The Hales Newsletter

Motto: United Force is Stronger

NEW SERIES Spring 1995 Vol. 1. No. 1.

PREFACE

EDITORIAL

NEWS AND VIEWS

HALES COAT OF ARMS

NEWSLETTER - Old Series

RESEARCH PROJECTS

BOOK REVIEWS

HALES or HAILS or HAILES or HAYLS or HAYLES

THE HALES CHRONICLES

This is the on-line version of the first issue of the New Series of the HALES Newsletter. The original HALES Newsletter first appeared in 1970 in California and an on-line version of all of these Newsletters that were published can be found at <www.hales.org>.

This Newsletter provides information that shows what is being done with

This first issue of the New-Series Hales Newsletter, the journal of the Hales Family History Society, has been prepared and published by Kenneth Glyn "Ken" Hales -- pictured with his wife, Judy. I hope that you find it interesting. Contributions to the Newsletter are requested. If you have discovered anything that you would like the Hales family to know, please send me the information for the next Newsletter.

More information about Ken, so that you understand his interest in the Hales family. He is married to the former Judy Larsen and the father of six sons. He is the author of Windows, a Mormon Family; So Swift the Years; and The Hales Newsletter (old series). He is a retired IBM Engineering Manager and founder of the Hales Genealogical Society in 1970. This society was active through the 1970s and became dormant since the early 1980s. He has retired from IBM following a 32 year career and would like to reactivate the Hales Genealogical Society as the Hales Family History Society. However, Ken is still too young to collect Social Security, has the time and enjoys keeping active. He would like to offer what he has learned from earlier genealogical efforts, his computer expertise, and once again become the hub of genealogical or family history activities for the Hales family.

Ken currently serves as the State Registrar of the Arizona Society, Sons of the American Revolution. He is a past president of the Tucson Chapter and Arizona Society of the Sons of the American Revolution as well as a past National Trustee. He also serves as the Director of the Tucson North Stake Family History Center. Ken has taught family history widely, specializing in English research and in the use of Personal Computers.

The HALES Family History Society is a Family Organization. It is an organization that provides a central point for collecting, documenting, exchanging and publishing information about HALES families. It is to promote friendships, to consolidate research activities, and to share family news. It is a means to live up to the HALES motto, vis unita fortior (united force is stronger).

The HALES Newsletter is the Journal of the HALES Family. It is a quarterly publication of the HALES Family History Society (previously known as the HALES Genealogical Society). It contains information about the HALES family and variant spellings, including HAILS, HAILES, HAYLS and HAYLES. This information includes Current Events, Historical Articles, Research Status and other miscellaneous items.

In addition to the HALES Newsletter, a rather large data base of HALES, HAILS, HAILES and HAYLES families has been developed. This data base will be published in book form in September of 1995 as The Hales Chronicles. The intent is to list in this book, or volume if more than one book is needed, every HALES family that has lived. More information about this book is contained later in this newsletter.

Membership in the HALES Family History Society is open to all persons connected in any way with the HALES family, whether by blood, marriage, adoption, and to people interested in historical and genealogical research. The on-line version of The Hales Newsletter is provided as a service to the Hales Family. If you want a printed copy, they can be provided on request at a cost of $3.75 each.

Twenty-five years ago in 1970 I founded the HALES Genealogical Society. At the time I was employed as a Field Manager for IBM Corporation in San Francisco and raising a family of five sons. The mailing list was constructed by looking through eight shelves of telephone books in the University of California Library at Berkeley. I purchased an IBM Selectric typewriter, an AB Dick mimeograph machine, hired a researcher in Kent County, England, put the pedal to the metal and charged ahead full speed. The address list at the time was approximately 450 HALES families scattered across the United States.

The first HALES Newsletter was published in May of 1970. It consisted of 18 mimeograph pages. The first 3 issues were published from Concord, California before I was moved by IBM to Bakersfield, California. There were 10 issues published while living in Bakersfield; 6 while living in Walnut Creek, California (and another son added to our family); 7 while living in Longmont, Colorado and 4 while living in Tucson. A total of 30 HALES Newsletters were published while I was working and raising a family. The membership of the society and the circulation grew from the initial 450 to more than 1,400 HALES families.

