Chatham County GaArchives Biographies.....Schley, Julian 1852 - living in 1913
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 15, 2004, 9:51 am

Author: William Harden
p.684-686

   JULIAN SCHLEY. Conspicuous among the distinguished citizens who have given to
Savannah its name as one of the most progressive and promising cities of the
entire South is Julian Schley, known for many years as one of the leading
insurance agents of the state. Belonging to a family that has been held in the
highest esteem and honor throughout the state for many years, he has made
Savannah his home since his boyhood days. A son of the late John Schley, he was
born, August 7, 1852, at Richmond Hill, on the old Schley homestead, near
Augusta, Georgia.

   The Schley family was first represented on American soil by two brothers,
John Jacob Schley and Thomas Schley, who, in 1745, emigrated from Germany to the
United States, locating in the mountainous regions of Maryland, near Hagerstown
and Frederick, where their families were born and reared, and where many of
their descendants, people of prominence and worth, still reside. To those
familiar with the history of our country, it is needless to say that various
members of the Schley family have gained renown in different lines, and as
physicians, jurists, and military and naval commanders have wrought much, not
only for Maryland and Georgia, but for the United States. The late Admiral
Winfield Scott Schley, of the United States navy, known as the "Hero of
Santiago," and the late Judge William Schley, of Baltimore, famous for his
decisions as a jurist in the Maryland courts, were both cousins of Julian
Schley, of this brief biographical article.

   Mr. Schley's grandfather, Judge John Schley, was a son of John Jacob Schley,
Jr., who removed from Maryland to Georgia in the early part of the nineteenth
century, locating in Jefferson county, at Louisville, which was then the capital
of the state. Acquiring fame as one of the foremost lawyers of the state, Judge
John Schley, presided over the bench of the middle circuit of Georgia from 1841
until 1845, during which time justice was the constant motive of his decisions.
His brothers, Gov. William Schley and George Schley, were both men of prominence
and influence.

   Hon. William Schley, who was governor of Georgia from 1835 to 1837, was a
noted member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons> his "history of
Masonry" having been the first pretentious work of the kind written and
published in this country. During his administration as governor, the charter of
the Central Railroad of Georgia was granted. He and his brother, John Jacob
Schley, Jr., were pioneers in the history of the railroads and cotton mills of
the state, having the honor of erecting the second and third cotton mills
established in Georgia.

   George Schley, brother of Judge John Schley and Gov. William Schley, was for
nearly half a century one of the foremost men of the city of Savannah, his
death, on April 17, 1851, being a cause of general regret. The esteem in which
he was held was voiced the following day in an editorial which appeared in the
Daily Georgian, of Savannah, as follows:

   We announce with sincere sorrow the death of George Schley, late postmaster
of our city. His spirit departed from among us early on yesterday lamming. The
deceased gentleman had been a resident of Savannah for some forty-five years,
having come from Louisville, this state, where his father resided, early in the
present century, to embark in mercantile affairs. He became in time an officer
connected with the Custom House, and afterwards a dry goods merchant. He was
teller of the branch bank of the United States when it was first established
here, in 1819.

   Mr. Schley received from John Q. Adams the appointment of postmaster of
Savannah, which position, under all changes of political power, he held to the
hour of his death, enjoying the confidence of every administration. He had also
the kind regard and respect, of his immediate fellow citizens. He was for many
years a commissioned officer of the Georgia Hussars, also a member of the city
council; and during a long number of years was a director of the bank of the
state of Georgia. He received from our county superior court the appointment of
master in chancery, which post often required long and elaborate investigations
of accounts. He was commissioner for half the states of the union to take
acknowledgments and proofs of deeds. So accurate was his know!7 edge of the laws
of insurance, especially of marine insurance, that contests arising under those
laws were frequently referred to him for adjudication, in preference to
litigation before the courts.

   Mr. Schley was a gentleman in the highest meaning of the te*m; well educated,
a man of literature—better read, perhaps, in the English classics than any other
citizen among us; one whose library was his delight, and whose society was
courted by men of intellectual refinement. No man who was ever honored by his
friendship can forget his brilliant conversational powers. He was true to his
friends and kind to his servants.

