Good morning Barb, I hope you are feeling better.
William Acker first appears in the 1905 NY Census for William & Mary Haring as a Lodger on line 12. In the 1910 US Census on line 25 as a Nephew. I have attached the page that I downloaded.
In both cases, William Haring is the Head of household. In 1905 he is 8 years old when enumerated and in 1910 he is 13 years old when enumerated – meaning his birth year would be approximately 1897.
I have also attached an image file for the Find-A-Grave memorial for Mrs. William Haring that identifies William Acker as her nephew.
Regarding his possible parents, this is what I know:
Henry Edgar Acker and Rosanna Hannigan married on 9 Feb 1896 in Manhattan. I have a copy of their marriage certificate from the NYC Municipal Archives. Henry is living at 2286 Second Ave and Rosanna is living at 627 E 144th Street. They are married at the North New York Methodist Episcopal Church on Willis Street. There is Henry E Acker appears in the 1900 Census as a boarder at 525 Courtland Avenue. I have not found anything on the death Rosanna Hannigan Acker in my years of searching for her.I have also attached a Screenshot of the California Death Index for a William C Acker who died in August 1948 in Sacramento. It lists his mother’s name as Hannigan and his father’s name as Acker. He was born on 16 Feb 1897 in New York City.
I know this is stretching the research, but working from the end back to the beginning is sometimes what you need to do to validate information. And, if this William C Acker is the same person as the one listed in the census reports and was the same child born to Henry & Rosanna Acker in NYC, then he has a storied past in the criminal system being with his first conviction in July 1916 in Oregon. But that would make some sense as his aunt (Mary Ellen /Hannigan/ Haring) was buried in 1915 and William would be 18 year old and moving on with his life. If he had a troubled youth and his aunt was his protector, it would make sense that her husband would want him to leave. A year later he is in Oregon in trouble with the law and spends the remainder of his life in and out of criminal justice facilities until his death in the Prison Hospital in 1948.
BTW – Regina Haring contacted my last night and I reached out to her with the information about William and Mary Ellen Haring. Hopefully we can find out something to bring closure to the sister of my great-great-grandfather.
John