Burley, James M.
(born: 1854 - died: 1911)James M. Burley was probably one of the first African American jewelers and watchmakers in Georgetown, Louisville, Paris, and Lexington, KY. Burley's specialty was gold and silver plating. His business opened in 1872 in Georgetown.
Burley was listed in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census as an unmarried watchmaker; he did marry at some point after 1880. He moved his business to Louisville in 1885, then to Paris, KY, sometime after 1897. He is listed in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census as divorced and living on 8th Street in Paris, KY.
By 1904, he had moved his business to Lexington and he was then married to Annie Seymour Burley [source: Lexington City Directory, 1904-1905, vol. II, p. 198]. They were the parents of Dan Burley.
Burley's watchmaking business was located at 320 Vine Street in Lexington in 1909, and he, his wife Annie, and their son lived at 762 N. Broadway [source: Lexington City Directory, 1909, p. 720 & p. 194].
James M. Burley did very good work in the watchmaking business: some of his items were exhibited at the New Orleans World's Exposition in 1884 [source: Scott County Kentucky: a history, edited by L. Apple, F. A. Johnston, and B. Bevins, p. 220].
Burley was born in Frankfort, KY. He was an 1890 valedictorian graduate of the Normal Class at State University [later Simmons College]. He lived most of his life in Kentucky and worked as a watchmaker. He was also a Baptist Evangelist.
In 1909, his calling led him and his family to Seguin, TX, where Burley became a clergyman at Guadalupe College [source: 1910 U.S. Census]. The college was also referred to as the Negro Baptist College; Danville, KY, native William Baton Ball had helped to establish the school.
James M. Burley died around 1911 in Texas. His widow, Annie, married Reece Wilson; in 1915 the family moved from Texas to Chicago, IL. Five years later they were living with the David Chatman family on South-Park Street in Chicago, according to the 1920 U.S. Census.
For more see the "James M. Burley" entry in Weeden's History of The Colored People of Louisville, by H. C. Weeden.