My Genealogy Hound

Nathaniel C. Corley is a native Tennessean, born in 1843, son of Nathaniel and Annie (Corley) Corley, who were also born in this State. The father was a farmer and very prosperous until the breaking out of the war. He supported a family of ten children, only three of whom are living at the present time, and he and wife are members of the Baptist Church. He is a Democrat. His son, Nathaniel C., remained with him until twenty-five years old, then married Miss Mary R. Smith, daughter of John B. and Mary (Nowell) Smith, who were born in North Carolina and came to Middle Tennessee after their marriage. The father was a carpenter by trade and a farmer by occupation. He and Mrs. Smith were members of the Presbyterian Church, and he was a Whig and died in West Tennessee in 1868. His wife died in 1857, and he took for his second wife Mrs. Frances (King) McCleary. She died in 1870. Our subject’s wife was born in Tennessee in 1846, and became the mother of five children—four sons and one daughter. Nathaniel C. and his wife located on a portion of the old homestead after marriage and there now reside. His farm consists of fifty-nine and one-half acres in a good state of cultivation. He is a Democrat and a member of the Baptist Church. His wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church South. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate Army, in the Forty-seventh Tennessee Regiment, and remained in the service until 1864. He was taken sick and left at Shelbyville in 1863, and was there captured, but was retained only about two weeks. He spent a short time with his family, then rejoined the army and was wounded at Yazoo City, Miss. He returned home in the spring of 1864.