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COOLEY, CHARLES H. (deceased). - The late Charles H. Cooley was descended from Virginia ancestors, who lived and died in the Old Dominion. His parents were Joseph and Sarah (Ragsdale) Cooley and he was born in Virginia, March 31, 1817. His father, a farmer, also operated a mill on the north fork of the Holstein River, near Lynchburg. There were three sons and three daughters in the family of whom Marion Cooley, of Scotland County, Mo., is the only survivor.

Charles H. Cooley was educated in public schools near his boyhood home and grew as his father's assistant on the farm and in the mill. He came to Sangamon County, Ill., in 1844, but soon went to Nauvoo, Ill., where he farmed one year. Then he returned to Sangamon County, bought land and farmed in Clear Lake Township for several years, until he sold his holdings there in order to remove to Buffalo Hart Grove, where he continued farming some years, removing thence to a farm near Spaulding, Ill., which he purchased and which he worked till he retired from active life. He then located at Dawson, where he died in 1894 and where his widow and members of his family are living at this time. He was a Democrat, a man of decided public spirit and for twelve years honorably filled the office of School Director. He was identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, as are also Mrs. Cooley and members of her household.

Mrs. Cooley was Miss Nancy E. McDaniel. She was born near Barclay, Sangamon County, a daughter of William M. McDaniel, a native of Bracken County, Ky. Her mother was of Illinois nativity, born on the site of Barclay. Mr. McDaniel farmed and raised stock in Sangamon County until his death, which occurred March 29, 1854. Mrs. McDaniel survived till 1899, dying at her home in Riverton. Philip Smith, Mrs. Cooley's grandfather, was a soldier in the Black Hawk War. She had a brother and two sisters. Her brother has passed away; her sister Lillie is the wife of William Randolph, who lives near Spaulding, Ill.; her sister Kate married Albert Libka and lives near Riverton, Sangamon County.

The home and other property of Mrs. Cooley at Dawson rank with the good property of the town. She bore her husband eight children, six of whom are living. The eldest of these is Virginia, a teacher and a member of her household. Her sons Charles H. and Louis C. live in Dawson. Lillie M., a daughter living with her mother, is a teacher in the Dawson public school. Her daughter Ethel M., is the wife of James Rutherford, of Rochester, Sangamon County. Marion G. Cooley lives in Montana.