Born in Decorah, Iowa, the son of a homemaker and barber, the Hackley family also lived near the noted community of Nicodemus, Kansas in 1880. Hackley attended Iowa Wesleyan and worked as a barber in Ottumwa and Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Hackley graduated with a degree in theology from Wilberforce College in Ohio in 1915.

Prior to attending Wilberforce, Hackley was recognized as a preacher for AME churches in Iowa. He was referred to as Rev. Hackley in The Iowa State Bystander on November 3, 1905 as he left Mount Pleasant for Dubuque. He would later minister in the Iowa communities of Washington, Cedar Rapids, Keokuk, Sioux City, and Fort Madison. In 1910, he was a minister in Galesburg and Monmouth in Illinois.

Hackley spent time in Champaign, Illinois. He would serve nine years as a minister and play a formative role in establishing a new AME Church in Decatur, Illinois in 1927. He was there until 1929. He had a two year tenure in Indianapolis, Indiana and then returned to Decatur, Illinois in 1931. He came to St. Paul’s AME Church Des Moines in July of 1936 where he served until his death. He is buried in Glendale Cemetery in Des Moines.