Bloomington (Monroe County, Indiana) Progress, January 17, 1872, p. 3. In Memoriam. HIRAM WORLEY AND MRS. MARGARET WORLEY. Hiram Worley was born in Highland county, Ohio, on the 30th of Sept. 1807. His father died when he was but three years old; and his mother married Mr. Knighton, a widower with several children, and three of four children were the result of this union. So there were three sets of children belonging to this family; the Worley section, the Knight section, and the children born after the second marriage of both parents. The Worley-Knighton family moved from Ohio to Bloomington, Indiana, about the year 1817. It at that time consisted of the parents and ten children, three brothers of the Worley section, viz: Zimri, Hiram and Eli; and two sisters who became Mrs. John Ketcham and Mrs. Woods; and five of the Knighton and Knighton-Worley branches. Not many years after their removal to Monroe county, Mr. Knighton died, leaving the widow and ten children without means to grapple with this hard world and make their living. The eldest of these children was not then over fifteen years of age; yet, by the energy and skill of the mother, and the efficient co-operation of the Worley boys and girls, the family were kept together and comfortably maintained. A piece of land, the most of which was still covered with forest, was rented a little north of Bloomington, which was cleared and cultivated by the Worley brothers. And the family was thus supported until sufficient means was obtained by their industry and economy to purchase the fee simple of a tract of land lying three miles northwest of Bloomington. On this land the three brothers settled, and by their energy and good management they soon had comfortable homes of their own. Of these three brothers, Hiram, the subject of this memoir, was the second, Zimri the oldest, and Eli the youngest. All three became men of wealth and influence in the community. Hiram Worley, on the 6th of Sept. 1832, married Miss Margaret Legg, who proved in every respect a suitable companion for life’s journey, and who preceded him to the grave a little more than seven months. In 1843 he moved from the town of Bloomington, where two years before he had purchased a lot and erected a comfortable house, to Ellettsville, having purchased a farm adjoining that village, on which he continued to reside until his decease. About the middle of December he was afflicted with a severe cold. On the 26th he became seriously indisposed with the Pleurisy; and despite the remedies of his skillful physicians, and the most tender care bestowed by his only son, and kind neighbors, he continued to sink until he ceased to breath [sic] at a little before 5 o’clock P. M. Jan. 5th, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. Mr. Worley was adorned with many excellent traits of character, and gained a station of great influence in his neighborhood, and through the county. These qualities which constitute a successful business man he possessed in an eminent degree. He had a brain that could plan in industrial transactions, and a will and energy promptly to execute those plans. Without capital with which to begin, but simply by his knowledge, industry and skill, he acquired a fortune. Under his superior management the farm became exceedingly profitable, and from a poor young man, without other resources than those he possessed in himself—his intellect and his physical energies—he became one of the wealthy men of the county. He was a good citizen, public spirited, enterprising, always taking an active interest in all schemes and organizations for the development of the resources of the country. He was an efficient member of the Monroe County Agricultural Society, after its re-organization, and did much to improve the stock, and to introduce among the farmers the best and most profitable modes of culture. He will be greatly missed not only by his son, the sole survivor of this family, and other kindred, but by the whole community. Notwithstanding the inclement weather and severe snow-storm which was then raging, a vast crowd of the citizens of Ellettsville and vicinity attended his funeral, filling all available space in the M. E. Church, where the funeral sermon was preached by Rev. C. Nutt, D. D., President of the State University, at 10 ½ o’clock A. M., Sunday, Jan. 7th. After the discourse, a very large concourse also followed his remains to the beautiful cemetery a little north of the town, where they sadly consigned them to their last resting place. Mrs. Margaret (Legg) Worley, consort of the above, and whose funeral was preached also in connection with that of her husband, was the daughter of the late Jonathan Legg, for a long time a citizen of this county, but more recently of Kankakee City, Illinois. She was born in Blount county, Tennessee, the 10th of February 1805. She moved, with her father, first to Shelby county, Ky., and thence to this county about the year 1823. She was united in marriage with Hiram Worley, on the 6th of September, 1832. She embraced religion and joined the M. E. Church in Kentucky while she was yet a child, and lived a faithful christian more than fifty years. She did her part nobly in life’s struggle, and was truly “a help meet” for her husband. She made home happy by her sweet christian spirit, sound judgment and good taste. The traveling minister ever found a hearty welcome to her house and at her hospitable table, She was a good wife, mother and neighbor, and the kind remembrance of her is entwined around many hearts. Her last illness was brief, but severe; and death came unexpectedly to her friends. But she was ready. She was taken sick on the 19th of May last, and fell asleep in Jesus on the 24th of the same month. She left unmistakable evidence that she had gone to share the joys of a glorious immortality. Hiram Worley and his companion have passed away to the spirit land. The bodies rest side by side, in the cemetery, and a beautiful shaft of white marble marks the spot where they repose. Constance T. Shotts, Ed.D., CG(SM) CG and Certified Genealogist are Service Marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluations by the Board and the board name is a trademark registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office.