BIOGRAPHY - DELOSS FARLEY
An
excellent farm property of three hundred and twenty acres, comprising the
half of section 23, Rogers township, is the property of Deloss P. Farley,
who is well known as a successful raiser of grain and stock. His life record
began in Somonauk township, De Kalb county, Illinois, September 7, 1852. His
paternal grandfather, Samuel Chandler Farley, was a native of Pennsylvania,
devoting his life to farming, and died in Illinois. His family numbered four
sons and two daughters, including Isaac Perry Farley, who was born in
Crawford county, Pennsylvania, November 22, 1829, and died in Chicago,
Illinois, November 1, 1892, when in the sixty-third year of his age. He
accompanied his parents on their removal westward from Pennsylvania to La
Salle county, Illinois, and his remaining days were spent in this state.
Throughout his active business career he followed farming and when he
retired he took up his abode in Chicago. At one time he owned all of section
28, Rogers township, except eighty acres, and he also had two hundred and
forty acres two miles to the north in Norton township, Kankakee county. His
property interests likewise included two large flat buildings in Chicago.
His success, which was creditable and enviable, was all acquired through his
farming operations and his judicious investments, and as a business man his
life was characterized by high standards of commercial integrity. His
religious faith was that of the Baptist church, and politically he was a
republican. In early manhood he married Balinda Eddy, of Utica, New York,
who died at Waterman, Illinois, although her home was in Chicago at that
time. She passed away in 1903, at the age of sixty years. Her parents were
Henry and Eunice Eddy, who came to Illinois from New York and died in De
Kalb county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Farley were born five children: William K., a
resident of Fulton, Illinois; Deloss P.; Eugene V., who died in Chicago;
Herford E., also deceased; and Mrs. Elnora Sapp, who has likewise passed
away.
Deloss P. Farley remained with his father through the period of his minority, his time being divided between the work of the fields, the duties of the schoolroom and the pleasures of the playground. When twenty-one years of age he came to Mona township, Ford county, and resided on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres given him by his father. There he lived for five years, after which he sold that property and took up his abode in Rogers township. He has lived most of the time in this part of the state although nine years ago he went to De Kalb county, where he resided for a year and a half. He afterward spent two years in Chicago in the clamp and nail business in connection with his brother Eugene V., under the firm name of E. V. Farley & Company. On the expiration of that period he became a resident of Herscher, Kankakee county, Illinois, where he resided until the spring of 1905, when he came to the farm upon which he now makes his home. He has owned this property for fifteen years and it is a valuable tract of land of three hundred and twenty acres, comprising the west half of section 23, Rogers township. He also yet owns his residence property in Herscher. His farm is well cultivated and in the pastures are found good grades of stock, while the fields annually produce rich harvests.
On the 8th of July 1874, Mr. Farley was married to Miss Adelia N. Townsend, of DeKalb county, Illinois, born April 20, 1857, her parents being Silas and Augusta (Culver) Townsend, who are now residents of Herscher. Her grandfather, Avery Townsend, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and her great-grandfather was in the Revolutionary war. Mr. and Mrs. Farley have three children, Alida, Eugene and Edmur. The last two are at home, while Alida is the wife of Edward Bartlett, living near Roswell, New Mexico. They have two children, Walter and Blanche. Mr. and Mrs. Farley lost two children in August, 1880: Perry S., who died at the age of five years; and Edith, at the age of two years.
On Sunday night, August 26, 1907, Mr. Farley's barn, a structure forty-two by forty-four feet, with twenty-two feet posts, was destroyed by fire, together with all its contents, including thirty tons of hay, five sets of harness and five head of horses. There was also a corn barn destroyed, twenty-eight by forty-two feet, containing sixteen hundred bushels of oats. The cause of the fire has never been ascertained. The loss was partially covered by insurance and Mr. Farley is now engaged in the erection of new buildings.
In his political views Mr. Farley is an earnest republican believing thoroughly in the principles of the party, yet without desire for office. He belongs to the Mystic Workers and the Modern Woodmen Camp, and is a valued member of the Presbyterian church at Cabery, in which he is now serving as a trustee. His business interests have been carefully conducted, his duties of citizenship capably performed and at all times he has been true to the obligations and responsibilities that have devolved upon him in every relation of life, making him one of the worthy and much respected citizens of Rogers township.
Extracted 17 Oct 2016 by Norma Hass from History of Ford County, Illinois, From Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, author E. A. Gardner, Volume 2, pages 726-730.
