Early Life and Family
Haslet was born in Straw, Dungiven, County Londonderry in Ulster, Ireland about 1727, son of Joseph and Ann Dykes Haslet. As the eldest son, he attended the University of Glasgow in Scotland, earned his degree in divinity in 1749 and was ordained a Presbyterian minister at Ballykelly, County Londonderry, in 1752. About 1750, he married Shirley Stirling, daughter of the Presbyterian minister from Walworth, Ballykelly. They had a daughter Mary, called Polly, born about 1752. Shirley most likely died in childbirth, as Polly was raised by her uncle, Samuel Haslet and followed her father to America in 1765.
By 1764, he had settled near Milford, Delaware, and married Jemima Molleston, the widow of John Brinkle and sister of Henry Molleston. Records of the Presbyterian Historical Society of America do not show him as a preacher in America; rather he is commonly referred to as "doctor" Haslet, reference to his medical practice. In 1767, he bought a tract of land called "Longfield," now inside the northern limits of Milford just off Roosa Road. They had four children together, Ann, Jemima, John and Joseph.
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