We had a great time during those days. Our family attended reunions in Coos Bay, Oregon; Bakersfield and Los Angeles in California; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Livingston, Texas. We met many good HALES people and enjoyed the cultural differences of those families.

Many letters were received. One letter of interest from California said, "Due to a family feud, the causes of which are long since buried, I have lost track of my relatives in the east. Can you help me find them?" Along with the letter was a one-page family sketch going back to Dr. Garland Hales of New Sore, Prince Edward Island, Virginia -- several generations going back to the late 1700s. I published the sketch in the HALES Newsletter.

Almost immediately I received a response from the Washington D.C. area. The writer said, "My pedigree is on page 2. I would like to have four additional copies of this issue." Four names and addresses were given showing where to send the additional newsletters. I made a copy of this letter, mailed it to the person in California wanting to know the addresses of relatives in the east along with the note, "I hope this is what you are looking for."

Requests were made for family information and many family groupings were received from members of the society. These have been entered in my computer into a data-base (or book). This book (The Hales Chronicles) now contains nearly 1,100 pages of HALES families with several HALES families on each page. Later in this newsletter a sample page of this book is illustrated showing the wealth of HALES information I already have based on the last twenty-five years of involvement with the HALES family.

I look back with amazement at what was accomplished. Everything was done with bumbling fingers on an IBM Selectric typewriter and messy blue correction fluid had to be used to correct typographic mistakes on the stencils -- that is, if the errors were spotted before the stencils were used in the mimeograph machine.

Addresses were also made on the mimeograph and consisted of stick-on-labels. With a circulation of 1,400 HALES Newsletters, and approximately ten percent of the families moving each year, maintaining the address list was a problem. It was a big job for me and my young boys to collate the mimeographed pages by walking around the dining room table and taking a sheet from each pile.

Now we have tools that make it much easier to accomplish the work. Computers with desk-top publishing capabilities can check spellings and save information. The information saved can be updated with ease with new information. Programs are available to manage address lists -- a significant improvement over bygone days. The tools to make a new effort for the HALES family have now matured.

I have now retired as an Engineering Manager from the IBM Tucson Laboratory. My wife and I parented another son along with the five mentioned earlier and our six sons have now all left the nest and married. With the task of working each day to provide a living for our family now over, I have the time to once again volunteer to serve the HALES family. Much has been learned over the years. I think that I understand what to do and I would like to once again serve as the focal point for this great family.

I have the tools to automate the records and manage the mailing list. Also, there are automated services now available to publish Newsletters. The work of printing, collating and mailing is no longer the chore that it used to be. As can be seen this Newsletter is being printed and mailed by a specialty newsletter publishing firm in Florida. I maintain the mailing list, prepare the masters, mail the masters to Florida, and the finished product is mailed within a week. While the preparation is now easy, the problem is the cost. This initial newsletter had to be paid in advance and I am concerned that I will be able to continue it without your help.

I look forward to hearing from you to update your family information in our book.

This section of our HALES Newsletter contains the "happenings" that I am made aware of between issues. Contributions of articles for this section are requested and welcomed. If you see an item of information concerning someone named HALES, please send me a copy so that it can be included in our Newsletter.

Congratulations to Valerie Loraine HALES SUMMERFIELD on the birth of her son Stephen Drake SUMMERFIELD. Stephen was born 8 DEC 1994 at Tucson, Pima, Arizona. Stephen's dad is Larry Joe SUMMERFIELD. Valerie is the daughter of Barksdale HALES and Audrey Corine STITES and descends from Dr. Garland HALES, born about 1760, of New Sore, Prince Edward, Island, Virginia.

On Sunday, December 4, 1994, the Eagle Scout award of the Boy Scouts of America was presented to Niclas Dean Hales. Niclas is the son of Frank Thorvald and Kriste Hales of Riverton, Utah. Congratulations to Niclas for his hard work and accomplishment. Niclas, along with his siblings, Camron, Anna and Kolby, descends from Jacob HALES, born about 1667, of Yalding, Kent, England.

