Because of the dedicated efforts of generations of Miser family historians a considerable amount was known about my Hale heritage. The only part of the pedigree listed below that cannot be validated by paper records is that as yet there is no documentary evidence (as in a will or marriage record) that Elizabeth “Betsy” Hail/Hale, born 27 April 1779 in Blount County, TN, who married John (4/8) Miser in about 1797 in Blount County, TN, was the daughter of the Revolutionary War veteran, John Hail/Hale. However, I believe there is adequate circumstantial evidence that this was the case.

The following actual pedigree is so convoluted that it could only be described in a chart form (with John Hale being placed as the father of Elizabeth Hale due to circumstantial evidence):

John Hale b. 1753-54 Northum-	Aaron Swafford b.1774 SC, d.1824 TN +
berland, Co, VA + Unk. He d.	Elizabeth Howard, b.c. 1780 SC. She
aft. 1840 in Bledsoe County, TN	died 1857 Bledsoe County, TN
Elizabeth “Betsy” Hale, b. 27	Mary Polly Swafford, b. 25 Nov 1803, SC
April 1779, Blount County,TN	+ George W. (5/4)Miser on 18 Oct 1826,
+ John (4/8) Miser, ca. 1797 in	Bledsoe Co, TN. He was b. 21 Jan 1807,
Blount County, TN. He was b.	s.o. John (4/8) Miser & Betsy Hail,
16 Nov 1779 in PA.	shown in opposite column.

One piece of circumstantial evidence suggesting the Hale-Miser connection is page 278 of the above 1830 census in Bledsoe County, TN, where the above Revolutionary War veteran, John Hale, lived one household away from my ancestor, the above Elizabeth Howard Swafford, whose husband, Aaron "Big Aaron" Swafford, had died in 1824 in Bledsoe County, TN. (Persons on this page will later be shown again in sequential order with other pages on the 1830 census.)

1830 Bledsoe County, Tennessee, Census
Page 278, in the following order:

1. John Hall, Jr. (or Hale); however not likely not a Junior, but John Hall (or Hale), III 15-20; wife 20-30, daughter < 5. (All unknown to me.)

2. James Swafford, age 20-30 (aka "Stingy Jim" Swafford), b. ca. 1806 SC, d. ca. 1870 Bledsoe Co., TN, s.o. Aaron "Big Aaron" Swafford and Elizabeth Howard Swafford. (James Swafford’s wife was Elizabeth HALL.)

*3. Elizabeth Howard Swafford, 50-60, widow of Aaron "Big Aaron" Swafford. (I descend from Aaron and Elizabeth Howard Swafford through their daughter Mary “Polly” Swafford who married George W. (5/4) Miser.) Elizabeth Howard Swafford was the d.o. Peter and Sarah Portman Howard, as well as being the mother of the above James Swafford.

*4. John Hall, (Jr?), 50-60; oldest female 20-30. John either had 6 children or a young wife with five children. Was he the man who married Mary Hail/Hale on 17 Aug 1793 (actually 17 Aug 1783?) in Wythe County, VA? If this is the same man his first wife, Mary Hail/Hale is deceased.

5. John Hale (Hail), “Sr.” 70-80 b. ca. 1853 Bedford Co, VA; Rev. War Veteran.
Wife: 70-80

6. John Hall, “Sr.” 60-70, proposed father of John Hall, (Jr.), listed above.

7. William Hall (40-50) and wife Patience, w/ 10 children, likely son of above John Hall, Sr. This William Hall was either deceased or gone from Bledsoe County, TN, before 1850.

8. Larkin Swafford 30-40, b. ca. 1795. Descendants of Larkin Swafford say that he married Nancy Kirkpatrick, and died in 1839 in Monroe County, IN. Larkin was the son of Jacob Swafford (1790-1842) and wife Sarah Larkin. Larkin Swafford was also the nephew of Aaron "Big Aaron" Swafford, late husband of the above Elizabeth Howard Swafford.

9. *John Hale (Hail), (40-50) Son of the above John Hale (Hail), Sr., later known as John T. Hale. Previous researchers say the wife of John T. Hale was Martha Jane Tate.

The above Elizabeth Howard Swafford was the mother of Mary Polly Swafford who married George Washington (5/4) Miser. This close proximity of Elizabeth Howard Swafford and John Hale is not validation that their respective daughter and grandson married each other, but additional circumstances suggest the strong likelihood of such an alliance.

