Descendants of Phillip Thomas Hefley
 

 Generation No. 1

        1.  Phillip Thomas¹ Hefley was born About 1750 in Holland and died in July 1803 in Buncomb County, North Carolina.  He married Mary Devar about 1770.  She was born between 1754-1759 and died after 1830 in Haywood County, North Carolina.

Notes for Phillip Thomas Hefley:
Mary Lou Jackson Hall provided the following notes:

Phillip bought land in 1801 (Buncombe County Deeds 4, pages 639-40).  Phillip died the third Monday of November and Mary entered into bond with approved securities at Court in Ashville, Buncombe County, North Carolina (April 1898-July 1912 Book, page 155).

The following notes were provided by Gregory Strong:

Buncombe County was divided into smaller counties and the area where Phillip and Mary Hefley lived became Haywood County.  Nathan Dever to Phillip Haffley," 25 July 1801, Reg. July 1 803, Buncombe Co., NC Deed Book 4, p. 639-640.

Note: Phillip Haffley is mentioned as being from Chester County, South Carolina.

Thought: There was a Mary Dever born about 1757, could she have been the wife of Phillip Hefley???

Abstract from deed record:

25 July 1801, Nathan Dever of Buncombe Co., NC to Phillip Hafley of Chester Co., SC for $180.00 land west side of Pigeon River , containing 200 acres. As an indefeasible an estate of inheritance to him the said Phillip Haffley and to his heirs forever.

Test: Joseph Sorrells

Andrew (x) Haffelley

Nathan Dever (seal)

State of NC, Buncombe Co. July 1803 deed proved in open court by Joseph Sorrells and registered.  "Mary Hafly letters of administrator.," July 1803, Buncombe Co., NC Court Proceedings 1798 - 1812, p. 155.  Mary Hafley came into court and prayed liberty to administer on the Estate of Philip Hafly, deceased;--After taking the oath o f an administrator and entering into bond with approved security to wit--William Dever and John (Janeth?) ordered by court that letters of administrator issue

Letters approved.

"Heirs of Hefley vs. Asa Wilson," 7 April 1831, Haywood Co. , NC Estate.  Records 1809-1942, North Carolina State Archives.

Note: The named heirs in this document are -

Michael Hefley, Martin, George, Phillip, Barbara, John & Polly Hefly & Bainister Turner and wife Susannah. The Hefley person which the are heirs of is not specified, neither is it specified if they are all brothers and sisters.

Jonathan K.T. Smith, "Pearson Family Records," A Genealogic al - Memoir: The Pearsons, (Memphis, TN, 1974), Tennessee Stat e Library and Archives, Microfilm Collection, Roll #726, Reel #8.

Johnny Dan Hefley, "William Hefley," Tippah County Mississippi Heritage, p. 378.

Federal Census Population Schedules:

1790 South Carolina Index, Camden District, Chester County

Phillip Hefley:
3 males 16 and upwards
2 males under 16
3 females

1800 Lincoln County, North Carolina

Phillip Hefner:
2 males under 10
1 male 26-45
1 female under 10
1 female 26-45

Could this be the same as Phillip Hefley that is listed in 1790 in Chester County, South Carolina?????

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Phillip Thomas Hefley may well have been a grandson of Johan Carle Haffelee who immigrated through Amsterdam from Bavaria. I have the ship manifesto, date and passenger list in my files. Johan's wife's name was Eva Kern or Kernin (can't remember her exact surname but I have it). They had a number of children in Pennsylvania and some of them began using the Hefley spelling. I've never found any other Hefley (of any spelling) on a passenger list. Some people speculate that Phillip was an immigrant but I have found no evidence to suggest that.

I may have sent some of this to one or both of you but anyway I think it went something like this:

Johan Carle Hefley (Haffelee, Hoeftle, ?) sp. Eva Kern - I have at least partial list of their children, some dates, some spouses and some children.

(son) Hefley (Johan's son)
Phillip Thomas Hefley sp. Mary(?) (son's son)
John Hefley sp. Elizabeth Bailey (Phillip's son)
Philip Hefley sp. Hannah Sharp (John's son)

Source: Dennis Key keygd@aol.com, or dkey@globitech.com

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Letter written by Mr. Jonathan Smith to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. As our forebear, Phillip Hefley aka Hafalee, appear in northwest S.C. & Southwest N.C., without any leads as to his immediate origins. Speculation that he might have been a Hessian or one of the German "Kingdon" that hired-out some of its men to assist the British government. Hefley first appears in records known to us a few years after the American Revolution. There is now a definitive record of those Germans who did so assist the British, I made inquiry of the Historical Society of Penn.

Reply:

Regarding your recent inquiry with the Historical Society of Penn. You were interested in knowing if the name Haefale, Hefley, Hafalee or Hafley appeared in an index of Hessian Soldiers. After checking book entitled Hessische Trupenm Im Amerikanischen Unabhangigkeitskrieg (Hetrina) of which there were five subparts. After going through all subparts and unfortunately was unable to find any of the various spellins of the name. Sorry did not have better luck.  Please don't hesitate to contact me with further questions or if I may be of further assistance to you. Best of luck with your ongoing research. Best Regards

Kelly Clegg (listed as Research Service Associate)

Historical Society of Pennsylvania 1300 Locus Street - Philadelphia, Pa 29207
(215) 732-6200 ext, 302 email address: kelegg@hsp.org

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I'll share these excerpts from a copy of a letter that another Hefley researcher, Jonathan K.T. Smith, passed on to me. This is a reply from Mrs. Baerble K Johnson, International Reference Unit, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, dated 26 September 2001; 

Dear Mr. Smith,

My best educated guess at the origin of the surname Hefley is that it was originally Haeffe, Haeffeli, Heffeli, or Hefflele and came from Germanic country, either Germany or German-speaking Switzerland. Several entries of such variants are found in the International Genealogical Index. I don't think the name was originally Dutch. The earliest ancestors may have been Germans who first came to Pennsylvania and then went to the southern states since Pennsylvania was getting crowded.

The theory is supported by an entry in Strassburger-Hinke's "Pennsylvania German Pioneers". These early Philadelphia passenger arrivals include Johann Carl Haeffele (also spelled Haffele or Hefley) who arrived in Philadelphian the ship "William" on 31 October 1737. The "Haeffele(=Haffele)" surname is common in parts of Wuerttemberg and Bavaria.

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The clan of Phillip Thomas Heffele (Heffley-Hefley), 4000 strong, has been trying to locate this forefather for many years. He was born about 1750 in Hesse or Basel area of Germany. There is strong speculation that he was a Hessian soldier and stayed in the colonies after the war.  We need help in locating information on how to chase down rosters of Hessian soldiers.

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More About Phillip Thomas Hefley:
Emigration: 26 September 1737, On St Andrews Galley In Philadelphia
Family Reference: Mary MacDonald via Evelyn Bartlett Flood
Individual Note: Gregory Strong has place of birth as Hesse or Basel, Germany
Middle Name: 02 August 1999, Provided by Mike Rutledge
Month of Death: Provided by Gregory Strong
Place of Birth: Provided by Mike Rutledge
Surname: Original spelling was "Heifle" - this was provided by Evelyn Bartlett Flood

More About Mary Devar:
Maiden Name: Provided by: Gregory Strong ( actuarius@mn.mediaone.net)

Children of Phillip Hefley and Mary Devar are:

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