THE CONLEY FAMILY
OF
CROCKETT COUNTY, TENNESSEE
The history of the Conley family of Crockett County,
Tennessee, begins with the record of both the ancestors and
descendants of John Wesley Conley, who was born January 19,
1784 in North Carolina. He moved to a farm in the Crockett
County area near the year of 1845 in what was then the southern
part of Gibson County, Tennessee. He is buried in an unmarked
Grave on this farm which is located on the road between the
Nance and Quincy communities of Crockett County. In his memory
a monument has been placed near the west entrance of the Alamo
City Cemetery in Alamo, Tennessee.
The name of John Wesley Conley at the time of his
birth was John Connelly Jr., the son of John Connelly and Jane
Ballew Connelly of Burke County, North Carolina. It is
difficult to determine the time that the spelling changed from
Connelly to Conley or the reasons for the change. The parents
of John Wesley Conley also frequently used the name Conley.
Also, it is not known when John Wesley Conley assumed his
middle name as he did not have a middle name at the time of his
birth.
John Wesley Conley was one of eleven children of
John Connelly and Jane Ballew Connelly, who married in August of
1772 in Rowan County, North Carolina. Jane Ballew, born in
Bedford County, Virginia near the year of 1755, was the
daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Ballew. Her niece, Mary
Ballew, later married John Wesley Conley. All eleven children
of John Connelly and Jane Ballew Connelly were born in Burke
County, North Carolina:
William Conley (1774)
Mary Conley (1776)
Elizabeth Conley (1778)
John Conley (1784)
Susannah Conley (1785)
Jane Conley (1787)
George Conley (1789)
Joshua Conley (1792)
Allen Conley (1795)
Caleb Conley (1798)
Joseph Conley (1801)
The names and years of birth, taken from the family
Bible of John Wesley Conley, are identical with historical
documents of North Carolina, the records of the Ballew family,
and the family Bibles in the possession of other descendants of
John and Jane Connelly.
PAGE 2
John Connelly, the father of John Wesley Conley, was
born on August 1, 1744 in Ireland. He died on July 16, 1826 in
an area which is now located in southern part of Caldwell
County near the Catawba river. Following the death of John Connelly,
Jane Ballew Connelly remained a widow until her death on October
30, 1851. During the latter years of her life, she resided with
her son Joseph Conley, in McDowell County, North Carolina, west
of Burke County. Both Jane Ballew Conley and her son, Joseph
Conley, are buried in the Methodist Church Cemetery near the
communities of Sevier and North Cove in McDowell County. There
was an old Connelly family cemetery located near the Catawba
River in the southern part of Caldwell County. It is assumed,
although not verified, that John Connelly, the father of John
Wesley Conley, is buried in that cemetery. The distance from
the North Cove community of McDowell county would have mode it
extremely difficult for Jane Ballew Conley to have been buried
with her husband.
John Connelly was an officer in the North Carolina
Militia and served as a Captain in the American Revolutionary
War. He commanded a company of cavalry that traveled from
Rowan County, North Carolina, with General Rutherford to the
Cherokee Nation, a trip that may not have been of considerable
distance as he maintained his home and raised his family near
the frontier bordering the Indian Nation. The service of John
Connelly in the Revolutionary War entitled his widow to a
Pension. The documents filed by her in 1844 refer to her
husband as both John Connelly and John Conley. The Pension
Declaration of John Connelly of July 3, 1844 states that the
residence of John Conley and Jane Conley was in Burke County
North Carolina and that John Connelly died on July 16, 1826,
facts consistent with other reliable records.
Captain John Connelly had three brothers who also
lived in America: William Connelly, Hugh Connelly and James
Connelly. The story of four Connelly brothers who came from
Ireland and settled in North Carolina has been told to each
generation of this family. Although not totally documented,
reliable records reveal that these four brothers were the sons
of Bryan O'Connelly, an Irish Immigrant, who settled in North
Carolina in the 1760's and died there in 1795. The name of Bryan
Connelly is listed in the tax records of Rowan County, North
Carolina in 1770 and these records further note that three maile
Adults above the age of twenty-one were residing with him. In
1770, the western section of Rowan County included an area which
is now Burke County. The family name was changed from
O'Connelly to Connelly after Bryan O'Connelly settled in North
Carolina.