Recognition is also made to my son Terry Hales, a Class A PGA Golf Professional, who has been named Director of Instruction at Starr Pass Golf Course in Tucson, Arizona. Terry and his wife, Jana, live in Tucson with their family of two sons, Andrew and Zachary. Terry descends from Jacob HALES, born about 1667, of Yalding, Kent, England.

A new Hales member of the PGA also appears in the latest 1995 PGA directory. Congratulations to Jeffrey L. Hales for completing the coursework and playing requirements to become a Class A PGA Golf Professional. Jeffrey is at Half Moon Bay Golf Links, Half Moon Bay, California as an Assistant Golf Professional. Lets hear from you, Jeffrey, to learn which Hales family you belong to and your Hales ancestral ties.

There has always been an interest about knights in shining armor and the curious markings on their shields. These have been popularized on the silver screen in epic motion pictures. Like the cowboys wearing white hats, the good knights always vanquished the bad knights. In make-believe they slew dragons and saved princesses.

Medieval Hales knights also wore this protective armor. They also had distinctive markings on their armor. My colored rendition of the original Hales coat of arms is shown on our Hales Family History Society internet web page. You may want to make a copy of this page, color and frame it, for a wall decoration. To do this put the pointer of your mouse on the arms, click on the right button, and save it into your computer files. If you would like make your own rendition, the color of the shield is red -- the color of bravery, the color of the arrow shafts is yellow, with the feathers and arrow points white. The mantling is red and yellow. The color of the ribbon around the embowed arm designates the branch of the Hales family that claimed the arms. Usually the color of this ribbon is red for the Woodchurch branch of the Hales family.

In real life those metal suits were heavy. They were worn for protection by those trained in the martial arts of the period. It was difficult to identify the wearer. Hence, colors were used for identification purposes. Later, a pattern was devised and painted on shields.

Currently a coat-of-arms consists of a shield upon which are placed certain devices. This is all that is necessary for the coat-of-arms. To make the complete achievement, however, other additions are sometimes added, such as the helmet, the mantling (representing the tattered and torn colors), the wreath always consisting of six twists, the crest mounted on the helmet, and a motto.

To authenticate the coat of arms, my research took me to the manuscript copies in the British Museum made by the heralds during their visitations to the counties to register the arms and document the bearers. I purchased from the British Museum 47 12" by 10" photographs of the Hales arms in their collection. These contain pedigrees and original sketches made by the heralds on their visits to the counties. On these 47 photographs a total of 20 sketches of Hales arms are found. This newsletter contains 3 of them. I also looked at all Hales arms in the published books of the various counties in England in the Family History Library.

The devices on the shield were at first the choice of the bearer. The were selected to commemorate a military exploit, a crusade or pilgrimage, or to identify some prowess of a particular kind. Sometimes they were borrowed from the arms of a great leader with whom the family was allied. The design on the Hales arms is a pun on the name. It doesn't take too much imagination to visualize the combat in medieval times and the arrows falling like hail, hence, the three arrows, points down, on the Hales arms.

I suppose that if this is really a Hail of Arrows the argument could be made that the name should be spelled HAILS. However, the most common spelling today is HALES.

Freedom of choice in these devices ultimately led to argument between families when identical devices were chosen. To arbitrate and eventually assign the coats-of-arms, official heralds were appointed by the king. The heralds formulated the rules and became the controlling body in the designs used and in granting arms to the knights that bore them.

In time coats-of-arms became hereditary. They were passed down from generation to generation by inheritance. Heirs and heiresses inherited not only the father's estate, but took the family coat-of-arms as well. This inheritance of arms is governed by law in some European countries even today, although in the United States there are no legal conditions or restrictions -- unless there is a copyright.

The British Museum collection of manuscripts illustrate what the arms were documented to be at the time the knight made his visitation to the shire (or county). There are three of these illustrations in this Newsletter. The one shown below details the Kent County England Hales Arms. The drawing shown has been scanned from an original photograph.

