Directory:
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Halfords
of the Carolinas
Most Americans with the surname Halford
or Hallford can trace their lineage back to one of two families living
in the Carolinas in the late 1700s: The family of John Halford (c. 1748
- c 1799) in Rutherford County, North Carolina and the family of
Achillis "Killis" Halford (c. 1756 - c. 1830) in Barnwell County, South
Carolina. There is evidence that these men were closely related
(possibly brothers) descended from of an as yet unidentified Halford
ancestor in Virginia. In addition to these two men are a number of
"loose thread" Halfords that date back to the late 1700s and early
1800s but nearly all of the point to the Carolinas as well. The mission
of this website is to accurately reconstruct the family relationships
and origins of these early Halford families.
It is my position that "Halford" is
surname distinct from the "Alford" surname. Phonetic spellings of
Halford are numerous including variations like Holford, Halfred, Alfred, Alphord and
Alford. Because "Halford" and "Alford" are so phonetically similar,
some "Alford" records are referring to a "Halford." I have seen few
instances of the reverse. There are a few instances of Halford lines
dropping the "H" from their name, most notably Achillis Alford, a son
of John Halford of Rutherford County mentioned above.
Over the course of the past ten years I have compiled a database of
nearly 18,000 people who have the Halford/Hallford surname (or
descended from someone does), who seem likely to be of the Carolina
Halfords. The data relies heavily on census data
as well country histories, county records and research gleaned from
other researchers including e-mail from people who are in a position to
know more about certain lines of the family.
I call the database "Southern Halfords" and I have uploaded it to the
Roots Web World Connect database. The database is NOT the definitive
answer to relationships and lineage. It is a tool I use to collect and
sift the information into the most probable scenarios with the limited
information I have. The "Halford: Southern US" database can be
accessed by entering "mwkruse" in the "jump to specific database" box
at RootsWeb World Connect.
On a personal note, I am not retired and I do not do this work
full-time. If you are trying to locate a Halford ancestor, I invite you
to use the database. Virtually everything I know about individuals is
in this database and the data is referenced. I ALWAYS appreciate
corrections and additions. However, please understand that there can be
considerable lag time between receiving the data and when it gets
posted to Rootsweb. It can range from a few hours to a few weeks
depending on what is happening in my life.
With all that in mind, I hope you find
the information here useful.
Happy Halford hunting!
Michael Kruse
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