PAGE 3
William Connelly, one of the sons of Bryan Connelly,
and a brother of Captain John Conley, purchased the homeplace of
Bryan Connelly from the other heirs in 1796. This land was sold
in 1797 by William Connelly to Groves Bowman, the husband of
Mary Conley. These records of the transfer of the real estate
of Bryan Connelly among his heirs further support the
documentation by respected genealogists of that area that Bryan
O'Connelly, an Irish immigrant, was the father of John Conley
and the grandfather of John Wesley Conley. Also, family records
of William Connelly, document that Caleb Bowman was a descendant
of Groves Bowman, William Conley, and John Conley. Other family
records document that Mary Conley, born in 1776, and the daughter
of John Connelly and Jane Ballew Connelly, married Groves Bowman
in 1796. The oldest son of Captain John Conley, William (born
in 1774), continued to use the name Connelly; however, many of
his descendants, including Pickens, used the name Conley.
William Lewis Connelly of Connelly's Springs did not use the name
Conley, although he was a brother of Pickens Conley.
Any reference to the ancestors of John Wesley Conley
would be incomplete without recognition of the extraordinary
qualities of his mother, Jane Ballew Conley. She had eleven
children, four of whom were born near the time of the American
War of Independence, and all lived to be adults; she maintained
a home near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and in an
area not far from the frontier and the Cherokee Nation. The
settlers in that area were required to fight both the British
and the Indians. She resided in the North Carolina back country
while her husband was often absent in service with the Militia,
a fact which would not endear her to either the Indians or the
British. In 1781, the British troops led by general Cornwallis,
following defeat at King's Mountain, marched into the western
counties of North Carolina near the Catawba River. His troops
moved into this area prior to turning east to engage in the
battle at Guilford's Courthouse in March of 1781, where the
British enjoyed initial victory followed by heavy losses. With
three small children in the home, crops in the field, restless
Indians to the west, British troops approaching from the south
and east, and a husband engaged in battles in various areas of
North Carolina, Jane Conley's thoughts of a country free from
British taxation would have been replaced by prayers and hopes
for survival. In the Spring of 1781, Jane Conley most likely
failed to notice the majestic beauty of the fertile valleys
bordering the Catawba River not far from the Ble ridge
Mountains. Colonial troops, aided by North Carolina Militia,
drove the British into southern Virginia where they surrendered
later that year at Yorktown. Following the War, Captain John
PAGE 4
Conley, although he remained in the local Militia, was at home
frequently enough to assist Jane in adding eight additional
children to the three who had survived the hardships of War.
Their fourth child and the first to be born following the War
was John Wesley Conley. Jane Conley's devotion to family,
strength of character, and willingness to engage in hard work
are attributes which Conley women have possessed for several
generations. Her accomplishments appear to be even more
remarkable in view of the fact that she was illiterate as
evidenced by her application for a Revolutionary War pension
signed by her mark, "X".
While living in North Carolina, John Wesley Connelly
married Mary Ballew, his double first cousin. Mary Ballew's
mother was sister to John Wesley's father and Mary Ballew's
father was a brother to John Wesley's mother. A brother and
sister of the Conley family married a brother and sister of the
Ballew family. It was not illegal in North Carolina at that time
for double first cousins to marry. No written record of the
disapproval of the marriage has been located; however,
comments from descendants of several generations indicate
that discussions of the marriage encouraged John Wesley Conley
and Mary Ballew Conley to leave North Carolina.
Mary Ballew was born on May 31, 1784. She later
added a middle name and more recent records identify her as
Mary Ann Ballew. The following children were born of the marriage
of John Wesley Conley and Mary Ann Bellew Conley:
Mary Conley
Joseph Conley
George Conley
Jan L. Conley
Allen Conley
John B. Conley
William M. Conley
Alfred Conley
Prior to moving to West Tennessee, members of the
Conley Family, including John Wesley Conley, settled in
Rutherford County in Middle Tennessee, near Murfreesboro. Mary
Ballew Conley died before John Wesley Conley moved to the
Crockett County area of West Tennessee. The 1850 census of West
Tennessee includes the names of J. W. Conley and his wife, Sarah;
and Alfred W. Conley and his wife, Martha. The 1830 census of
West Tennessee includes George Conley of Haywood County.