This is another drawing from the British Museum manuscript collection. It can be seen that the arms are identical except for the artistic style of the knight making the drawing. The letters in these illustrations indicated colors: G or g = Gules (red); A or a = Argent (silver or white); O or o = Or (gold or yellow). A colored version of our Hales Coat of Arms can be found on our Hales Family History Society internet web page.

Some renditions of coats-of-arms are inaccurate. Usually these are sold from people in the business of taking your money. The HALES arms depicted in Halbert's The Complete Registry of the Hales in America is an example of this. On this rendition several errors are apparent:

This is another British Museum illustration. By now it should be clear that my rendition of the Hales Arms at our Hales Family History Society internet web page are the same arms.

The Hales family was very prolific, and it soon became necessary to distinguish different branches. This was done by tying different colored ribbons around the embowed arm on the crest. The most common one being red, for the Woodchurch, Kent, England branch.

I propose that in the United States that since the HALES arms is extinct, the ribbon around the embowed arm on the crest should be designated as different branches of the various Hales families in the United States. Does anyone have any objection to this plan, and if not, does anyone have any preferences for the color of the arm ribbon for their branch of the American Hales family?

These Newsletters are the original publication of the Hales Genealogical Society. To differentiate these from the current Newsletter, I have chosen to call the current edition of the HALES Newsletter -- New-series.

I will be publishing the relevant portions of the Old-series Newsletter in the New-series Newsletter and do not recommend that anyone would want the old materials. However, some selected original copies are still extant and can be ordered through me at a cost of $2.00 each. If an original copy is not available and I have to make a xerox copy of any single issue from my master copy, the cost is $3.00. A total of 29 issues were published spanning from Volume 1 number 1, dated May 1970, to the last issue, Volume 7 number 3 dated March 1981.

An alternative to ordering these, if you simply want to read them, is to have your local Family History Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints order them on microfiche. They are contained on 11 microfiche cards -- the microfiche number is 6055253. The cost is fifteen cents for each microfiche or approximately $1.65. If you do order these microfiche cards, they will remain in your local Family History Center for use on their microfiche viewers by anyone who wants to read them.

It has been some time since we have had active research on HALES ancestors by professional researchers. Also, the work that was done concentrated on Kent County, England. If we are organized as a family more progress is possible than as individuals. Remember the old Chinese proverb, "Many hands make light work." I propose that the following specific research projects be set up and accompanying funds allocated. If anyone desires to donate to any of these specific funds, please let me know how to allocate the monies when you make your donation. Is there any interest in doing this?

for gleaning HALES names not previously collected from Kent County and elsewhere in England.

used to identify early HALES names and try to identify immigrant ancestors that migrated to North Carolina.

to discover the English ancestors and migrations of the HALES family through Canada.

used to learn about early HALES families throughout the northeast seaboard.

This book reminds me of a will using a fill-in-the-blanks form. It is a generic book made by a company that is in the business to make money. The only thing you can learn from this book is the approximate distribution of the HALES name in the United States. This collection of addresses was made using telephone books. Anyone having an unlisted number will not be found on these pages. The coat-of-arms shown in this book is inaccurate except for the colors (I have included some pages on the HALES arms elsewhere in this Newsletter). What this company does is to look up a coat-of-arms and make their rendition of it. Then they attach their many generic pages to the front and their telephone book directory to the back and call it a complete registry. In that manner they have a simple way to sell a mailing list for any name. They usually concentrate on names that are not too common so that the mailing list in the book does not cover too many pages. This methodology contains the cost of the book to the least amount possible.

BOOK REVIEW. "WINDOWS - A Mormon Family" by Kenneth Glyn Hales (Skyline printing, Tucson, Arizona, 1985) 608 pages.

This book contains autobiographies of the children and ancestors of Stephen HALES and Mary Ann HALES who emigrated to Canada in 1832 from Rainham, Kent, England. The descendants of this couple migrated to Utah during the Mormon Exodus from Nauvoo and are very numerous. Only 500 copies of this book were printed. It also contains the HALES ancestors of this couple back to Jacob HALES and Elizabeth PENNY and a short sketch of the origin of the HALES name.

