Simon Alexander Haley (March 8, 1892 – August 19, 1973) was a professor of agriculture, and father of writer

Alex Haley Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992) was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book '' Roots: The Saga of an American Family.'' ABC adapted the book as a television miniseries of the same name and a ...

. He was born in

Savannah, Tennessee Savannah is a city in and the county seat of Hardin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 7,213 at the 2020 census. Savannah is located along the east side of the Tennessee River. Savannah hosted the NAIA college football national ...

, to farmer Alexander "Alec" Haley and his wife Queen (Davy) Haley (née Jackson). Both his parents were born as

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, and both were apparently fathered by caucasian slave owners. Simon attended

Lane College Lane College is a private historically black college associated with the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and located in Jackson, Tennessee. It offers associate and baccalaureate degrees in the arts and sciences. History Lane College was ...

in Jackson, Tennessee, at age 15. After he was discharged honorably from the army after World War I, on September 28, 1920, he married Bertha George Palmer, the daughter of William E. and Cynthia Murray Palmer of Henning, Tennessee. Bertha was also a student from Lane College. The couple had three sons - Alexander Murray Palmer (1921-1992), George Williford Boyce (1925-2015), and Julius Cornell Embree (1930-2010) (who became an architect). Simon then finished his master's degree in agriculture at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. Bertha died on 16 Feb 1932 in Normal, Madison County, Alabama after suffering for a year from "general glandular tuberculosis" according to her death certificate. In September, 1932, Simon was married to professor Zeona Eubank Hatcher with whom he had a daughter, Lois Ann (1933-2004). Simon Haley had positions at various southern universities including

Alabama A&M Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. AAMU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshal ...

just north of Huntsville, Alabama. He died in Martinsburg, Berkeley County, WV and was buried at

Little Rock National Cemetery Little Rock National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery, located approximately two miles (3 km) south-east of the Arkansas State Capitol Building, being within the city of Little Rock, and Pulaski County, Arkansas. It encompasses , ...

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

Haley lineage

DNA testing of Simon's grandson Chris (via his youngest son Julius) revealed that Simon's father Alec was most likely descended from Scottish ancestors via William Harwell Baugh, an overseer of an Alabama slave plantation.Texas Research Ramblers Volume XXIX Number 1 Spring 2014 accessed September 13, 2018
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Notes

Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumni 1892 births 1973 deaths Lane College alumni Burials at Little Rock National Cemetery {{US-academic-bio-stub