It should be said here that the year of birth of Mary “Polly” Swafford that is reported in the Miser books is two years too young. George Miser was born 21 January 1807 in Blount County, TN. His bride, Mary Swafford, claimed that she was born 24 Nov 1805, making her only one year and 11 months older than her husband. However, Mary’s next youngest brother, James “Aaron” Swafford was born 12 February 1806, making him less than three months younger than his older sister. Other records show that Mary Polly Swafford was born 24 November 1803. If this is correct, at the time of their marriage George was age 19 years and 9 months old, and Polly was age 23 years and 11 months old. Before the time of actual birth certificates, it was not uncommon for a person to “adjust” his or her date of birth.

1830 Census
Families in Bledsoe County, Tennessee
Page 282

Isham Hale, 30-40, with wife and 5 children was on page 282 of the 1830 census in Bledsoe County,TN.

I cannot find this Isham Hale in 1840 in Bledsoe County, but he was the appropriate age to have been the man who lived at least 25 miles south in Marion County, TN, in 1840. There was also a young married Isham Hale and wife (both age 20-30) in 1840 in Bledsoe County, TN, District 5, page 14.

However, in May 1843, one appearance was skipped by Isham Hale, administrator of the Estate of John Hail/Hale, Revolutionary War veteran, when he failed to turn in the assets of the Estate. This may suggest that the administrator was the older man who may have found it difficult to travel to Bledsoe County from such a distance. Further evidence that it was the older Isham Hale is the April 1822 Land Record in Bledsoe County, TN, when Isham Hail bought 10 acres, "including a Spring on the waters if Sequatchee made use of by John Hail."

County records show the spelling of the surname (for the same persons) as both Hail and Hale, depending on the man who wrote the document. An attempt will be made to use the spelling seen in the original documents. One can see from the above chart that I twice descend from the Miser side and once from Swafford side. Later in this report it will be seen that I also descend from the Hale family twice because of siblings who married their first cousins. The Hale, Miser and Swafford families are also highly interrelated in other ways that will not be presented in this study.

The Estate of Aaron Swaford (whose wife was the above Elizabeth Howard Swafford) was not finalized until after Elizabeth’s death in 1857. It appears that most of the ten children of Aaron and Elizabeth Swafford had already received their share of their fathers’ estate, but a few heirs had not. Those heirs included the six children of their deceased mother, Mary “Polly” Swafford, daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth Howard Swafford, who was the late wife of George (5/4) Miser of Arkansas.

Bill of Complaint

This study will not be presented in chronological order, but rather in the order in which I pieced together relationships between my Miser family and John Hail/Hale. Thus, the 1833 Revolutionary War pension application in Bledsoe County TN, was presented first. The earliest proven records for John Hale can be found in Blount County, TN, in 1796, and the earliest Hail record was for Isham Hail in 1797.

Hale and Miser Records in Blount County, TN

1813-1817 Petitioners List-Miser & Hail Bledsoe County, TN

1815 Tax List, Bledsoe County, TN

Hail Land Registers-Bledsoe County, TN.htm

Miser Deed Records in McMinn County, TN

Following is a brief summary of the children of Elizabeth Hale (proposed daughter of Revolutionary War veteran John Hail/Hale), and her husband John (4/8) Miser. By today’s standards, there was an extraordinary amount of intermarriage between close blood relatives:

Children of John (4/8) Miser and Elizabeth Hale

The Move to Bledsoe County, Tennessee
Tennessee Petitioners List of 1813

Both John Hail/Hale, the Revolutionary War veteran, and John (4/8) Miser moved to Bledsoe County, TN, before 1815, when their names were on the Tennessee Petitions List of 1815 in Bledsoe County, TN. Since John Hail/Hale signed his name with an "X" mark on his Revolutionary War pension application, it is assumed that he also signed this petition list with an "X". John (4/8) Miser's name was also listed as a signator on this Tennessee Petitioners List, and he later also signed with an "X" mark in 1835 when he sold 1850 acres to son, Michael (5/1) Mizer in McMinn County, TN. Previous Miser researchers have suggested that the numbers following John (4/8) Miser's name and date of the petition may have been the page number and the line number of his signature:
Tennessee Petitions 1813 – 1817
John Miser
1813
21
2

1815 Tennessee Tax List:
Bledsoe County, TN

*A copy of the original document would be much more enlightening if it was not alphabetized:
George Hail
Isom Hail
James Hail
John Hail, Sr.
John Hail, Jr.
Luke Hail
Willie Hail

Listed under the “M’s”:
John Miser

I collaborated with R. Michael Terry and about seven years ago he sent the following list for the 1815 Tennessee Tax List for Hail that had been transcribed as HOIL. (His wife had an autosomal DNA match with my mother.)

