Manuel Simeon Corley (February 10, 1823 – November 20, 1902) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Biography

"Sim" Corley was born in

Lexington County, South Carolina Lexington County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 293,991. Its county seat and largest community is Lexington, South Carolina, ...

, and spent four years as a student at Lexington Academy. He engaged in business in 1838. Corley came out against talk of secession when it began being heard in South Carolina in the early 1850s, and an effort was made to expel him from the state. Corley was a leader in the state's Lutheran church and served as editor of the South Carolina Temperance Standard in 1855 and 1856. Corley later claimed he had been the only editor in South Carolina to condemn as "disgraceful" South Carolina Sen.

Preston Brooks Preston Smith Brooks (August 5, 1819 – January 27, 1857) was an American slaver, politician, and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving as a member of the Democratic Party from 1853 until his resignation i ...

assault on Massachusetts Sen.

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1851 until his death in 1874. Before and during the American Civil War, he was a leading American ...

on the senate floor in 1856.The Scalawags: Southern Dissenters In The Civil War And Reconstruction, James Alex Baggett, page 45
/ref> Corley entered the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

in 1863 and was captured by Union troops at

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...

, on April 2, 1865. He took the oath of allegiance on June 5, 1865. Corley served as delegate to the South Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1868. Running as a Republican, he was elected to the Fortieth Congress, serving from July 25, 1868, to March 3, 1869. He served as special agent of the United States Treasury in 1869, commissioner of agricultural statistics of South Carolina in 1870 and treasurer of Lexington County in 1874. He died in

Lexington, South Carolina Lexington is the most populous town in and the county seat of Lexington County, South Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of the state capital, Columbia, South Carolina, Columbia. The population was 23,568 at the 2020 Census, and it is the ...

, on November 20, 1902, and was interred in St. Stephen's Lutheran Cemeter
(his Find a Grave memorial)

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corley, Manuel Simeon 1823 births 1902 deaths Confederate States Army personnel Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina People from Lexington, South Carolina 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives