| Willis Coley | |
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Born: 14 Feb 1792 Loc: Ballston Springs, NY Died: 21 Nov 1876 Loc: Laomi, Sangamon Co, IL |
Parents: Unknown |
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Married: Feb 1818 in NY Spouse: Lucinda Chapin Daughter of Justin Chapin and Mehitable Webber |
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Census: 1850: Unknown Twp. Sangamon Co. IL 1860: Pct 1, Collin Co. TX |
Children: Robert W./Charlotte/Hubbard/James/Angeline |
| Married 2nd: Philena Jenkins | |
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COLEY, WILLIS, was born Feb. 14, 1792, near Ballston Springs, N. Y.,
and when he was a child his parents moved to Cazenovia, Madison
County. Willis was there married in Feb. 1818, to Lucinda Chapin.
His father owned some land in the military tract between the
Illinois and Mississippi rivers. Soon after Willis was married his
father sent him out to see it. He came on a raft down the Alleghany
and Ohio rivers to Shawneetown, thence to St. Louis by keel boat. He
went on foot to the military tract, and returned to Edwardsville.
July 4, 1819, he started from that place, on foot and alone, for his
home in New York. At Terre Haute, Ind., he secured cooked food, and
traveled two hundred miles to the Maumee River, without seeing any
other human beings but Indians. He arrived at Cazanovia August 7,
1819. March 4, 1820, he started with his family, consisting of
himself, wife and two children, accompanied by five or six other
families. They moved by water to Shawneetown, Ill., where Mr. Coley
lived three years. He then moved in a wagon drawn by two yoke of
oxen, and in March, 1823, arrived in what is now Loami township,
where they had three children. Of their five children:
ROBERT W., born in New York, married in Sangamon county to Rebecca A. Jarrett. She died Feb. 13, 1870, and Robert W. Coley died March, 1872. Their daughter LAVINA is the wife of John A. DeWitt, and lives in Springfield. Their son WILLIS lives in Loami. CHARLOTTE, born August 15, 1819, in New York, married in Sangamon county to Reuben Moore, and moved to Texas in 1852. Reuben Moore died in 1863, leaving a widow and seven children. LUCINDA, ROBERT E., ELLEN and POLLY are married, and live in Texas. LAURA, their third child, married Lott Mason, and lives in Auburn, Sangamon county. EDGAR and WILLIE, the two youngest, live with their mother, near McKinney, Collin County, Texas. HUBBARD S., born in Sangamon County, married March 4, 1852, to Susan Jacobs. They have two children, ANNIS and MAY, and lives in Oswego, Labette county, Kansas. JAMES M., born August 23, 1832, in Sangamon County, married Oct. 28, 1858, to Caroline Greenwood. She died six weeks after they were married. Mr. Coley married April 19, 1860, to America Gibson. They had two children, LEWIS B. and MARY F., the latter of whom died in her third year. J. M. Coley and wife live in Loami. ANGELINE, born in Sangamon County, married Hugh Forrest, and both died. Mrs. Lucinda Coley died at Loami, and Willis Coley was married
Sept. 1851, to Mrs. Philena Jenkins, who was previously Mrs. Kidder,
and whose maiden name was Sprague, a native of Windham county, Vt.
After a residence of just half a century at Loami, Willis Coley
moved, in 1873, to Oswego, Kansas. |
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| LOAMI
- This township lies in the southwestern part of the county, in the
second tier of townships from the south. It was organized in 1861
and comprises part of government township 14 north and part of range
7 west. Its present boundaries are: New Berlin on the north, Chatham
on the east, Talkington on the south and Maxwell on the west. The
township is watered by Lick creek and its branches, along which some
timber is found. The first settlers in this part of the county were
Henry Brown and his stepson, William Huffmaster. They arrived in
1819 and built a cabin on the north side of Lick creek. In 1821 came
Paul and William Colburn, and about the same time Willis Coley
and others. The village of Loami is an old-settled place and was
laid out and platted in 1854. It is on the line of what is now
called the Chicago, Peoria and St. Louis railway. Population of the township, including Loami village - 1,095; population of the village - 481 |
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