Wilkes-Troup County GaArchives Obituaries.....Colley, Isabella Margaret (Harris) March 4, 1894
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Washington, Georgia "Chronicle", 5 March 1894
Death of Mrs. Isabella Colley - A Well Known Washington Lady Passes Away - 
Died Sunday, March 4th after an illness of some months. She was attended by 
her niece Mrs. M.M. Sims at the time of her death. She was Isabella Margaret 
Harris and was born November 4, 1824 in Wilkes County of an old Wilkes county 
family which has been settled here since the Revolution. She was a pupil of 
the Female Seminary in its early days when the old building stood and Miss 
Bracket was the principal, Mrs. Eliza Wootten was in her class.

She was a very handsome woman in her youth and had many admirers. She was 
married December 10, 1844 to Mr. Henry Colley.  He was a lawyer and went to 
LaGrange to practice his profession.

After remaining there a few years Mr. Colley's older brother, Mr. John Colley 
died and Henry Colley felt that duty to his parents recalled him to 
Washington. He returned and built the house which was Mrs. Colley's home 
throughout life and in which she died.

When the Civil War broke out, her husband raised a company which was called 
the Hill Wilkes Guards. He was elected Captain, and his brother, Dempsey 
Coley, Lieutenant. Mrs. Colley then had seven children. It is impossible for 
any but those who saw it to realize the sad scene when a husband, the father 
of a large family, left them to fight his country's battles.

Capt. Henry Colley was a brave man and he led a brave company, of which only a 
handful returned. He was desperately wounded in the battles around Richmond, 
and taken to a hospital there. He took typhoid fever and was sick sixty-five 
days. His wife went to him, accompanied by Mr. Milton Robert. About a month 
before he died, she was taken sick, and it was thought she ran great risk of 
her life unless she were brought home. It was then believed that Mr. Colley 
would recover, but he died August 22, 1862, a few weeks after she reached 
Washington.

It was a tragic occasion when his dead body was brought home to his wife and 
his old mother. A few months afterwards December 13, 1862, his brother Dempsey 
Carrol Colley was shot dead at the battle of Fredericksburg. The successor of 
these brave soldiers Captain John Irvin was desperately wounded and lamed for 
life.

Mrs. Colley excited universal sympathy when in her desolate home she exerted 
herself to care for and rear her fatherless children. She won the devoted love 
and confidence of her children and the respect and honor of the community in 
which she lived.

The death of her son Archie was a great affliction to her. After that another 
sorrow came, from which she never recovered, in the death of her daughter Mrs. 
Fannie Lou Mulligan. Fannie Lou Colley was a lovely young woman, beautiful in 
person, cultured in mind, and gentle and refined in manners. She had been her 
mother's constant companion.

Mrs. Colley was a member of the Baptist Church, converted when about 16 years 
old but was baptized in LaGrange after her marriage by Rev. John E. Dawson. 
She will be buried in the Washington cemetery on Tuesday by the side of her 
beloved daughter. It is the intention of Captain Henry Colley's children to 
have his remains and those of his son Archie removed to the cemetery in a few 
days. Ultimately the remains of Dempsey Colley will be removed and placed by 
his brother. The brave brothers should not be divided in death. Also the 
remains of old Mr. and Mrs. Colley and others will also be removed [to the 
Washington cemetery].

Mrs. Colley leaves two daughters, Mrs. Denham and Miss Josephine Colley, and 
three sons, Honorable F.H. Colley, Mr. Henry Colley and Mr. John Colley. If 
Mrs. Colley had lived until November 4 she would have reached her three score 
and ten years.

Additional Comments:
Her husband Henry Colley is Henry Francis Colley (1821-1862), son of Francis 
Colley and Frances Owens Colley.

M.M. Sims is Marshall Mercer Sims who married on 2 November 1871 in Wilkes 
County to Mary M. Robert, daughter of Milton George Robert and Sarah Frances 
Colley. In the 1880 Census of Wilkes County, the Marshall Sims family were 
next neighbors of Isabella Colley.

"Mr. Milton Robert" is her son-in-law, Milton G. Robert, husband of Sarah 
Frances Colley.

"Mrs. Denham is Isabella J. Colley, wife of Mortimer T. Denahm; 
[From the Recorder's Office of Troup County, as reported in The Combs Family 
and Their Forebears by Elizabeth Combs Forrester, published 1981 by Hattie 
Belle Combs Goggans:  1846 - William COMBS and Henry F. COLLEY bought 300 
acres of land just west of Louise, Georgia.” - “Combs Families of Troup County 
Georgia,” USGenNet.]

"Fannielu Mulligan" is daughter Fannielu Colley (1858-1887), wife of Dr. 
George W. Mulligan.

Son "Archie" is Archelaus Robert Colley (1856-1874)

Isabella Margaret Harris Colley was born 4 November 1824. Her parents are not 
known.

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