Food for thought! The earliest record I have found of a Hailey surname was in the case of an Ursula Hailey, daughter of John and Agnes Scott Hailey in the early 1700s in PA(?) evidently. Ursula is an uncommon English Christian name but a common German one. Three Heilig brothers Henrich, George and John along with a sister Anna Ursula came about 1720 to PA. George changed his name to Highley and his offspring further anglicized it to Harley and then to Hawley. The brother John dissapears. Could this name Hailey be a change by John but he named his daughter after his sister or mother. The Heiligs in part then went to NC in the 1780 and in part on then Il and later farther West. Their trip to NC was down the Great Wagon Road through the Valley of Virginia. Could some of these Haileys in VA and NC be in fact Heiligs. This may be a place to look if you have hit a brick wall. The Heiligs have pretty much stayed Lutheran so there are excellant records but if those who anglicized their names also changed their church it becomes very hard to track back. There may not be any substance to this supposed name change but it is worth investigating if you have come up against a brick wall.