Hoil, John Jr.
Hoil, Luke
Hoil, Richard
Hoil, Robert [2]
Hoil, Thomas
Hoil, William

(Ms. Terry’s descent is from Virginia B. Hale, b. 22 Oct 1852 in Bledsoe County, TN. Virginia B. Hale’s mother, Mrs. Manerva Bowman Hale, married a Hale man and she was already widowed before 1860 in Bledsoe County, TN. The name of Manerva’s husband has not yet been discovered.)

1830 Census Records in Numerical Order of Pages::
Bledsoe County, Tennessee
Page 278, in the following order, repeated from above:

1. John Hall, Jr. (or Hale); however not likely not a Junior, but John Hall (or Hale), III 15-20; wife 20-30, dau < 5 (all unknown to me)

2. James Swafford, age 20-30 (aka "Stingy Jim" Swafford), b. ca. 1806 SC, d. ca. 1870 Bledsoe Co., TN, s.o. Aaron Swafford and Elizabeth Howard Swafford. (James Swafford’s wife was Elizabeth HALL).

*3. Elizabeth Howard Swafford, 50-60, widow of Aaron Swafford. (I descend from Aaron and Elizabeth Howard Swafford through their daughter Mary “Polly” Swafford who married George W. (5/4) Miser.) Elizabeth Howard Swafford was the d.o. Peter and Sarah Portman Howard, as well as being the mother of the above James Swafford.

*4. John Hall, (Jr?), 50-60; oldest female 20-30. John either had 6 children or a young wife with five children. Was he the man who married Mary Hail/Hale on 17 Aug 1793 (actually 17 Aug 1783?) in Wythe County, VA? If this is the same man his first wife, Mary Hail/Hale is deceased.

5. John Hale (Hail), “Sr.” 70-80 b. ca. 1853 Bedford Co, VA; Rev. War Veteran.
Wife: 70-80

6. John Hall, “Sr.” 60-70, proposed father of John Hall, (Jr.), listed above.

7. William Hall (40-50) and wife Patience, w/ 10 children, likely son of above John Hall, Sr. This William Hall was either deceased or gone from Bledsoe County, TN, before 1850.

8. Larkin Swafford 30-40, b. ca. 1795. Larkin allegedly married Sarah HALL, d.o. the above Wm Hall and wife, Patience Unknown.

9. *John Hale (Hail), (Jr.), (40-50) proposed son of the above John Hale (Hail), Sr., later known as John T. Hale. Previous researchers say his wife was Martha Jane Tate.

The above Elizabeth Howard Swafford was the mother of Mary Polly Swafford who married George Washington (5/4) Miser. This close proximity of Elizabeth Howard Swafford and John Hale is not validation that their respective daughter and grandson married each other, but additional circumstances suggest the strong likelihood of such an alliance.

It should be said here that the year of birth of Mary “Polly” Swafford that is reported in the Miser books is two years too young. George Miser was born 21 January 1807 in Blount County, TN. His bride, Mary Swafford, claimed that she was born 24 Nov 1805, making her only one year and 11 months older than her husband. However, Mary’s next youngest brother, James “Aaron” Swafford was born 12 February 1806, making him less than three months younger that his older sister. Other records show that Mary Polly Swafford was born 24 November 1803. If this is correct, at the time of their marriage George was age 19 years and 9 months old, and Polly was age 23 years and 11 months old. Before the time of actual birth certificates, it was not uncommon for a person to “adjust” his or her date of birth.

