History of Nancy Coley d/o Reverend Joseph Coley (1765-1856) Brother of William Coley (1758-1843)
The info that I am gathering is related to the William Cooley/Coleys who are
associated with Ohio. The line I am working on is the family of William
Henry Cooley, whose descendants yDNA so closely matches James Cooley of Jack
County, Texas.
This Coley family was educated, able to write; Father, William Cooley was a
Jeweler in London & they came to America in 1773. My antenna went up on the
"George Coley who went West", however.
Ancestry.com. Our county and its people : a descriptive and biographical
record of Madison County, New York [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The
Generations Network, Inc., 2005.
Original data: Smith, John E.,. Our county and its people : a descriptive
and biographical record of Madison County, New York. Boston: Boston History
Co., 1899.
Page 204-207
"Coley, Joseph the great-grandfather of Franklin R., Judson O., and
Charles H. Perkins, was born 1765 in London, England, where his father was a
jeweler. In 1773, when Joseph was about eight years old, his father moved
from London and settled in Johnstown, New York. Here he cleared a farm and
resided for some time. Joseph Coley, married Mary Willess and moved to
Saratoga county, where they occupied a farm for a few years. Soon after
they moved to the town of De Ruyter, Madison county, and purchased a farm
which included the spot since known as the "De Ruyter Springs". The family
resided here until 1806, when they moved to New Woodstock in the town of
Cazenovia. Here he purchased and cleared a valuable farm. On the 15th of
August, 1810, Joseph Coley was ordained as a minister in the Baptist
denomination and became quiet(sic) prominent as a preacher and pastor.
After one revival in the town of Eaton he baptized forty converts. Here he
organized a church in 1816, and was its first pastor. The old records shown
that he did excellent work in several churches in Madison county. His wife
Mary died September 30, 1845, at the age of 77. After the death of his
wife, Rev. Joseph Coley lived with his son William at New Woodstock, until
his death, September 25, 1856, at the age of ninety-one. Ten children were
born to Joseph and Mary Willess Coley. One an infant in the cradle,
perished when the log house was burned, during their residence in De Ruyter.
The remaining nine children, viz.: Willess, Betsey, Polly, Nancy, Laura,
Clarissa, William, J. Madison with his wife composed the family of Joseph
Coley while he resided in New Woodstock. Nancy Coley the mother of Williss
C. and Wilson L. Perkins was born May 9, 1795.
Abiezer Perkins, another great-grandfather of Franklin R., Judson O., and
Charles H. Perkins was born near Deerfield, Massachusetts, in 1754, and in
1781, he was married to Irene Loomis, and in 1803 he came through the woods
with his family to the town of Cazenovia, and settled on a farm which he had
previously purchased, known as the "Perkins District". At that time the
farm was thickly covered with heavy timber, and a line of marked trees
indicated the pathway leading past his new home. He cleared the land and
resided upon this farm until his death, which occurred September 20, 1825,
at the age of seventy-one; his wife, Irene Loomis, lived eleven years after
his death, and died September 6, 1836. They were both members of the Baptist
church. Abiezer Perkins was a deacon in the Baptist church for many years.
"Near him the well remembered Perkins School House was build, in which the
early religious meetings of the Baptist church of Cazenovia village were
held". One of his sons taught school in this log school house. Seven
children were born to Abiezer and Irene Loomis Perkins, viz.: Byram,
Juduthun, Eliab, Polly, Sally, Elemander and Stillman.
Elemander, the fourth son, was born September 13, 1792, and on the 9th of
May, 1813, at the age of twenty-one, he married Nancy Coley, before
mentioned, who was at the time of their marriage eighteen years of age.
After their marriage they resided several years in the family of Deacon
Abiezer Perkins, where on the 5th of December, 1814, Willess C. was born and
on the 8th of October, 1816, Wilson L. was born. Elemander Perkins, with
his wife and two sons, moved to the farm then recently purchased by his
father-in-law, the Rev. Joseph Coley, about one-half mile farther south on
the De Ruyter road, which he carried on for several years, occuping the same
house with his father-in-law. In the autumn of 1824 Elemander purchased a
farm of about seventy acres, loczted on the hill about one and one-half
miles from Cazenovia, on the road leading from Rippleton to Delphi. He
moved with his family on to this place in the spring of 1825. The scenery
of this place is delightful; beautiful for situation. The stately elms are
now standing which were set out by Elemander and his two sons many years
ago. Here was born on the 26th of April, 1830, the only daughter, Mary
Irene. She was married, December 20, 1847, at the age of seventeen, to
Charles J. Halliday, and died the following year, October 10, 1848.
Elemander continued to reside here until his death on the 10 of April, 1854,
in his sixty-second year of his age. His widow, Nancy Coley, survived him
many years in vigorous activity, but after a short illness died December 21,
1876, aged eighty-one years."...(this goes on and gives history of brothers,
Willess C. & Wilson L.)
Perhaps, I am "beating a dead horse" - however, I am interested in any
connections that lead back to the UK!
Mary C.
Received on Mon Sep 03 2012 - 17:16:26 MDT
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