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Note: Thomas Foxley, born in England, was naturalized in Lee County, Illinois on March 31, 1888. His Final Certificate of Naturalization has
been preserved. He spent time as a street car conductor in Chicago in
the 1880's and his whistle and ticket punch have been preserved along
with souvenirs from the Columbian Exposition. Upon settling in Grand
Detour, he purchased the Grand Detour ferry from Perry Wood and ran it
for years.
Thomas loved Nancy very much. Their romance is recorded in a poem found in Nancy's autograph book and written in Thomas' hand, dated March
20, 1886: "Strange such a pearl a priceless gem, a diamond bright as
ever shone; Has glistened in the eyes of men, and no one's claimed thee
for his own. Yours till death. T. Foxley."
Thomas' homes in Grand Detour were photographed and the photographs have survived. Ashely was born in the first home in 1901, Esther in the
second in 1904. The Foxleys eventually settled in the brick home that is
now the caretaker's home for the John Deere Historic Site in Grand
Detour. The deed of sale from this property has been preserved.
Thomas became ill while still a very young man, but, as an avid Christian Scientist, would not seek medical attention. Despite what must
have been enormous pain, according to his daughter Esther, he never said
a cross word. Rather, he would sit on the porch of the family home and
play his beloved cornet. The music could be heard all over the small
village. As of late 1998, that beautiful engraved cornet was in the
possession of Thomas' grandson, Tom Whitcombe.
Thomas' illness meant that Esther had to return home from school in Dixon to help out. She and Ashley attended to things until Thomas became
so ill that he was hospitalized. When the doctors opened him up, they
found him full of cancer and lacking a spleen altogether. Nancy, his
wife, attributed that to an injury years earlier polling the ferry, which
Thomas never had treated. Thomas was so full of cancer that the doctors
did not bother to close the incision, certain that he could not survive
the night. Thomas passed away shortly thereafter. According to his
obituary, he died of "a lingering illness with a complication of
ailments." Esther was only seventeen when her father died.
Many pictures of Thomas and his family survive, including a picture of Thomas in his train conductor's uniform. His grave is in the family
plot in Grand Detour next to his beloved wife, Nancy, who lived for many
years but never quite overcame her grief over his death.
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