1830 Census
Bledsoe County, Tennessee
Page 282, In this order:

Thomas Swafford, age 20-30, son of Thomas Younger Swafford, Sr. and Matilda Howard
Alfert (actually Alfort) Swafford, 20-30, son of Thomas Younger Swafford, Sr. and Matilda Howard
Isham Hale, 30-40, wife and 5 children

I cannot find this Isham Hale in 1840 in Bledsoe County, but he was the appropriate age to have been the man who lived about 25 miles south in Marion County, TN, in 1840. There was a young married Isham Hale and wife (both age 20-30) in 1840 in Bledsoe County, TN. Perhaps the older Isham came back to Bledsoe County to administer the 1843 Estate of Revolutionary War veteran, John Hail, or perhaps it was this young Isham Hale who lived in Bledsoe County who administered the Estate. (Since one appearance of the administrator was skipped (in May 1843) when he failed to turn in the assets of the Estate, this may suggest that the administrator was the older man who may have found it difficult to travel to Bledsoe County from such a distance. (Note young Isom Hale, age 20-30, below, on the 1840 census, District 5, page 14.)

1830 Census
Bledsoe County, Tennessee
Page 291

In 1830, Robert Hale, (40-49), unknown wife (30-40), and seven children, lived one household from John L. (5/3) Miser and wife Mary “Polly” M. Hail/Hale, both (20-30). This young couple, John and Polly Hale Miser, had their firstborn child, Anderson Whiteside (6/1) Miser in their home. In other words, Polly Hale Miser and husband were living very near her parents, Robert Hale and wife. Anderson Whiteside (6/1) Miser, born 17 July 1830, and his siblings have been traced.

The above man is the same man as Robert Hail, who in 1840 at age 50-60, with wife and four children, lived four households from the abovementioned John Hail, Revolutionary War Patriot.

An online post of Revolutionary Veterans from Bedford County, VA, dated 1835:

U. S. Pension Roll of 1835, Vol. III
Bedford County, VA
Total Number of Pensioners: 18

John Hale: Private, $80 Allowance, Sum received: $240, North Carolina Line Placed on Roll 24 May 1833, Pension Commenced 24 May 1833, age 80. (John Hale was the only man with the Hale surname from Bedford County, VA who was mentioned on the Tennessee Pension Roll.)

1837 Bledsoe County, TN, Tax List
4th District, Page 74:

An Online Photocopy of a Tax List (with interpretation of accompanying numbers unknown and not shown here):

Page 74:
Thomas Hale: Taxed on property, paid poll tax
John Hale: No property, paid poll tax

Page 78:
Thomas Hail, No property, paid poll tax
William Hail, No property, paid poll tax
John Hail, No property, paid poll tax
John Hall – Taxed on property, pail poll tax

(The Misers had left Bledsoe County, TN, by the late 1830’s.)

A review of John Hail/Hale’s travels:
John Hale, Sr., born ca. 1853-54 Bedford Co, VA:

Bedford County, VA > Wythe, County, VA > Green > Washington > Blount > Bledsoe Counties, TN:

1839 Early Tennessee Tax List
Bledsoe County, TN
District 5

Elizabeth (Howard) Swafford owned 164 acres valued at $1,022, and three Negro slaves valued at $2,000.

1839 Early Tennessee Tax List
Bledsoe County, TN
District 6:

John Hall owned 50 acres, valued at $400
William Hail had no property
Thomas Hail had no property

1840 Bledsoe County, TN
District # 5
Page 13
In this order:

*William Hale 30-40 w. wife and with 6 children. (Not located after 1840.)
Matthew Pendergrass, (Jr.) 60-70 with blended family of 10 others.
(Matthew Pendergrass,(Jr.) was the 2nd cousin of my ancestor, Moses Pendergrass.)
Aron Swofford 20-30 w. wife and 3 children
John Swofford 20-30 w/ wife & 6 children
3 households between
John Swofford, Jr. 20-30 w/ wife
17 households between
Elizabeth Swafford (Elizabeth Howard Swafford, my ancestor), widow of Aaron Swafford, Sr., living alone, had 3 slaves.
Aaron N. Swafford, b. 4 Dec 1812, Elizabeth’s son, w/ first unknown wife & 4 children. (He was actually Aaron W. Swafford). An account of descendants of Aaron W. Swafford by both wives can be found beginning on page 749 in Volume 2, Third Edition, of the Swaffords of Sequatchie Valley, Tennessee, by Ray C. Swofford.

