Untitled Document

William H. Brawley

William H. Brawley , of Edford Township , has been a citizen of Henry County since 1856. He is the son of John and Elizabeth (Carr) Brawley, and he was born April 22, 1822 , in the township of Harrison , Darke Co. , Ohio . His father was a native of Greenbrier Co., Va. , and his mother was born in Versailles , Woodford Co., Ky. Soon after their marriage they settled in Darke County , in the Buckeye State , and were among the earliest of the pioneer settlers there. One their way from Kentucky they passed through Cincinnati , where then stood three log houses. The father bought a considerable tract of timber from the United States Government and proceeded to improve a farm. On this place he passed the remainder of his life. The family passed through the experiences of pioneers whose stories have filled the pages of fiction with tales more interesting than those of the imagination, and which in many instances have shared the fate common to the structures of fancy, being too remarkable for credibility. But the Indians were then on the frontiers, and as this period preceded that of the Black Hawk War, the red-skins were still without the bounds of their control which was in force soon after the defeat of the haughty chief named. The senior Brawley was accustomed to take his gun with him to the field where he worked in order to protect himself from the crafty and exasperated race who was a foe in every white man.

Mr. Brawley spent his minority on the Ohio farm and obtained his education in the log school-house of that period. The structure was of the most primitive kind, a log being left out to admit the light, the aperture being covered with an oiled paper to keep out the wind and let in the light. All his schooling was obtained in the sessions of winter school, his summers being passed in farm labor.

He was married Jan. 14, 1847 , to Permelia, daughter of Ellis and Cerilla (James) Thomas. Her father was born in Virginia and his mother was a native of the District of Columbia . Mrs. Brawley was born in Tyler Co., Va. , May 1, 1828 . In the autumn of 1830 she accompanied her parents to Darke Co., Ohio , where she was married to Mr. Brawley. Soon after their union they set up housekeeping in Hollensburg in the same county, and Mr. Brawley embarked in a mercantile enterprise in which he was interested one year. Two years subsequent he passed in the calling of a hotel-keeper, and he then became interested in the hardware business, which he followed one year. He then assumed the management of the family homestead, and he continued his connection therewith until 1856. He then came to Illinois , and located in the county where he has since operated as an agriculturist. He came here six weeks previous to the removal of his family and bought a claim on section 28, of what was then town 17, and is now Edford. The entire tract was in a state of nature, and when Mr. Brawley decided on that place was suitable for a location he erected a small frame house for the temporary occupation of his family, in which they lived until their circumstances permitted the enlargement and rebuilding of the little home where the family was contented, if they could not boast of splendor.

In the same autumn in which he removed to Henry County the proprietor broke a few acres and put in a crop. In 1857 he raised the first full crop in the place, and he also rented the same year 40 acres of improved land, on which he raised a crop of wheat. The yield averaged 40 bushes to the acre. He was the owner and occupant of the place until 1876, when he removed his family to Geneseo. He had acquired the ownership of property at that place and he was a resident of that city until 1884. In that year the family returned to the homestead in Edford Township . The farm contains 280 acres, and it is all under cultivation. The place is well supplied with all necessary farm buildings and all appurtenances for the well-being of the stock.

The record of the children of M. and Mrs. Brawley is as follows: Ellis T., lives in Peoria ; Civilla is the wife of Fremont Allford, and they are residents of Indianapolis , Ind. ; Melena married Felix Smith and they live ear Lenox, Taylor Co., Iowa; Cassius M. is at home, as is Florence L. and William H.; George was born April 27, 1859, and died June 9, 1879; he sustained an injury from the kick of a horse, which caused his death; Mary E. and two children unnamed died in infancy.

The parents of Mrs. Brawley are still living, and are each 81 years of age. Mr. Brawley is a Republican and has been from the foundation of the party. He has no idea of being anything else, whether the party is triumphant or defeated.

1885 Portrait & Biographical Album of Henry Co., Illinois page 433

Transcribed by Jan Roggy

Illinois Ancestors