ALEXANDER WILEY, son of THOMAS WILEY and TABITHA NOEL, [1] was born 24 November 1807 [2], in Roane County, Tennessee and died in 1886 in Cooke County, Texas [17], where he is last recorded in the census in the household of his son Thomas Wilson Wiley in 1880. [10] He married HOLLINDA FARRIS (sister of his brother John's wife, Susanna) about 1830 in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Hollinda (called "Linda") was born around 1809 in South Carolina, daughter of Rebecca HOLLY and Thomas FARRIS. [11,13] After Thomas Farris died in South Carolina in 1818 from wounds received in the Revolutionary War, Rebecca moved to Gwinnett County, Georgia with her children. She died in 1841 in Forsyth County. [11,13]

Alexander's parents, Thomas Wiley and Tabitha Noel, moved their family from Roane County, Tennessee to Gwinnett County, Georgia in 1823, when Alexander was 16 years old. [11,13] Alexander appears in the census of 1830 in Gwinnett County on page 359: 1 male 20-30 with 1 female 20-30. [2] His father, Thomas, is on page 115 with the rest of the family. [3] Once the Cherokee territory opened for settlement, the Wileys moved across the Chattahoochee River to the "new purchase" and settled near Lebanon, Georgia, about 4 miles from the site where the town of Roswell, Georgia would be built. [11,13]

In 1838, Alexander and his brother, John, moved their families to Alabama, first to St. Clair County, where they settled temporarily while looking for land to buy. [13] John Wiley found work as a plantation manager for a man named Kelly who was both a slave owner and a preacher. Both John's and Alexander's families were stricken with fever [13], probably yellow fever. Alexander's family was especially hard hit and he was not able to work for some time after the move. [13] Alexander appears in the census of 1840 in St. Clair County, Alabama on page 239 next to his brother, John. Listed are: 1 male 30-40, 1 female 20-30, 1 male 5-10, 2 females under 5 and 1 female 5-10. [4]

After recovering from the fever, the two families moved to the southern part of Talladega County, Alabama, near Bluff Springs, in the Enitachopco Valley. [13] This is the area where their Wiley and Noel uncles had fought in the Creek War of 1814 and had brought home stories of the richness and beauty of the land. [13] Alexander appears in the census of 1850 in Talladega Co., Alabama on page 405, next to his brother, John. Listed are: Alexander, M, 43, Hullinda, F, 41, Thomas, M, 16, Susanna, F, 14, Sarah, F, 11, Virginia, F, 9, James K., M, 6, Amanda, F, 4, and William, M, 11/12. [5] His oldest daughter, Rebecca, is listed with her husband James Henson and one-year-old daugher, Rachel, living nearby. [5]

Alexander appears in the census of 1860 in Bluff Springs, Talladega County, Alabama on page 930. [6] His niece, Eliza Ashcraft's family is next door. His brother, John, is on page 933. [7] Listed are Alexander Wiley, M, 52, Hullinda Wiley, F, 41, Rebecca Hingson, F, 28, Virginia Wiley, F, 16, James K. Polk Wiley, M., 15, Amanda Wiley, F, 11, Rachel Hanson, F, 11, Jacob Hanson, M, 8, Mary Hanson, F, 6.

In 1866, Alexander moved with his family to Texas, part of the mass migration that resulted from the devastation and resulting poverty of post-Civil War Alabama. [13, 17] Many of the other branches of the Wiley family did the same. In fact, in the 1860s and 1870s, at least 10 to 15 percent of the entire white population of Alabama migrated, with a third of these migrants going to Texas [12]. For two years, the Alexander Wiley family resided in Rusk County. They then moved to Grayson County, near Whitesboro, and Alexander appears in Grayson County, Texas census of 1870 on page 105. [8] His name is misspelled Alexander Wyley, M, 63, Hulinda, F, 60, Mary V., F, 25. Son Thomas W. (also spelled Wyley) is on page 106. [9] Value of property $150 Thomas W., M, 36, Maria, F, 35, Julius W., M, 14, Austin, M, 12, Lela, F, 7, Laban, M, 4, and Emma, F, 4. Value of real estate $800, value of property $500.

