Branches of the WILLEY Family

BRANCHES OF THE WILLEY FAMILY

First Generation

SAMUEL WILLEY born ca 1750, probably England, occupation Farmer, married Mrs. MANNING, born ca 1750, probably in the Colonies. SAMUEL died after 1830, in Indiana.

SAMUEL was a British soldier, sent to America to fight the Colonists in the Revolutionary War. He was wounded in battle, taken prisoner, and nursed by a widow of a Colonial soldier. At the close of the War, Samuel chose to remain in America, and married the widow who had cared for his injuries. Samuel, the former Mrs. Manning (the only name known for her), and her small son, walked 300 miles across Pennsylvania and settled on the western border with Ohio, where they reared the boy and 12 children of their own. The youngest child was JOSEPH.

Children:
i JOSEPH WILLEY born 1804, Pennsylvania.

Second Generation

JOSEPH WILLEY born 1804, Pennsylvania, occupation Farmer, married ca 1830, in probably Ohio, MERENA McFARLIN born 1811, New York, (daughter of JAMES McFARLIN AND {---} {---}) JOSEPH died before 1860, Porter County, Union Township, Indiana.

Children:
i MARTHA MERENA WILLEY born 1830, Ohio.
ii CHARLES WILSON (CHARLEY) WILLEY born 1832, Ohio.
iii JOHN WILLEY born 1834, Ohio.
iv MARY SAMANTHA WILLEY born 1836, Porter County, Indiana.
v CAROLINA ALMINA WILLEY born 1839, Porter County, Indiana.
vi JOSEPH HANFORD WILLEY born 1841, Porter County, Indiana.
vii SARAH JANE WILLEY born 1845, Porter County, Indiana.
viii (infant) WILLEY born 1844, Porter County, Indiana, died after three days, Porter County, Indiana.
ix WILLIAM HENRY WILLEY born 1845, Porter County, Indiana.
x THOMAS ELDRIDGE WILLEY born 1849, Porter County, Indiana.
ix ALMIRA ESTELLA (ELMYRA) WILLEY born 1852, Porter County, Indiana.

Third Generation

JOHN WILLEY born 1834, Ohio, occupation Farmer, married ca 1855, in Porter County, Indiana, DELPHINE OREM.

JOHN was a Union soldier in the Civil War. He died of pneumonia, near the end of the war, after taking a leave to attend the New Years Day double wedding of his sisters, Carolina and Sara Jane. He walked through sleet and freezing rain to get back to his army camp, and died a week later. A widowed DELPHINE moved to Missouri with her three small children, and eventually remarried.

Children:
i (infant) WILLEY born 1856, Porter County, Indiana, died at birth.
ii ELDRIDGE JOSHUA WILLEY born 1858, Porter County, Indiana.
iii MARTHA MERENA WILLEY born 1860, Porter County, Indiana.
iv JOSEPH MALVUREN WILLEY born February, 1862, Porter County, Indiana.

Fourth Generation

JOSEPH MALVUREN WILLEY born February, 1862, Porter County, Indiana, occupation Farmer, married HARRIET PHILLIPS, born April 1863, Missouri.

Children:
i JOHN B. WILLEY born January 1885, Missouri.
ii IDA MYRTLE WILLEY born February 1, 1886, Black Oak, Caldwell County, Missouri.
iii ALBERT J. WILLEY born January, 1888, Missouri.
iv MARTHA E. WILLEY born May, 1890, Missouri.
v SUSAN D. WILLEY born August, 1892, Missouri.
vi GRACE WILLEY born February, 1894, Missouri, married ca 1916, JESS RUSSELL. Lived in Perryton, Ochiltree County, Texas. JESS had an auto dealership in Perryton, Texas.
vii WESTLEY WILLEY born August 1897, Missouri, married a widow, PEARL {---}. WES was an engineer who helped design numerous bridges in the western states, and worked on the design of Disneyland, in Anaheim, California. In return for his work on the park, Walt Disney gave him a lifetime family pass to Disneyland. Being childless, he gave the pass to his sister's granddaughters, who lived nearby in Costa Mesa. WES and PEARL lived their last years in the Santa Ana Heights area of Costa Mesa, Orange County, California. WES died in Costa Mesa soon after 1969.

Fifth Generation

IDA MYRTLE WILLEY born February 1, 1886, Black Oak, Caldwell County, Missouri, married April 11, 1905, in Clinton, Custer County, Oklahoma, JOSEPH HORN HALSEY, born November 21, 1881, Viola, Sedgwick County, Kansas, (son of ANDREW McMILLAN HALSEY and SUSAN FRANCES WYATT). JOSEPH died December 14, 1957, Los Angeles, California, buried December 17, 1957, San Pedro, L.A. Co., California.

GRANDPA JOE lived with his son, JOE, and his family in Costa Mesa, California, in his later years, and enjoyed spending the weekends with his brother, BURD (Burgess), who lived in a very large house with a full width front porch, on St. Andrews Place, in the Wilshire District of Los Angeles. They loved to play checkers and Chinese checkers for hours at a time on the veranda. They had just finished a spirited game -- Grandpa Joe won, and he leaned back in his chair in laughter. That moment, he had a massive heart attack and died before help arrived. He was 76 years old. MYRTLE died December 13, 1954, Torrance, L.A. Co., California, buried December 16, 1954, San Pedro, L.A. Co., California. GRANDMA MYRT developed throat cancer from a lifelong addiction to smoking, and was also quarantined in a TB hospital in Torrance, California, at the time of her death. It was a slow and painful suffering for the dearest person I ever knew. She was 68 years young.

Children:
i ANDREW RAYMOND HALSEY born August 2, 1907, Butler, Custer County, Oklahoma, married ca 1945, MABEL LORENA JACKSON. RAY and MABEL still reside in Perryton, Texas, where they reared one son.
ii JOSEPH LeROY HALSEY born January 23, 1923, Booker, Ochiltree County, Texas, married November 14, 1942, in Groom, Carson County, Texas, MARY ELLA (FAYE) SULLIVAN, born March 21, 1924, Beggs, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma, (daughter of EMMIT WESLEY SULLIVAN and ADA MAE SHIPLEY). FAYE died April 23, 1973, West Covina, L.A. Co., California, buried April 26, 1973, Forest Lawn, Glendale, L.A. Co., California. JOE died April 16, 1969, Los Angeles, California, buried, April 19, 1969, Forest Lawn, Glendale, L.A. Co., California.
 
JOE and FAYE lived in Southern California where they reared three daughters.
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