Copies of this book are in several genealogical libraries. The call numbers for the one at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City is: 929.273 H137hk. Approximately 100 copies of this book are available for purchase at the cost of $35.

BOOK REVIEW. "FOUR FAMILIES" by Samuel Dale Hales (Private printing, Shawnee Mission, Kansas 1975) 364 pages.

This book is "A History of Some English-speaking People called HALES, HENDRICKS, HIGHTOWER AND HEARNE who Lived in the South and in Texas 1634-1934." Thirty copies were printed exclusively for family members. One copy was supplied to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. An excellent example of how to make people come alive through the written word. This book is in the Texas State Library and the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The microfilm version may be ordered at any Family History Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- film number 928,248 and it is item number 3 on the roll.

I have a copy of this book which is made by xerox process and punched for a 3 ring binder. Anyone wanting their own copy of this book can obtain a xerox copy of the pages from me. Write for details.

This book was published in a very limited edition by the daughter of a great example of dedication and research, Robert L. Hale. In his words, "Many years ago I was furnished a copy of data contained in an old family Bible that belonged to my great-great-grandfather, Hugh Hales, Jr. About a dozen years ago (written in 1965), I decided to try to see if I could compile a list of all the descendants of this family." Twelve years and many miles later Robert L. Hale departed this life. This family was originally spelled HALES and in later generations appears as both HALES and HALE. This book can be found in the State Library of Ohio (GEN CS 71 .H25 1977X). A Xeroxed copy has been sent to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

That seems to be enough to confuse anyone. Just remember that Noah Webster is a new kid on the block when determining how to spell things. These names are the same. They are called variant spellings. In old records our ancestors spelled their name different ways in the same document to show us that they were educated. They could manipulate the English language with ease. It was Noah Webster that formatted us to be so rigid in our spellings. The only reason that this is the Hales Family History Society is that Hales is the most common spelling of the name.

Not all of the families that spell their name without the final "s" are of this family. Many of those named HALE, that have dropped the "s" are of this family, but many are not. Therefore, I have not included those without this final "s" in our address list.

For the past five years I have been entering all of the HALES information that I have collected into a computer data-base. This information of each HALES reference has been put into an alphabetical arranged book

which I call the Hales Chronicles. This is a collection of HALES names and families. All references in my files are there, including: what was sent to me during the 1970s; The HALES names that were extracted from Parish Registers in England by our paid researcher; Kent County England Probate Records; United States and British Census Records; and British Museum records dating back to the year 1300. Included are all Hales families from the U.S. and British International Genealogical Index, 1993 edition. I have also extracted all HALES families from 1880 United States Census Soundex films for all U.S. States and have completed approximately 25 percent of the 1900 Soundex Hales families for all U.S. States. All of the previously published information from the earlier HALES Newsletter has been added to this manuscript along with much additional information. This manuscript is currently 1,100 pages and still growing. The first edition will be published in September of 1995.

One problem with my data base is that there are families that have been started since 1980 when the Hales Genealogical Society was collecting family information. Also, there have been changes to families since 1980.

There is a form provided on the tear-off cover of this newsletter to include your family, and any changes since your family group sheets were sent to me, in this book. I would like to ask each of you to tear off the cover of this newsletter, correct your address if it is incorrect and let me know if you receive more than one copy of the newsletter. Also, fill out the requested family information on the family group sheet form so that you and your family will not be left out of the soon to be published Hales Chronicles. This does not have to be typed since I will have to retype it into the data-base anyway. The only thing I ask is that it is printed or legible. I would like to receive this information from you by June 1, 1995 so that I can get it into the Hales Chronicles for the September publications date.

If you would be interested in reserving a copy of the Hales Chronicles when it is published please let me know. This is a large project with a large printing and mailing cost, and your response will determine the total number of copies that need to be printed.

