Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed by Sharon Elijah July 15, 2020

Among the early settlers of Carroll county William Gilley occupies a unique position as he is the oldest pioneer now living in the county. Fifty-five years have come and gone since he first cast his eyes upon this section of the state and he has ever since made it his home. He is a native of Pennsylvania, born March 11, 1830, a son of Andrew and Catharine (Vandemark) Gilley, who were also natives of the Keystone state. The father was born October 5, 1804. He was reared as a farmer and after attaining maturity moved with his family to Medina county, Ohio, in 1833, locating a mile and a half from Lodi. He lived for forty-four years in Median county and in 1877 came to Carroll county, Iowa, where he spent the remainder of his days, being called away May 9, 1884, at the age of seventy-nine years and seven months. The beloved wife and mother died in Ohio at the age of seventy-one. They were both consistent members of the Congregational church. There were nine children in their family, four sons and five daughters: Benjamin; Mary, who married Alpha Gilbert; William, of this review; Sarah; Jane, who became the wife of Harrison Chapman; James; Harrison; Julia, who married John Deal; and Almina, who died in infancy. Grandfather Gilley died in 1807 when the son Andrew was three years of age. The maternal grandfather was Benjamin Vandemark, also a native of Pennsylvania. He was of Holland-Dutch and his wife of Scotch descent. They had seven children: William, Maria, who married Peter Eaton; Sarah; Jane, who became the wife of Adam Eaton, a cousin of Peter; Julia; Leah, who married Abraham Springer; and Catharine, the mother of our subject.

William Gilley moved to Medina county, Ohio, with his parents in his early boyhood and was reared upon his father’s farm. He attended the district schools and engaged in farming in Medina county until twenty-four years of age when he was married and, having decided to cast his fortune west of the Mississippi river, came to Iowa with his wife and spent the first two years on a farm near Iowa City. In April, 1856, he arrived in Carroll county and settled in what is now Pleasant Valley township. Here he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land adjoining the site of Carrollton which had been named as the county seat. He improved his farm and increased it by the addition of eighty acres, but in the meantime was elected county treasurer in 1867 and the county seat having been moved to Carroll, he took up his residence in this place in October, 1868. He was reelected to the office in 1869 and also subsequently served as sheriff and clerk of the district court and was reelected, and in 1878 and 1880 he served as mayor of Carroll. During the time that he filled the office of country treasurer he conducted a real-estate business. He purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land near the corporation line and has been largely instrumental in the improvement of the city by the erection of business properties. He engaged for a number of years in the lumber and coal business and also continued farming until about 1900 since which time he has lived retired. He still owns a beautiful farm of one hundred and seventy acres which is located a half-mile west of Carroll. At the time he settled in Pleasant Valley township there were only twenty-eight voters in the county and the only settlements were in Newton and Jasper townships. The people were all from the east, none of them being of foreign birth. Roving bands of Indians were frequently seen pursuing the elk and deer that were then abundant throughout this part of the state. The nearest mill was at Panora, about thirty miles away, and the nearest post office was at the same place. There were not many improvements made until after 1865, as the Civil war attracted to the army nearly all of the able-bodied men, leaving the women and children to look after affairs at home.

On the 3d day of January, 1854, Mr. Gilley was united in marriage to Miss Leah Mohler, a native of Wayne county, Ohio, and a daughter of John and Susan (Mohler) Mohler. The parents were natives of Pennsylvania but removed to Ohio and located near Lodi. The father died when he was about sixty and the mother at the age of eighty-four years. In their family were Anna, Isaac, Cyrus, Reuben, Amos, Leah, Catharine, Rachel, Allen and Ira. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gilley: Willard B., who was drowned at the age of twelve; Ira M., a farmer of Grant county, Washington, living near Coulee City, who married Stella Cushman and has two children, William C. and Gertrude; Ida, now living in Carroll, who married William Trowbridge and is the mother of three children, Blanche, the wife of J. E. Bruner, Emma, who married C. Dawson, and William Harrison; and Emma I., also of Carroll, who married E. J. Pelsue and has two children, Harold G. and Lutheria L. William Gilley of this review also has a grandson, Frank Cushman Gilley, a bright lad who gives evidence of becoming a worthy representative of the family.

Mrs. Leah Gilley, the beloved wife and mother, died November 4, 1906, at the age of seventy-one years. Mr. Gilley is now eighty-one and is unusually active in mind and body for a person of his age. In religious belief he is in sympathy with the Congregational church and this was also the faith of his wife. Fraternally he is identified with Signet Lodge No. 264, A.F. & A.M., and Copestone Chapter No. 78, R.A.M. He was a charter member of the first Masonic organization in Carroll county and only two of the original signers for the lodge are now living. Politically Mr. Gilley gives his support to the republican party. He voted for John C. Fremont for president of the United States and has never seen a reason for changing his political views. In all his responsibilities, public or private, he has discharged his duties with the strictest fidelity and honor, and today no man in Carroll county is more worthy of respect than William Gilley.

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