Alexandria Historic Cemeteries District

Ria has an amazing collection of items important to not only Alexandria, but also DeKalb, and our historic State of Tennessee. So often people toss those letters, memoirs, and scraps of paper; luckily Ria has managed to accumulate a fair amount of our history to prevent it from being lost.

Over the last week Dale, Patsy, and I sat in the Liberty History room scanning 392 pages of paper belonging to a box of Vanatta papers. Thrilled to see one for a $1 for something common place – made me wonder if one day my 3rd great grandchildren will be just as thrilled to see what I bought at Lowes and then go she bought stain.. what did she use it on. Then hunt through the photos of the house for a small glimpse of what looked new and shiny atop a primative structure.

But it is these small tidbits that help us see into the core of who are ancestors were, I’ve never understood society’s obsession with famous people, for it is not famous people that build the country, it is built by those that are the salt of the earth, who bring new life to an area, like a rainstorm to a field in drought.

Today we bring you a trip down memory road, with a tribute to George W. Corley, Sr. – he had an Insurance Agency which he organized in 1920; and then his son Geo. Bill Corley, Jr. purchased this Agency in 1964. ..

Why not grab a fresh cup of coffee, and come sit on the porch with me for a moment as we reminisce for a moment about when life was slower

Born in 1899, George W. Corley was a witness to and a part of an era that brought the greatest changes ever seen in history. He was born the son of George S. Corley, a young attorney who died before reaching forty, and Katherine Hawks Corley, a strong and religious woman known as Ma Kate.

As a young man, he sought an education. He attended Maryville College in East Tennessee and when World War I erupted, he became an officer candidate at Cumberland College. While history will not bear it out, his grandchildren still insist that Mr. Corley did capture the Kaiser in the glorious fashion he often described.

Shortly after the war, he returned to Alexandria to begin a lifelong business that came to be known as George W. Corley and Son Insurance Agency. His stepfather, Mr. Measle, was in the insurance business in Alexandria, so that potential for conflict convinced Mr. Corley to travel the northern counties of Tennessee and into Kentucky, and he became, as he referred to himself, “a pioneer agent in the horse and buggy days.” He was often mistaken for a Revenue Agent, but he soon won the confidence of the citizens of Clay, Macon, Jackson, Fentress and other counties and was accepted in their homes.

Mr. Corley curtailed his travels from Alexandria when he discovered that a merchant’s daughter he had his eye on, Mary Lester, had been courting other young men in his absence. He focused his attention on Miss Lester and convinced her to marry him. This marriage produced two children, Katherine Brown and George W. Corley Jr.

While Mr. Corley was the Mayor of Alexandria in 1929, the Great Depression ravaged the nation. He struggled to maintain his young family and salvage his business. ·He was compassionate to the plight of others in this time and often paid the insurance premium of his customers who could not afford to.

Mr. Corley saw that his children received a Christian education and when this nation enjoyed unparalleled prosperity after World War II, he decided to enjoy life himself. Saturday afternoons in the fall were far too valuable to spend working especially when Vanderbilt was engaging a Southeastern Conference foe in Nashville. He continued his pilgrimages to Dudley Field through the 1985 season. Yet Mr. Corley was a true sportsman; he could cheer for both Tennessee and Vanderbilt on the same afternoon so long as they were not encountering each other.

He also took time to travel. He and Mary visited Cuba, Israel, Jamaica and other interesting places. His imagination took him to these places and beyond, but his ambition kept him in Alexandria.

Mr. Corley suffered a set back in 1977 when Mrs. Corley died. Yet Mr. Corley knew after adapting to other changes in his life he could adapt to this one too. He renewed his interest in his business that he had long since sold to his son and renewed his interest in others. Mrs. Bernice Nixon became a faithful companon and a reliable date every Thursday and Sunday afternoon.

He left us all a legacy:  To his family he left countless memories; to his Christian brothers and sisters of this church that he shepherded he left the example of a true patriarch; to his business associates he left honest· dealings; to his friends he left the image of a cheerful old man never without his wit, smile, tie and hat.

We will miss him because he made himself an active part of our lives.  But he was here long enough for us to learn how God intended life to be lived. If we had not noticed by now we never would have. His life was God centered and his life was lived with the knowledge that his undying spirit would leave his feeble body and join those of the other saints.

Take the memories that Mr. Corley has left us and reflect on them often. Call on these memories when change threatens your life and find a way to deal it as he did so that life will be as enjoyable to you as it was with him.

Thank you for taking a moment to sit with us, George left us a few years back, but I know he’s watching over Alexandria from his home in the Hillview cemetery

If you have photos, letters, diaries, or other items of historic nature, please consider reaching out to us and allow the opportunity to digitize them.