Great Grand Father Daniel Edmund Foley as recalled by Don Foley

Three Generations of the Foley family tree pictured above.

Our Great-grand father, Daniel Edmund Foley, born in 1857 in Massachusetts, was a typical person of the 19th century. They had a quaint way of speaking. Dating was called "Courting" a bicycle was a "wheel."

He lost a daughter, Cecilia, at age 18 died. Joan Cecilia Foley, was named after her. He had lost his wife, Margaret Ann Purtill by the time I knew him. They were active in St,Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Carbondale after they moved there from DuQuoin. His name is listed among the parishioners who contributed a good amount of money to that Parish.

He referred to his grandfather as his Father's Father. That man we know to be William Foley. Daniel was first generation American. They were called "narrow backs" by the Irish Born, or Yanks. He was a hard worker and loved the Illinois Central rail Road. He supervised a road crew and had to be able to handle the toughest rowdies.

He had a good sense of humor. He told us that all the Foleys came from County Cork. What he obviously meant was that the Foley name first appeared in County Cork. His Family history lists Waterford as the ancestral home. His verbal history typed by our Aunt Margaret (his daughter) states that two boys returned to Ireland about 1800, one to Cork and one to Waterford. William settled in Waterord. Two of Then two of William's sons returned to the States. These would be Patrick Foley who is buried at Camp Butler and featured in earlier posts, and Michael, the namesake of this blog. He spoke pretty much the way Margaret typed it.

One of his daughters married a Doctor and lived in Texas. I think the name was Purdy. Gram used to take the train, of course, down there and visit. He didn't own a car when I knew him and lived alone in an apartment not too far from our grandad Louis Foley.

He told us that people in Ireland married young until the potato famine and then began marrying later in life. Frequently into their forties. People didn't live much longer than that.