James Haney was born to Isaac and Mary Haney in Thorold in 1792. His father had been a chain bearer during the August Jones survey in 1788 of Township #9, Nassau largely populated by Butler’s Rangers and those associated with them. This area later became Thorold and his parents were awarded crown patents on lots in Thorold where they had a mill. From 1798 to 1803, the family was frequently in York, and settled in lot 11 concesson 5 & 6 in Pelham sometime after 1803, while maintaining their milling interests in Thorold.
When hostilities began, James entered the 2nd Regiment Lincoln Militia, following his brother Mathew and followed by his brother Leonard.
James Haney appears on page 33 of the list of the Lincoln Militia compiled by David Hemming in 2012 at the Niagara Historical Society Museum. The 2nd Lincoln sustained some of the heaviest causalities of the War of 1812 and holds the Battle Honors of Detroit, Queenston, and Niagara. The bravery of the Lincoln Flanking Companies, of which the 2nd Lincoln was part, was widely touted in newspapers around the British Empire.
John DeCew’s Infantry detachment was given the special honor of escort of General Brock from Port Dover to Niagara just days before the Battle of Queenston Heights, and James may have been part of this duty. Captain DeCew arrived with General Brock at Government House, Niagara on the 11th October 1813 and then 2nd Lincoln Infantry reported to Fort Chippawa.
The payroll list for the Decew company of the 2nd Lincoln (RG9, IB7, Vol 22) clearly shows that James was serving as a private during the period in which the Battle of Chippewa was fought. The 2nd Lincoln saw its biggest causalities at this battle but the three Haney brothers (James, Leonard and Mathew) survived. On Wed, Aug 10, 1814, The Times of London, published a letter dated July 10th 1814 in which Major General Drummond wrote that the 2nd Lincoln distinguished themselves in their brave and valiant efforts at Chippewa. Major General P. Riall, wrote in an account in The Times, dated July 6 1814 and published August 10, 1814 that the 2nd Lincoln fought side by side with British regulars and that he personally owned them a sincere debt of gratitude.
After the Battle of Chippewa, the remaining 2nd Lincoln was absorbed into the Incorporated Militia. One the 26th of July 1814, Lt General Drummond wrote a letter of thanks the members of the Incorporated Militia, which included members of the 2nd Lincoln Militia, for their steadfastness, gallantry, and discipline at Lundy’s Lane in an account published in the The Pennsylvania Gazette on the 24 August 1814
After the war, James became a farmer and a home builder in Pelham Township, Ontario. He married first Elizabeth who died in 1829. He then married Mary Stringer. His children that lived to adulthood include William Nesbit Haney, John W. Haney, Leonard Haney, and Emeda Jesse Haney. Most of his descendants today are in the western provinces and the southern United States. Some may possibly be in the Pelham region today.