Alexander, Thomas W., and Julius Wiley appear on the Cooke County, Texas 1880 census, with Alexander living in son Thomas's household, and Julius in a separate household with his wife and infant daughter. [10] In the Wiley household are T.W. Wiley, M, 40, wife Mariah, 43, daughter Lela, 18, son Laban, 14, daughter, Emma, 11, daughter Izora, 8, son Thomas, 4, niece Martha Meadors, 12, and Alexander Wiley, father, 73, widower.

Alexander died in 1886 in Cooke County, Texas at the age of 79. [17] The move to Texas seems to have been a good decision. The Biographical Souvenir of the State of Texas says of Alexander's son Thomas W. Wiley, "When he first came to Texas, Mr. Wiley did not have one dollar in cash; he is now [1889] surrounded with all the comforts of life and enjoys the respect of all his neighbors." [17]

Children of ALEXANDER WILEY and HOLLINDA FARRIS are:

i. REBECCA WILEY, b. ca. 1833, Gwinnett County, Georgia, m. James Henson 9 May 1847 in Talladega County, Alabama. [17, 18]

ii. THOMAS WILSON WILEY, b. ca. 1834, Gwinnett County, Georgia, m. MARIA WOOD, 20 November 1855 in Talladega County, Alabama. [15]

iii. SUSANNA WILEY, b. ca. 1836 [5, 6], m. WALTER B. WICKES, 07 December 1854, Talladega County, Alabama. [14]

iv. SARAH ANN WILEY, b. ca. 1839 [5, 6], m. ELISHA SUGGS, 13 December 1859, Talladega County, Alabama. [16]

v. MARY VIRGINIA WILEY, b. ca. 1841 [5, 6, 7]

vi. JAMES K. POLK WILEY, b. ca. 1844 [5, 6] d. 1862 in the Battle of Sharpsburg. [13, 17].

vii. AMANDA WILEY, b. ca. 1846 [5, 6] m. ANSELM M. ASHCRAFT, 12 October 1865, Talladega County, Alabama [17]

viii. WILLIAM WILEY, b. ca. 1849 [5]

Sources:

1. Wiley-Noel-McComb Family Bible, owned by Sidney Quin Noel, 3519 W. 74 Terrace, Shawnee Mission, KS [d 1972].
2. Census of 1830, Gwinnett County, Georgia, M-19, Roll 17, p. 359.
3. Census of 1830, Gwinnett County, Georgia, M-19, Roll 17, p. 115.
4. Census of 1840, St. Clair County, Georgia, M-704, Roll 14, p. 239.
5. Census of 1850, Talladega County, Alabama, M-432, Roll 15, p. 405.
6. Census of 1860, Talladega County, Alabama, M-653, Roll 24, p. 930.
7. Census of 1860, Talladega County, Alabama, M-653, Roll 24, p. 933.
8. Census of 1870, Grayson County, Texas, M-593, Roll 1588, p. 105.
9. Census of 1870, Grayson County, Texas, M-593, Roll 1588, p. 106.
10. Census of 1880, Cooke Co., TX, Microfilm Publication T-9, Roll 1298, p. 265.
11. Dubose, Joel C. (ed.), Notable Men of Alabama, Vol. II (Atlanta: Southern Historical Assn.), 1904, p. 376.
12. Eichholz, Alice (ed.). "Alabama." In Ancestry's Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources. Salt Lake City: Ancestry Publishing, 1992.
13. Manuscript of John Thomas Wiley, grandson of Thomas and Tabitha Wiley, son of John Wiley (transcript in possession of Edward Wiley of Austin, Texas.).
14. Talladega County, Alabama Marriage Book A-2, p. 386.
15. Talladega County, Alabama Marriage Book A-2, p. 427.
16. Talladega County, Alabama Marriage Book B, p. 260.
17. Biographical Souvenir of the State of Texas, Chicago: F.A. Battery and Co., 1889, p. 898.
18. Talladega County, Alabama Marriage Book A-2, p. 25.

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