Nicholas Ackley was an early settler of Hartford and a founder of Haddam, CT. This book traces the lives of the second through the fourth generations of this family in Connecticut and New York: James Ackley, Nicholas Ackley, and Abel Ackley. The narrative uses the culture and norms of their times to help understand the lives of these ancestors and to solve puzzles created by sparse official records.The book contains all the reliable documentation for these families and debunks persistent myths about the ancestry of some of the women. Details include the true story about the witchcraft allegation that involved James's sister; the involvement of Nicholas, three of his sons and other Connecticut Ackleys in the French and Indian War; and the record of Abel's service in the Revolutionary War.