His probable grandfather Hillebrand or Gilbert Affleck was born in Scotland and was a burgess in Turku and inspector of gunpowder factories.
When he arrived in autumn 1696 to collect taxes in Haapajärvi (now known as Valtimo) the angry peasants expelled his officials by force.
After receiving help from the military he had the rebel leaders imprisoned, of which ten were sentenced to death and brought to Kexholm (Finnish: Käkisalmi) to be executed.
[1] After the start of the Great Northern War in 1700 Affleck was made the town lieutenant in Pielisjärvi and he repaired the Lieksa fortress.
In order to live there in peace with his family he stopped collecting taxes from the peasants in the lots neighbouring his estate.
When the Russians shortly arrived, the peasants aided by the dean Herkepaeus swore loyalty to the Emperor of Russia and raided the Nurmes court again.
[1] During the so-called "field war" (Finnish: sarkasota) in March 1712 the Russians and the Nurmes peasants who had joined them burned down the Turunkorva mansion on the raid and took Affleck's wife and children as prisoners.
Four of the children managed to escape captivity from Russia after the end of the Great Wrath, but the fate of Affleck's wife is not known.
[2] There is also no record of Affleck's activity or place of residence during the Great Wrath, but he is known to have returned after the Treaty of Nystad and having had the Turunkorva mansion rebuilt.
[7] There is a silver neck shield at the National Museum of Finland donated in 1858 by the later owners of the Turunkorva mansion, which is thought of having belonged to Affleck.
[1] According to yet another story he was "walled in" with sand up to his neck in a hole dug in boulder soil on an island in the lake Nuasjärvi in Sotkamo, now known as Muuraussaari.
[4] The character paha pajari (Finnish for "the evil boyar") in folk tradition from the Kitee area was possibly also influenced by Affleck.
[8] Finnish historians became interested in Affleck in the late 19th century when there was need for more reliable information in addition to folk stories.
In 1897 Anni Kepplerus published a historical novel Hovin Inkeri about a fictional girl related to Affleck.
Apparently this novel later caused a myth that Affleck's second wife would have been a peasant's daughter called Inkeri Sormunen.
A film called Simo Hurtta produced by Jäger Filmi and directed by Roland af Hällström based on Eino Leino's play was published in 1940, starring Santeri Karilo as Affleck.
The wolf and seven gold coins featured on the coat of arms of Valtimo have been said to refer to the name "Simo Hurtta" and his strict tax collection.