Next page of 1840 Bledsoe County, TN
District # 5
Page 14
In this order:

(19 households from the above Aaron N. Swafford:)
John Hall (20-30) with family
John Hale (50-60) with family – John Hale (Jr.), a.k.a. John T. Hale, who in 1830 was near his father, (Revolutionary War veteran, John, Hale, Sr.)
George Gregory & family
Samuel Rollins & family
Stephen J. Chation? & family
Tipton Gragg & family
John Odell & family
James Larson & family William Hail (20-30) & family
Thomas Hail (20-30) & family
Isom Hail (20-30) & family
John Keaton & family

District # 5 – Two Pages Away
1840 Bledsoe County, Tennessee
Page 16:
In this order:

John Nail? (50-60) with family
Benj. Hall (30-40) with family
Bedford Smith (30-40) with family
Sarah Hail (60-70) with family (Unknown widow)

1840 Bledsoe County, Tennessee
District # 6, Page 19
In this order:

R. M. Cook (20-30) with family md. to Jane Kirklin
Rebecca Shink (30-40) with family
Richard Hail (20-30), md to Jane Kirklin, with family, son of Robert Hail, not traced,
*Robert Hail (50-60) with family - father of Mary Polly Hale who md. John L. (5/3) Miser. John L. (5/3) Miser was in McMinn County, TN from 1840-1845, then to Pea Ridge, Benton County, AR, by 1847, where he d. 1860; Polly Hale Miser d. 1899, MO, bur. Hornet Cemetery, Hornet, Newton County, MO
Hardy Sharick (40-50) with family
William Vernon (30-40) with family
Rody Avry (female) (30-40) with daughter
Thomas B. James? (30-40) with family
*John Hail (80-90), wife 60-70, shown as Veteran on 2nd page of census, age 86 Andrew Davis (80-90), wife 70-80, listed as veteran on 2nd page, age 83
Thomas Farmer (50-60)
Robert Vernon (70-80)

Previous page:
William Hail:
Males: 2 10-15; 1 30-40
Females: 1 > 5; 1 20-30

A review: On the 1830 census John Hale and wife, both age 70-80, were listed as living alone. In 1840 John Hail, age 86, Revolutionary War patriot, lived in District 6 in Bledsoe County, TN, with his presumed 2nd wife, 60-70,* along with a young male age, 15-20. (They lived four households from Robert Hail.) *It appears that his wife in 1830 may have died because if these census records were precise, his wife in 1840 was at least a decade younger than his wife in 1830.

In 1840 Elizabeth Howard Swafford, widow of Aaron Swafford, was still on the property she inherited from her late husband in District 5, page 13. However, by 1840 John Hale, Revolutionary soldier, (age 80-89) had moved to District 6 (page 19), where he was enumerated four households from Robert Hail, (father of Mary Hale who married her cousin, John L. (5/3) Miser).

The Estate of the Revolutionary War veteran, John Hale, was probated in April 1843 by Isham Hale in Bledsoe County, TN.

In 1850 Elizabeth Howard Swafford (widow of Aaron Swafford), age 70, was head of the household that contained her married grandson, John Swafford (son of James “Stingy Jim” Swafford and wife Elizabeth Hall). Living in the household next to Elizabeth Swafford was her married daughter, Sarah Swafford Shirley, wife of Landry Shirley (written as Shurley), both ages 34. Elizabeth Swafford was born in North Carolina and had real estate valued at $1,000.

1850 Agricultural Census, Bledsoe County, TN:
Elizabeth Swafford

Improved Land: 80 acres
Unimproved Land: 80 acres
Cash value of farm: $1,000
Value of Implements and Machinery: $50
Horses: 6
Asses and Mules: 0
Milch cows: 6
Working oxen: 0
Other Cattle: 0
Sheep: 5
Swine: 7
Value of Livestock: $60
Bushels of Wheat: 457
Bushels of Rye: 0
Bushels of Indian Corn: 1,000
Bushels of Oats: 300
Bushels of Rice: 0
Tobacco: 0

Elizabeth Howard Swafford died in 1857 as per the above link to the Bill of Complaint for Aaron Swafford.

Deep appreciation is extended to Carolyne Knight at the Bledsoe County, TN, Library, for her encouragement and ongoing effort at archives retrieval. Others who made important contributions to this research are Kim at the Midwest Genealogy Library, Independence, MO, the library staff at the archives in Blount County, TN, and the Tennessee State Library & Archives.