Lincoln-Union County, SD Biographies.....Willey, James October 8, 1843 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 8, 2022, 9:24 pm

Source: MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF Turner, Lincoln, Union and Clay Counties, South Dakota. (1897)
Author: Geo. Ogle & Co.

JAMES WILLEY is the owner of 320 acres of fine farming land, one-half in section 1
of Prairie township, and the balance in Norway township, Lincoln county, the entire
amount of which is improved. He devotes his energies to mixed farming, and the neat
and tasty surroundings combined with the fine appearance of the farm indicate the
owner to be a man of enterprise and thrift. As Mr. Willey is well and popularly
known throughout the community, a sketch of his life will be received with interest
by our readers. He is a native of the province of Quebec, Canada, and was born
October 8, 1843. His early life was spent in his mother country on a farm, and the
common schools of the district afforded him the rudiments of education. In the
spring of 1865 he came to the “States,” locating in Jackson 'county, Iowa, where he
worked in a blacksmith shop for two years, and then settled on a farm in Clinton
county of the same state, which he operated for a period of three years longer.
Woodbury county next claimed him as a resident for a year and then he removed to
Sioux county, settling on a homestead. That land was all wild and had never seen the
plow, but under the skillful management of our subject it was improved and made his
home until the spring of 1881, when he sold out and came to Union county, Dak. Ter.
Here again he was confronted with practically raw land which he has brought to a
high state of cultivation. To his original purchase he added another quarter section
in Norway township, and this makes up his total landed possessions of 320 acres as
stated above. All the outbuildings and both of his barns he has erected himself, and
his two pieces of property are among the best in the townships in which they are
located. Politically he is and always has been a stanch supporter of Republican
principles, and takes an active interest in all local matters. He has served as
clerk of his school district for three terms and also as road supervisor, and has
frequently attended both count}' and state conventions of the party with which he is
in sympathy as a delegate. He is distinctly a self-made man, starting in his battle
for existence without a dollar, and by thrift, enterprise and frugality has made his
mark as a well-to-do and prominent citizen.

Mr. Willey was united in the holy bonds of wedlock to the lady who so graciously
presides over his home, in 1885. Her maiden name was Miss Sarah Armstrong, and she
was a native of Upper Canada. The union has been blessed with the birth of four
children, but two of whom are living, viz.: Earnest E. and Lottie. Mrs. Willey is a
woman of Christian character, and a member of the local missionary society.


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