   He was a brother of the late Judge John Schley, of Governor William Schley of
Augusta, and of Philip T. Schley of Columbus. His family circle in Georgia and
in the state of Maryland is large and of the first degree of respectability.
Many a heart will be pained by the sad intelligence of his death. He was the
intimate personal friend from earliest boyhood of the late Edward F. Tattnall,
and was always the associate of William Gaston. The shipping in port was at half
mast during the day.

   Judge John Schley had a large family of children, consisting of seven sons
and three daughters, as follows: John Schley, Jr., father of Julian Schley;
George Schley; Dr. James Montfort Schley; Robert Sehley; Judge William Schley;
Philip Schley; Freeman Walker Schley; Sara Schley; Anna Maria Sehley; and Mary
Ann Schley. Dr. James Montfort Schley and Judge William Schley, the third and
fifth sons, are particularly well remembered by Savannahians, the former as a
distinguished physician who practiced his profession in this city many years;
the latter as a prominent lawyer and judge of the superior court of Savannah.
The son Philip was also an able member of the bar and one of the leading lawyers
of Columbus, who for many years was a resident of Savannah, living here prior to
the war, and being owner of two brick houses on "Whitaker street, immediately
west of the residence of Gen. Peter Meldrim.

   The eldest son of Judge John Schley, John Schley, father of Julian Schley,
studied law when young, and subsequetly became one of the leading lights of the
legal profession, as an attorney and jurist attaining note. Coming in 1854 from
his home near Augusta to Savannah, he purchased the beautiful sea-island
plantation known as "Beaulieu," which was located about twelve miles from the
business portion of the city. In the second year of the Civil war he was forced
to vacate his plantation, which was requisitioned by the Confederate government
for the site of a fortification officially designated "Beaulieu Battery." He
married Ellen McAlpin, who was born in Scotland, and came to Savannah with her
father, Henry McAlpin, who built up the famous estate called "The Hermitage."

   Spending his childhood days at "Beaulieu," Julian Sehley came with his
parents to Savannah in 1863, and since 1872 has been actively identified with
the leading interests of this city. For the greater part of the time he has been
connected with general insurance, and since 1888 has been general agent for the
Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company. His relations with this company have been
exceptionally pleasant and profitable, the business showing gratifying increase
from year to year. One of the most esteemed and best-liked citizens of Savannah,
Mr. Schley has been accorded many positions of honor in recognition of his
progressive and liberal-minded character, and at the present time is a director
of both the National Bank of Savannah, and of the Georgia State Savings
Association.

   Mr. Schley is also ex-president of the Savannah Life Underwriter's
Association; ex-president of Saint Andrew's Society; a member of the Chamber of
Commerce; and an ex-commodore of the Savannah Yacht Club, which he joined
upwards of twenty years ago, and at the expiration of his term as commodore he
became a life honorary member, and with which he has been officially connected
most of the time since. He is a prominent member of the Democratic party,
supporting its principles by voice and vote. Fraternally he is Knight Templar,
Mason, and a charter member of Alee Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles
of the Mystic Shrine. Since his sixteenth year Mr. Schley has been a member of
the Independent Presbyterian church of Savannah.

   On December 31, 1878, Mr. Schley was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Ann
Larcombe, of Savannah, and into their pleasant household four children have been
born, namely: Julian Larcombe Schley, who at his graduation from the United
States Military Academy at West Point, in 1903, stood seventh in a class of
ninety-three members, and captain of engineers, and instructor, at West Point
for four years and is now assistant to the engineer commission of the District,
of Columbia; Richard Larcombe Schley, a student at Princeton University,
Princeton, New Jersey, is in partnership with his father, being a member of the
firm of Julian Schley & Son, general insurance agents; Eliza Champion Schley;
and Henry McAlpin Schley. Mr. Schley has a pleasant summer home on Vernon river,
an arm of the sea, it being located on the site of his father's old estate,
"Beaulieu."



Additional Comments:
A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA
BY
WILLIAM HARDEN

VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1913

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