RANSOM ALEXANDER WILEY was born 5 May 1836 near Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia, the son of William Richmond Wiley and Martha Hammett Autrey.  In 1838, when Ransom was two years of age, the family moved across the Chattahoochee River to the "New Purchase" in Cherokee County, near Cumming, in an area that would become Forsyth County, Georgia (see map for family movements).  They lived there near Ransom's grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins until 1856 when the family moved westward again, this time to Cherokee County, Alabama, near the town of Coloma, where Ransom's father, William R. Wiley, had purchased approximately 80 acres of land for farming. A few years after the move, Ransom's mother, Martha, died of what was then termed apoplexy [stroke] on November 1, 1859 and was buried in nearby Gnatville.

   In May of 1861, at the beginning of the Civil War, Ransom enlisted in the Confederate Army at Jacksonville, Calhoun County, Alabama.  On 4 June 1861, he was assigned to Company G, 10th Alabama Infantry.  He served for the entire duration of the war and was with General Robert E. Lee's army at the surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865 and received his discharge there the following day April 10, after having participated in forty-five battles and having been wounded at the Battle of Salem Church, May 3, 1863.

    Four months later on August 17, 1865, Ransom married Louisa Evaline Nabors, daughter of Benjamin F. Nabors and Cynthia Parsons, of Piedmont, Calhoun County, Alabama.  Their son John Bales Autry Wiley was born on May 16, 1866, followed by another son, Miles Reed Wiley, born February 20, 1868. On November 5, 1870, Ransom, Louisa, and their two young sons left for Texas in an ox drawn covered wagon along with his brother, Thomas Autrey Wiley and Tom's bride of two weeks, Nancy Ann Elizabeth Smith, called "Annie." Their sister, Mary Elizabeth Tabitha Wiley had married Annie's brother, G. W. L. Smith, and their father, William Richmond Wiley, retired from farming by this time and probably in ill health, lived with the Smiths near Plano, Alabama. The two Wiley families worked and camped all along the way, a journey of over 600 miles that took almost two full months. They arrived in Bowie County, Texas at the end of December of that year.  Ransom kept a log in his Civil War journal of their stops along the trail and carefully noted expenditures for food, fodder, and ferry tolls for both families.  Copies of this log still survive, although the journal has been lost.  The Wileys first settled near Forestburg, Texas, where three more children were added to the family: Cynthia Adella Hammett Wiley in 1872, Arie Bell Wiley in 1876, and Lela Emma Wiley in 1878. From 1874-75, Ransom was a member of a company of minute men who protected the Texas frontier. The family moved to Saint Jo, Montague County, Texas in 1912 where they remained for the rest of their lives. Louisa died in July of 1920. Ransom A. Wiley was living with his daughter, Lela, in Saint Jo when he died of pneumonia after a bout of flu at the age of 92 on January 6, 1929.  He  is buried in Mountain Park Cemetery, Saint Jo, Texas.
 

Children of RANSOM WILEY and LOUISA NABORS are:

 i.    JOHN BALES AUTRY WILEY, b. May 16, 1866, Alabama; d. October 07, 1936, Dallas, Texas.
 ii.   MILES REED WILEY, b. February 20, 1868, Alabama; d. 1877, Near Saint Jo, Montague County, Texas.
 iii.  CYNTHIA ADELLA HAMMETT WILEY, b. July 07, 1872, Texas; d. May 08, 1968, Muenster, Texas.
 iv.  ARIE BELL WILEY, b. April 18, 1876, Texas; d. May 08, 1935.
 v.   LELA EMMA WILEY, b. March 20, 1878, Texas; d. February 14, 1960, Saint Jo, Texas.

Sources:

       1.  Confederate Soldier's Application for Pension #39915 (Texas), Texas State Archives
       2.  "Ransom Alexander Wiley, Civil War, Texas," Montague Milestones, Vol. 7, No. 4, October, 1993
       3.  Gravestone of R. A. Wiley, Mountain Park Cemetery, Saint Jo, Texas
       4.  Broderbund WFT Vol. 3, Ed. 1, Tree #3479, Date of Import: Aug 17, 1997
       5.  Gravestone of Louisa Evaline Wiley, Mountain Park Cemetery, St. Jo, Texas
       6.  Letter from Dolly Perryman Brazil, daughter of Arie Bell Wiley, dated June 15, 1970, to James Ian Wiley
 

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