Halfacre or Hulfachor

Many of the early settlers were poor spellers. A language barrier only compounded this problem. Lukin Township was a settlement of immigrants. There were the Corries, Milligans, and Schraders from Scotland; the Kuehlings from Prussia; the Moores, Storckmans, Brausas, Geislers, Hairs, Holsens, Keneipps, Weltz, from Germany; the Beesleys, Conners, Grounds, Sanders, and Stones from England; and Andrews from Ireland.

The family of James Oscar Halfacre, who is buried at Ridgley Cemetery, believe that the German surname “Halfacre” was “murdered” in the spelling and pronunciation. The sound of “acre”, “aker”, or “ecker” is prevalent in the old German language. As the English recordkeepers listened to the new immigrants speak with their heavy German dialect, they heard and recorded that sound. The immigrants, who through no fault of their own, did not respond to the errors of spelling, because many of them did not write or speak English. Thus, the misspellings remained.

Perhaps the whole name problem is a moot point and becomes just a personal choice. Many of the Halfacres have changed their surname to Huffaker or Hulfachor.

James and Mollie Lewis Halfacre