CARLEY FAMILY.
The CARLEY family is another of the families in Whitingham that occupy a conspicuous place
in the town's history, of which we have no genealogical record. But from the records in possession
of some of the descendants of that family, we glean the following:
Jonathan CARLEY, the paternal ancestor of the CARLEY families in this town, was the son
of Joseph CARLEY, a native of Leicester, Mass. He moved from there to Spencer, Mass.
where Jonathan CARLEY was b. March 16, 1760. This family of Joseph CARLEY subsequently
moved to Hoosack, N. Y., from which place Jonathan CARLEY 9afterwards known in Whitingham
as Lieut. CARLEY,) enlisted in the Revolutionary army, at the age of 16 years. He was a member
of an Artillery company, and served faithfully in the army, as his discharge, signed by
George WASHINGTON shows, six years, two months and nineteen days. He was discharged
with honors for his faithful service, June 8, 1783.
He was in several of the most severe battles of the Revolution, for instance, at White Plains,
Germantown, Monmouth, Yorktown and others; at Yorktown he fixed the fuse to the shells
that finally took CORNWALLIS. At the battle of Monmouth, he stood by his gun, loading and
firing till he was completely overcome by heat, or sun stroke, the blood starting from his ears.
At the close of the war in 1783, he returned to his father's home, was then between 23 and 24
years old. In 1785 he m. Elizabeth KENTFIELD, and settled in Pownal, in the County of Bennington,
where his oldest daughter, Betsey CARLEY, was b. In the summer of 1788, he moved to
Whitingham, where he spent the rest of his life. He had a family of four sons and three daughters,
on of which died in infancy. The four sons, Rufus, Jonathan, jr., Wasburn and Joseph, and the two
daughters, Betsey and Polly, all lived to a good old age; and three of the sons one of the daughters
spent their lives in this town. The oldest daughter m. Thomas SHUMWAY, and spent most of her
life in Readsboro. The other m. David JILLSON, jr., a well-known and prominent citizen of Whitingham,
and spent her life here. Jonathan CARLEY, jr., left this town when a young man, and has not lived
here since.
Rufus, Washburn and Joseph CARLEY long prominent and well-known citizens of their native
town, spent their lives in Whitingham. Their father (known as Lieut. CARLEY) was a man of
notoriety in his younger days.
SOURCE: Vermont Historical Gazetteer
a local History of all the Towns in the State,
Civil, Educational, Biographical, Religious and Military.
Vol. V.
The Towns of Windham County.
*
Collated by
Abby Maria Hemenway.
Published by
Mrs. Carrie E. H. Page,
Brandon, VT.
1891.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~vtwindha/VT_Gazetteer-Jacksonville.htm
OBIT:
In Readsboro, on the 18th ult. after a very painful illness, Betsey, wife of Thomas Shumway, Esq. aged 53 years.
SOURCE: (Mortuary Notice)
Date: 1848-08-01; Paper: Vermont Gazette
Steve Shumway - shumways@@petershumway.org
BURIED: South Readsboro Cemetery, Readsboro, Bennington, Vermont
Who is this family member?