My Genealogy Hound

William J. Broadley is a son of Samuel W. Broadley, a native of Liverpool, England, whose father, Ferrell Broadley, also came originally from England, being proprietor of the “Fax Hall Spinning Company;” of the interests of that concern, still extensive and profitable, our subject is one of the heirs. Samuel Broadley came to America in 1849, a few years after his marriage, and was occupied in the mercantile business in the State of New York the following year. He then took the “gold fever” and went to California, leaving his family in New York, and engaged in the mining of the precious metal until 1853, when he was killed by an accident in a mine in which he was working. He was married in Liverpool to Miss Phoebe Covington, a native of that country and a daughter of Frederick Covington, a merchant, and, at the time of his death, at an advanced age, a man of considerable means. Mrs. Broadley is still living and a resident of New Orleans. She also has a brother in this country, a member of the firm of Covington & Co., of Salt Lake City. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Broadley, five are still living: Ida (wife of Frank S. Snell, a prominent real estate agent and broker of Denver, Colo.), Alice M. (wife of a Mr. Patton, a merchant of Memphis, Tenn.), William T. (an attorney of New Orleans), Henry J. (who is in the employ of the Government as a chemist) and William J. (the principal of this sketch). The latter was born in Steuben County, N. Y., in 1852. After his father’s death his mother moved from New York, going to several places, and finally, in 1862, to Memphis, Tenn., where they lived one year; later she became located at New Orleans and still lives there. Mr. Broadley learned the trade of a machinist when a young man, at which he worked in different States, but finally settled in Lee County, where he was employed at his chosen occupation until 1887. Then he purchased his present farm, and has since turned his attention to farming. He was married, in 1879, to Miss Lorena O’Kelley, a daughter of Overton and Mary O’Kelley, natives of Alabama and Georgia, respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Broadley have four children: Frederick C., Charles O., Ida L. and William S. (now deceased). Mr. Broadley owns a fine farm of 440 acres, with nearly 300 acres under cultivation, and is engaged in raising stock. He and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. He is a Democrat in politics, and is a prominent man of Spring Creek Township. He belongs to no secret societies, but before entering the agricultural list of Lee County, belonged to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.