Some HALES families will learn about their ancestors from this book and some might find their families missing. Also, since I have resolved problems with some information, more accurate family groupings are shown. The intent of this book is to document each Hales Family that has lived. It may take several issues of this book to do this, so this book will be an ongoing project over the next several years.

There are several families from the deep south that are African American Hales families. It is difficult to determine if these families have the Hales name because they were considered property of land owners, or if they actually contain mixed heritage consisting of African American roots as well as Hales roots. For this reason I have indicated in the Hales Chronicles that they are of African American descent -- that's how I found the information in the records. I try to be unbiased. I had a difficult time to even identify people having African American roots as African Americans -- as far as I am concerned I want to be color blind where people are concerned.

You can find out if your family information is currently in this book by requesting xerox copies of the pages that apply to you. I will provide all pages from the Hales Chronicles that is your family information for the cost of $2 and a self addressed stamped envelope. The only reason for the cost is because it does take some time to put the packet together for you. Just send me your name, parents names and grandparents names so that I can make sure that I can put together the right package. It would be helpful to supply the approximate birth year of the individuals you want to see to further help me identify your family. If I do not have any of your family information in my files, I will return your $2 in the self addressed stamped envelope you provide.

If your family is not included, please send me your information and it will be included. With your help the Hales Chronicles will grow into a useful family history book for those wanting to know their roots.

When you are working on your family information on the tear-off sheet, please note that the most important piece of information is the location that the birth, marriage or death took place. Before cars and airplanes our ancestors are found by where they lived. Knowing the location, the information can be verified. If it is missing, the whole world may have to be searched to find the information, a seemingly impossible task. Everything is filed by location in a library. Please update the records to show where the births, marriages, deaths and burials occurred -- if possible. However, don't delay sending in your family sheet even if you don't have all of the information. Send what you know about your family.

Since I have extracted the all of the 1880 U.S. Census Hales families from the Soundex films, and will have all of the 1900 U.S. Census families from the Soundex films by the September publication date for the Hales Chronicles, our book should be a big help for you to tie into your ancestry. Also to be in the September edition will be all available Hales families from the 1881 British Census project that is currently in process by the joint British Genealogical committee and the L.D.S. church.

There is a technique when writing letters to relatives that is called Dropping a Bomb! What this technique consists of is in never sending a blank form to anyone requesting information. Always enter some information about the person you are sending the sheet to and deliberately enter some erroneous information. Make your aunt a year or two older than she really is, or something like that. Most people do not like to fill out forms, but the red pencil comes out quickly if they are shown incorrectly. It seems people like to criticize more than they like to otherwise become involved. It is impossible for me to drop a bomb in this newsletter. Just picture in your mind that I have incorrect information about you and fill out the form to correct my errors. What else can I do to encourage you to respond to this newsletter and to make sure that your family is included in the Hales Chronicles?

No bomb here! But please fill out the family sheet provided as soon as possible. I will enter your information into our book and put the book together for all Hales Families.

That's it for this issue of the Hales Newsletter. The next issue will contain a larger News and Views column based on what information you send, and more family history information. If you would like to send any articles to me regarding your family and history, I will include it in future issues as space in the Newsletter permits.

The address list for this HALES Newsletter is based on the previously used Hales Genealogical Society address list and has been supplemented by several personal computer national telephone compact disks. There are several problems with this address list. People have moved and new Hales families have been established. Hales sisters and daughters marry and take different names. It is not possible to include them in the list without someone in their immediate family sending them to me. I am asking your help in correcting this address list.

Please take some time and check with your family -- including brothers, sisters, parents -- ask them about this newsletter. Ask if each of them received their own copy. Check the name and address on this newsletter to see if it is correct. Is your name right? Is your address okay? Make your corrections, then tear off this cover sheet -- or make a copy of it -- and return it to the return address shown. If you do not use this tear off cover sheet, it is important to make a copy so that I can compare what you wrote with what is shown below.

Family members not receiving newsletter: Address -- street number, city, state, and zip code.

The Hales Family History Society

5990 North Calle Kino

Tucson, AZ 85704 -1704

(520) 888-9199