Francis Corley, the first engineer of the LaSalle city water works and
electric light plant, was born in Bureau county, Illinois, November 18,
1852, and is a son of Martin and Sarah (Bigelow) Corley. His father was a
farmer who emigrated from the old country to America, coming by stage from
Chicago, in 1841, to Bureau county, and locating near Arlington. At that
time there was but one house between Arlington and Peru, and the nearest
market was Chicago, to which place the grain was hauled by wagon. Droves of
deer were a common sight on the prairies, and often the table of the
frontiersman was graced by a dish of venison, a luxury unknown at this time.
Martin Corley was industrious and frugal, and soon became prominent and
well-to-do. At the time of his death, in 1873, he was sixty-seven years of
age, and owned five hundred and twenty acres of land. The country began to
be more thickly settled about this time and he was chosen as a highway
commissioner, and in the early days was a tax collector. His wife was Sarah
Bigelow, who was a native of Vermont and whose ancestors were soldiers in
the colonial and Revolutionary wars. One of her brothers, John Bigelow, a
native of St. Albans, Vermont, was a large land-owner and died suddenly in
Sacramento, California, in middle life, during his candidacy for the
governorship of that state.
Francis Corley was reared on his
father's farm in Bureau county, and received such educational advantages as
were to be derived from the district schools at that time. He remained at
home, helping with the work until he was grown to manhood. In 1890 he came
to LaSalle to accept the position of engineer in the City Electric Railway.
December 27, 1887, he was married to Miss Mary I. McGann, a daughter of
Thomas and Mary McGann. They have three children: Vivian, Louisa and Thomas.
Mr. and Mrs. Corley are members of the Roman Catholic church. He is a strong
Democrat in his political beliefs and takes an active interest in the
success of that party. Fraternally he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of
America. His residence is at the intersection of Eleventh and Marquette
streets. LaSalle, where he has a comfortable home. Of his ten brothers and
sisters, eight are still living, three brothers having served through the
Rebellion. They are: Daniel, a member of the First Illinois Artillery, now a
resident of Fremont, Nebraska; John, who served in the Second Missouri
Artillery, and now is a citizen of Peru; Stephen, of the Ninety-third
Illinois Infantry, is now a Montana ranchman; Francis, the subject of this
biography; Emma, wife of W. W. Grimes, of Denver, Colorado; Agnes, wife of
Clinton Cassidy, of Arlington, Illinois; Miriam, wife of H. W. Loehr, of
Hinsdale, this state; and Mary, wife of Thomas McDonald, a resident of
Corley, a town in Iowa, Shelby county, named in honor of the family.
Extracted 18 Aug 2017 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois, published in 1900, volume 2, pages 516-517.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
 |
Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
