HON. JAMES B. FOLEY.
This distinguished citizen of Greensburg, whose death took place December 5, 1886. was born in Mason county, Kentucky, October 18, 1807. His mother, Mary (Bradford) Foley, was a daughter of Benjamin Bradford, superintendent of the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, during the Revolutionary war. When only seven years of age our subject had the great misfortune to lose his father, the latter leaving a widow with eight children to support. To add to her affliction, the mother became blind, and as early as possible the boys were obliged to go out into the world and make their own living. At sixteen years of age James Foley was a hired hand on a flatboat on the Mississippi river; when twenty-one years old he commanded a credit of twenty thousand dollars, a remarkable showing for a poor, friendless boy thrown upon his own resources and a striking illustration of the proverb, "Labor omnia vincit." On June 15, 1834, Mr. Foley returned to Greensburg and opened a dry-goods store, which he carried on for two years, and in 1837 purchased a farm two miles from the city. In 1880 he sold this property and bought his late residence, one mile out of town. For a period, ending with 1877, he was extensively engaged in pork-packing in Cincinnati and in Lawrenceburg, his transactions frequently amounting to eighty thousand dollars in a single year.
Mr. Foley was honored by his fellow citizens with many marks of their esteem and appreciation of his good qualities. In 1841 he was elected treasurer of Dearborn county, serving one term. In 1850 he was made a delegate to the state constitutional convention held at Indianapolis, and in 1852 was appointed by Governor Wright as brigadier general of militia for the fourth district. In 1856 he was nominated on the Democratic ticket for congress, and was elected by a majority of fifteen hundred over his opponent, William Cumback, who later had a prominent political career. In 1874 he was again offered a nomination for congress, but declined, feeling that his days of active life were about over, and from that time until his death, in 1886, he lived a quiet retired life, surrounded by loving children and grandchildren, and happy in the consciousness of duties fulfilled, a clear conscience and a heart filled with love toward God and man.
Mr. Foley was married April 2, 1829, to Martha Carter, of Mason county, Kentucky, and six children were born to them, of whom three are living: John J., of Greensburg, whose sketch will be found following this; Alexander A., of Cincinnati, Ohio; and Mrs. Josephine Mansfield, of Greensburg. The mother of these children died, and Mr. Foley was again married on March 4, 1848, to Mrs. Mary Hackleman, of Decatur county, who bore him three children: William O., of Conners- ville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania; Mary, wife of Louis Zoller, of Greensburg; and Mrs. Elizabeth Payne, of Franklin, Indiana. In the year 1827 Mr. Foley professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and throughout his long life was a consistent Christian, giving liberally of his time and money to advance the cause of his Master. Among his last gifts was that of five hundred dollars to the Christian church of Greensburg. of which he had long been an honored member. He also gave liberally toward the endowment of Bethany College, Virginia, and Butler University, Indiana. He was a man of fine character, quiet and unassuming, and throughout his entire business career was never a defendant in a lawsuit. His memory will long be cherished by all who knew him.
