Walter Hackett

Who was Walter Hackett?

Walter Henry Hackett was a Major League Baseball shortstop. He played for the 1884 Boston Reds in the Union Association and the 1885 Boston Beaneaters in the National League. He later played in the minor leagues through 1889. His brother, Mert Hackett and cousins Dad Clarkson, John Clarkson and Walter Clarkson all also played professional baseball.

Hackett was a particularly successful investor who acquired substantial land holdings in New England. His father had emigrated to the United States from Ennis, Ireland some years before the great Potato Famine that decimated the country. Much of early professional baseball was played by Irish immigrants and their descendants. Hackett had 3 sons, Walter, Mortimer and William by his first wife, Elizabeth McCoy, whose family had reportedly moved to New England to escape the notorious Hatfield-McCoy feud.

Like his father, Hackett named his eldest son Walter. In addition he had two other sons, William and Mortimer. Since Hackett's death a number of his lineal descendants have also been named Walter including his grandson, Walter H. Hackett, Jr., multiple great-grandsons and at least two great, great-grandsons. His grandson Walter, born May 13, 1932, was a decorated combat veteran who served with the 15th Infantry Regiment in the Korean War beginning in January 1953. His grandson was later elected to 3 successive terms as a City Councilman for the City of Montclair, California.