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STEPHEN STALEY is one of the foremost citizens of Loami Township, which he represents on the County Board of Supervisors, and as an enterprising and able farmer and stock-riser he is doing much to increase the material welfare of this section of the country. He is a native of this township, born March 2, 1835. His father, Daniel Staley, was born in the eastern part of Virginia and was among the very early settlers of Sangamon County, making his way hither in 1824 in a wagon across the many miles of wild country intervening between his old home and the new one that he intended to establish on the prairies of this State. He settled in Loami Township where he entered considerable land. But very few white people had located here before, and deer, wolves, and wild game were very plentiful. He became one of the most prominent pioneers of this section of the county and at one time owned one thousand acres of land. This venerable pioneer passed away at the age of eight-four years in 1882. He had come here a poor man with but $110 in his pocket, and in the busy years that followed acquired a handsome property, and while so doing aided in the development of the county which he had found in wilderness and left a wealthy and prosperous country.
The paternal ancestors of our subject came from Germany and settled in Virginia. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Rebecca Bowen, was born in North Carolina. She went from there with her parents to West Virginia, where she was married to Daniel Staley. She died in the '40s. Of her marriage with the father of our subject eight children were born, two boys and six girls.
The birthplace of our subject was the log house which his father had erected in the wilds of this county. His education was conducted in a subscriptions school that was taught in a log building with puncheon floor and slab seats. In 1855, at the age of twenty years, the stalwart, energetic young farmer engaged in agricultural pursuits for himself, his father having given him one hundred and twenty acres of land which he farmed and improved. He was prosperous in his calling and is now the owner of a large farm comprising three hundred and twenty acres of land that is as well tilled and finely improved as any in the township. He has placed upon it a neat set of farm buildings and in 1880 erected his present commodious frame residence.
Mr. Staley was married to Miss Isabell Jacobs, March 15, 1855. Mrs. Staley was born in Loami Township, and was a daughter of Daniel Jacobs, a native of Kentucky, and one of the early settlers of Sangamon County. Mrs. Staley was a woman of fine character and of many pleasant personal attributes, which attracted to her many warm and true friends. Her death June 30, 1882, was a sad loss, not only to her husband and children but to the community. Her happy wedded life with our subject was blessed to them by the birth of the following eight children: Mollie, F., Sarah A., Lizzie L., Susan, Dennis, Daniel, George (deceased), and one who died in infancy.
Our subject is pre-eminent in the public and political life of the county. His fellow citizens recognizing in him a man of more than ordinary caliber and of unswerving integrity, have often called him to fill responsible positions in civic life, and he has held all the township offices accept that of assessor. He is the present representative of the township on the County Board of Supervisors, which position he has filled once before. He is prominently connected with the Masonic order, of which he has been a member for over twenty years. In politics he stand with the Democrats and has been a delegate to various conventions.