Person:David Kerley (1)

This story was submitted by Rose Ellen Kerley Heitman in a book titled History of Sumner County, Kansas by The Caldwell Messenger, dated 1987.

David Kerley (b. 1/9/1835 - d. 10/18/1888), son of Hosea Rowe and Maria Beecher Kerley, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut. When he was approximately 20 years old , he moved to Illinois. He married in 1/1861, Sarah Ann Eliza Marshall, (b. 8/23/1835). David received a commission on 9/24/1864 from the governor of Illinois as a Second Lieutenant, and served in this capacity in the Civil War for slightly over 5 months. In February 1865 he was promoted to First Lieutentant, serving as such until the end of the war. He was in the Army for approximately one year (Company G, 114th Illinois Infantry Regiment, under the command of Major General Dodge). In the fall of 1882, David came to Kansas, where he purchased a farm one-half mile west and one-half mile south of Peck from Mr. Wm. Brown. The farm location in Sumner County is Sec 1 TWP 30 R 1W PT SW 1/4 and PT NW 1/4 168A London TWP. There was a log cabin on the place at the time of purchase. David had another building built containing one room downstairs and one room upstairs. In the spring of 1883, he brought his wife and eight of his ten children to the farm from Illinois. They cooked and ate in the log cabin and slept in the other building. The Kerleys added onto the two-room building making it into a very majestic eight-room house. The house was occupied continuously by some of the Kerley family until 1970. The Kerleys still own the place. The house still stands and is used as a summer home. After the death of David, Sarah remained on the farm with her children untill 1899. At that time she and her son, Joseph, moved into Peck where she lived until her death on 4/15/1916. David and Sarah Ann had ten children. They were: Charles Henry (b. 11/11/1861 - d. 1/12/1923), Edwin Daniel (b. 1/27/1863 - d. 6/11/1935), Richard David (b. 10/14/1864 - d. 9/16/1937), Joseph Reins (b. 10/12/1866 - d. 6/27/1917), Mary Julia (b. 2/10/1869 - d. 12/28/1926), Chauncey Rowe (b. 6/2/1871 - d. 11/9/1938), Etta Mariah (b. 1/27/1873 - d. 8/18/1914), Anne Laura (b. /26/1874 - d. 5/12/1885), John (b. 5/10/1877 - d. 8/11/1877), and Eva (b. 5/29/1878 - d. 2/15/1879). On 3/18/1886, Charles Henry, b. Marine, Illinois, was united in marriage with Susan Jane Woolley, (b. Mason City, Illinois, on 12/25/1863), by the Rev. Joseph E. Cain in Belle Plaine, Kansas. They lived in the Peck vicinity, finally moving to the Kerley homestead in 1899.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Find A Grave.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Historical Data Systems. U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles [database online]. (Ancestry.com , 2009).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} United States. 1850 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432)
   Year: 1850; Census Place: Kent, Litchfield, Connecticut; Roll: M432_43; Page: 64A; Image: 355.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Kansas, United States. State Census Collection, 1855-1925
   Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, Kansas; 1885 Kansas Territory Census; Roll: KS1885_135; Line: 1.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication T9)
   Year: 1880; Census Place: Marine, Madison, Illinois; Roll: 233; Family History Film: 1254233; Page: 348A; Enumeration District: 024; Image: 0698.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} United States. 1870 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publications M593 and T132)
   Year: 1870; Census Place: Marine, Madison, Illinois; Roll: M593_251; Page: 162A; Image: 311435; Family History Library Film: 545750.
7. ↑ Post Office: Marine
8. ↑ Marital status: MarriedRelation to Head of House: Self
9. ↑ Marital Status: Married