PAGE 5
The records of the county Court Clerk in Rutherford
County, Tennessee, state that John W. Connelly married Sally
Nichols on November 24, 1824, a fact documented by numerous
family records. Sally Nichols was also referred to as Sarah
Nichols Conley. Between the years of 1818 and 1824, additional
marriage licenses were issued in Rutherford County to Hardy S.
Connelly and Elizabeth Reed; George Connelly and Rebecca Young;
James B. Connelly and Elizabeth Tweedy; and Thomas J. Connelly
and Stacy Hewitt.
While living in Rutherford county, John Wesley
Conley owned a 300-acre farm near Cripple Creek, which he sold
in 1849 after he moved to West Tennessee. He operated a
blacksmith shop and carding factory in the Old Quincy community
which is now part of Crocket County. He was undisputedly
recognized as the strongest man in the area, often called upon
to pull stuck wagons from muddy roads.
Sarah Nichols Conley died on November 2, 1864. John
Wesley Conley died on April 13, 1869. Although it is known that
they were buried on the farm between Quincy and Nance, their
graves have not been located.
Two daughters were born of the marriage of John
Wesley Conley and Sarah Nichols Conley: Lucinda Conley, who
married Hansford Hall, and Martha Conley, who married Bob
Sanford. Tolbert Fanning Conley, the only son of the second
marriage of John Wesley Conley, was born on August 25, 1832.
He married Cornelia Jane Green and the following children were
born of that marriage:
Columbus Hansford Conley
Robert Lee Conley
Horace Columbus Conley
Ola Jane Conley
Berta Lena Conley
Tolbert Adolphus Conley
Walter Conley
Many of the descendants of Tolbert Fanning Conley continue to
reside in Crockett County and they meet annually for a family
reunion.
Alfred Conley, born on November 28, 1810, also
settled in the West Tennessee area and married Martha Hall on
October 27, 1842. The following children were born of the
marriage of Alfred Conley and Martha Hall Conley:
Mollie Conley
Adolphus Ballew Conley
William Conley
Joe Albert Conley
David Hall Conley
John Franklin Conley
PAGE 6
Adolphus Ballew Conley, a medical doctor, was the
first member of the family to move to Texas.
John Franklin Conley married Ardena Stephens on
September 20, 1871 in the home of John B. G. Stephens. Twelve
of their children were born in Tennessee. Their youngest child,
Mary Hooker Conley, was born in Wise County, Texas, in 1898.
She is living at this time (1990), in Dallas, Texas, near two of
her nieces, Ruth Conley Conley and Christine Conley, daughters
of Adolphus Franklin Conley.
Joe Albert Conley, another son of Alfred Conley,
also resided in the West Tennessee area. His son, Jesse Conley,
is buried in the cemetery at the Nance Church of Christ.
David Hall Conley, one of the children of Alfred and
Martha Hall Conley, was born on July 23, 1859. He married
Elizabeth (Bettie) Smith on November 7, 1879 in Crockett County.
They lived in the Nance community of Crockett County and were
among the families who established the congregation of the
church of Christ at Nance. Elizabeth Smith Conley died on
August 1, 1916 and David Hall Conley died on April 12, 1922.
They are buried in the Alamo City Cemetery next to their infant
son, William Franklin Conley, who died in 1900. Twelve children
who lived to be adults were born of the marriage of David and
Elizabeth Smith Conley:
DATE OF BIRTH
------------------------
Lura Conley Stallings September 21, 1880
Mattie Conley Hunt February 28, 1882
Cynthia Conley Boone January 15, 1884
James David Conley May 4, 1886
Eva Conley Speight October 7, 1888
Emma Conley Hefley December 13, 1890
Henry Jefferson Conley January 11, 1893
Lessie Conley Kirby June 17, 1896
Simeon Alfred Conley October 20, 1897
Lurline Conley Warren March 17, 1901
Alma Conley Williams January 3, 1904
Nannie B. Conley Dreaden July 16, 1907
The descendants of David and Elizabeth Conley, many
of whom continue to reside in Crockett county, meet in Alamo in
July of each year for a family reunion.
(Handwritten at bottom of page six)
Submitted by:
Bruce Conley
P.O. Box 427
Union City, TN 38261
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