Poley Family History

Poley

   The surname of Poley is English, although the origin of the name is French: it's a variant of Polet or Paulet, which are pet forms of the name Paul. It was first found in Cornwall, where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the census rolls taken by the ancient Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects. Spelling variations include: Polhill, Polwhele, Polwel, Polhel, Polhal, Polley and many more. The Coat of Arms is Gold, on a red bend three gold crosses. The Crest is a hind's head between two branches of oak bearing golden acorns.
   The Cornish people, who inhabited the southwest of England, have a rich Celtic heritage. Cornwall was originally home to a people known as the Dumnonians, who were comprised of three tribes of ancient Britons known as the Veniti, the Curiovolitæ, and the Asismii. They were akin to their Welsh neighbors to the north, who also spoke a Brythonic Celtic language, and they were the root stock of the Breton people, who settled in Brittany in northwestern France in the 4th century.
   JAMES F. POLEY married IRENE WENK on October 3rd 1964. Here is their family story, as told by Irene:

   After graduating from high school, I went to school in Jackson, Michigan, to become a hair stylist. I then began my first job in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
   I met James F. Poley from Tecumseh, Michigan, in 1964. After dating for three months, we eloped and got married. We had our first son, ANTHONY JAMES, in 1965 followed by our second son, TERRY LEE, in 1967.
   We lived in Allen's Trailer Court, in a house trailer, for a few years before buying a house at Wampler's Lake in the early 1970's. Our sons both raced in Motocross bike races and it was always fun attending the races on weekends. We did not know where the next race would be held or how far we would have to drive: Anywhere from Jackson, Michigan to Elkhart, Indiana.
   I continued working as a hairstylist in Tecumseh, where I retired in 1992. Jim worked for Hydra-Matic Transmission in Willow Run, Michigan, and retired in 1992.
   Tony graduated from Brooklyn, as did Terry.
   Tony then went to ITT in Fort Wayne, Indiana. After graduating, he went to work in Ann Arbor, designing and building safety devices used to detect gas leakage and other chemicals. He is now a plant manager of this company. He married BECKY BROWN and has one son, named SHANE ANTHONY. Shane is 11 years old and attends 6th Grade at Grass Lake School. He is quite active in sports of all kinds, like racing motorcycles in the MRA (he raced in the Silverdome twice, winning first place the second time). He has two motorcycles, a PW 80 and an RM65, which he is racing now.
   Tony and Becky bought a house with 10 acres in Jackson, where the family now lives.
   Terry worked at Greenbriar Golf Course while in high school. After graduating, he went to Ferris State. He later got a job in Swanton, Ohio, at the Swanton Country Club. He drove there to work every day, then back to Grass Lake every night.
   He applied to the turf and grass program at Michigan State and was accepted. He then married AMY MOORE, and they had a son, ZACHARY JONATHAN.
   The family lived in dorms and Amy worked at Sam's Club. Terry worked at the dome, doing experimental grass growing. After graduating with honors, Terry moved to St. Joseph, to work at the Point of Woods Golf Club, where he watched Tiger Woods win the amateur title, then go professional.
   From there, Terry went to Oakland Hills Golf Club, followed by Pine Lake Country Club (where he works at present).
   Terry and Amy bought a home in Farmington Hills and Zachary is now 15 years old, and is going to be in the 10th grade at Harrison High. Zach is very active in sports and is on the traveling soccer team, as well as the Harrison High JV team.
   Jim and I still live at Wampler's Lake. I love taking care of my flowers and gardening. Jim loves to golf and fish, and we are both active in our Church in Manchester. We both teach Sunday School or Jr. Church and love the Lord.