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Below is a family biography included in the book, Biographical Souvenir of the Counties of Buffalo, Kearney, Phelps, Harlan and Franklin, Nebraska published in 1890 by F. A. Battey & Company. These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary. Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more. There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.
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JOSEPH H. WILEY was born November 2, 1857. He is a son of David and Catherine (Morris) Wiley, the father being a native of Pennsylvania and the mother a native of Ohio. The parents were married in Ohio in 1836 and moved afterwards to Iowa, in 1856. The father went to Nebraska in 1879. There were eleven children in the family to which the subject of this sketch belonged — eight of whom are now living. Our subject received an ordinary common-school education and also attended normal school at Chariton, Iowa. He resided on a farm and remained with his father till he became of age. He was engaged mainly in buying and shipping cattle and hogs, at which he was fairly successful. In the fall of 1876 he came to Nebraska and settled in Alma township, Harlan county, where he took a homestead, built a sod house and, being unmarried, began the bachelor life of the West. The country was new and very sparsely settled and Mr. Wiley experienced “life on the plains” in all its varying phases. He had many ups and downs, but, being alone and unincumbered with no thought for the future, he willingly cast his fortunes with those of the county, stuck to his home, improved it and began to prosper.
On November 7, 1886, he married Miss Lizzie Richards, who was born in Macon county, Mo., September 28, 1869, being a daughter of Morgan and Sarah Richards, who are natives of Wales and now residents of Nebraska. This union has been blessed with two children — Elmer born October 4, 1887; and Edna, born May 5, 1889.
Mr. Wiley is recognized as one of the most intelligent and progressive farmers of Harlan county, being thoroughly alive to the best interests of his calling and in sympathy with every movement for the improvement of the condition of the farmer. He owns a large farm of four hundred and eighty acres, which he has in a good state of cultivation, and deals largely in stock, cattle and hogs. He is a member of the Farmers’ Alliance and a zealous supporter of that organization. In politics he is a republican, a stanch believer in the principles of his party; but he has never dabbled in politics and beyond a few local offices has never held any public position.
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This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in the book, Biographical Souvenir of the Counties of Buffalo, Kearney, Phelps, Harlan and Franklin, Nebraska published in 1890 by F. A. Battey & Company.
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