-raiser, White Hall, Ark. This much esteemed and respected citizen is the son of Charles and Mary (Walker) Haly, natives of North Carolina and Virginia, respectively. Charles Haly is of the old English stock of Halys, who were early settlers of North Carolina. He followed farming, and he and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In his political views he affiliated with the Democratic party. Rev. J. T. Haly is the ninth of eleven children born to his parents. Thomas, a mechanic, was one of the first settlers of Houston, Tex., where many monuments of his handiwork, in the shape of buildings, etc., may still be seen; he died there about thirty years ago, and a large number of descendants still reside there. Mrs. Susan Rily was the wife of Martin Rily, a farmer of Dunklin County, Mo., where she died about 1860. Charles died in North Carolina at the age of twenty-one years. Stephen D. went from North Carolina to Tennessee, thence to Missouri, where he dealt in fine stock; he moved with Thomas Benton to Oregon at an early day and has never been heard from since. The third child, Mary, wife of a farmer of Middle Tennessee, died there about forty years ago. William, a farmer, mechanic and a Methodist minister, died in Tennessee, in 1881. Julia was the wife of Hugh Austin, a farmer of Lincoln County, Tenn.; she died at Harrisburg, Ark., about 1879. Benjamin, a farmer with a large family, died about thirty-four years ago in (now) Conway County, Ark., and part of his family still reside there, and the others in Oregon. Patsey married Reuben Willbanks, a farmer and mechanic, who died in Saline County, Ark.
Rev. J. T. Haly was born in Rockingham, eleven miles east of Danville, N. C., on the 5th of October, 1812, and was reared and educated in Middle Tennessee. He began life for himself at about the age of twenty-two years, and in 1834 was united in marriage to Miss Mary Austin, a native of North Carolina and of Irish descent. By this union he became the father of these children: Matilda, wife of Joseph Hall, died in Poinsett County, Ark., in 1879; Betty, wife of Thomas Hawkins, both of whom died in this county; Mollie, wife of Alex. Steward, a farmer, and lives in Poinsett County, Ark.; Rachel, wife of Stephen Haly, lives in Oregon; Julia, wife of John Howard, also lives in Oregon; Pinckney, died at the age of three years, and McHaly, who joined the army at the age of eighteen years and was killed at the battle of Atlanta, Ga., in 1864. The mother of these children died in Poinsett County, Ark., in 1876, and was a worthy and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Haly took for his second wife, in 1879, Mrs. Martha Wiley, widow of William Wiley, by whom she had four children: Mary, wife of John Rily, a farmer, and lives in Cross County, Ark.; Greene died in 1870, at the age of eleven years; Anna, wife of Abijah Williams, a farmer, lives in Poinsett County, and Martha Jane, wife of John Sears, a miner, and lives near Santa Fe, N. M. Mr. Haly moved to Arkansas in 1856, and found this part of the State wild and unbroken. He bought 100 acres, and began to open new land, there being but twenty acres cleared, and has added to and sold land until he now owns 140 acres, with about fifty acres cleared and under a high state of cultivation. He has a good orchard, and is in every way fixed to pass his declining years in comfort. He can tell many interesting stories of early life in Arkansas, and says that at the time of his first residence here it was a common thing to see fifty or 100 deer in a day, and occasionally one might find a bear. Turkeys, raccoons and wolves were very plentiful, but, as he was a man of industrious habits, Mr. Haly did not follow hunting to any great extent. When he first came here there were but five small farms between his place and Harrisburg, and, with the exception of Joseph Reeves, there are none living here now who were residents at that time. About the year 1859 Mr. Haly was elected school commissioner, and held that position until 1862. In 1877 he was elected county judge, and served one term in that office. He votes with the Democratic party. He and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for fifty years he has been a class leader in the same, and for five years has been an elder.