Guide to the Ariosto Appling Wiley Collection

Record Group 224

Date Span:

Extent:

Biographical Sketch: Ariosto Appling Wiley (1848 – 1908) served in the Alabama legislature and the US House of Representatives. Although he was not in the legislature at the time, he did help shepherd through the Alabama Senate the bill that created Troy Normal School (later Troy University) in 1887.
Born in Clayton, Barbour Co., Alabama, Wiley moved with his family to Troy, Pike Co., before 1851. He graduated from Emory & Henry College in 1870, was admitted to the Alabama bar in 1871, and practiced law in Clayton before moving to Montgomery later that year. A Democrat, he served on the Montgomery city council, in the Alabama House (1884, 1885, 1888, 1889, 1896, and 1897) and in the Alabama Senate (1890-1893, 1898, and 1899). Elected to the US House in 1900, he represented SE Alabama there from 1901 until his death on June 17, 1908.

Wiley served in the Alabama militia, first as a captain of cavalry then as a lt. col. of the 2nd AL Infantry. On June 9, 1898, President McKinley appointed him to the lieutenant colonelcy of the 5th US Volunteer Cavalry. Wiley deployed to Cuba in the Spanish-American War then remained as legal counsel and chief of staff to General Lawson in Santiago. He also served with Gen. Leonard Wood to establish civil government in Cuba's eastern province.

Wiley married Mary Ann Freeman Noble (1855-1935) in 1877. They had one child, Noble James Wiley (1878-1957) who retired as a colonel from the US Army in 1948.

Wiley's brother, Oliver Cicero Wiley (1851-1917), was elected to fill the remaining few months of AA Wiley's congressional term (November 1908 – March 1909). OC Wiley, from Troy, was president of the Alabama Midland Railway (1887-1892), president of the board of trustees of Troy Normal College, a director of the Farmers & Merchants National Bank of Troy, and an officer of Standard Chemical & Oil Company of Troy.

Wiley Biographical References:

“Ariosto A. Wiley.” In Northern Alabama: Historical and Biographical. Ed. T. A. DeLand and A. Davis Smith. Birmingham, Alabama: Smith and DeLand, 1888. Available from the Internet Archives. https://archive.org/details/northernalabamah00birm.

“Ariosto A. Wiley.” Wikipedia. Accessed September 23, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariosto_A._Wiley.

Brown, William N. “Descendent Chart for Ariosto Appling Wiley.” Available in the Wiregrass Archives.

Haeuser, Erik. “Ariosto A. Wiley.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. Accessed September 23, 2020. http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3954.

“Oliver C. Wiley.” Wikipedia. Accessed September 23, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_C._Wiley.

"The State Normal School, At Troy, Alabama." The Troy Messenger. August 4, 1887.

“Wiley, Ariosto Appling (1848-1908).” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present. Accessed September 23, 2020. https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=W000466.

Scope / Content Note: Mementos and memorabilia such as writings, documents, photographs, scrapbooks, photo albums, and artifacts concerning the extended A. A. and Mary Ann Freeman Noble (Mittie) Wiley family. Includes photographs of the O. C. Wiley family as well as a typescript memoir by Noble J. Wiley (son of AA and Mittie Wiley) and a biography of Mittie Wiley by William N. Brown (great grandson of AA and Mittie Wiley).

Organization: Organized into 4 series:

Series 1. Scrapbooks and Photo Albums, 1890s-c. 1910, 3 items
Series 2. Photographs (loose) 1858-c. 1905, 14 items
Series 3. Writings by others and documents, 1898-c. 1950s, 8 items
Series 4. Artifacts, c. 1898-1910, 10 items

Provenance: All items donated to the Wiregrass Archives and Troy University by William Noble Brown, great-grandson of A.A. and Mittie Wiley.

Preferred Citation: Ariosto Appling Wiley Collection, RG 224, Wiregrass Archives, Troy University Dothan Campus, Dothan, AL.

Access/User Limits? Open per donor agreement

Publications about this collection:

Olliff, Martin T. “It Came from the Archives: A.A. Wiley and the founding of Troy University.” TroyToday (blog). February 19, 2021. https://today.troy.edu/perspectives/it-came-from-the-archives-a-a-wiley-and-the-founding-of-troy-university/.

Olliff, Martin T. and Greg Phillips. “Troy University's Origin Story.” It Came from the Archives – Troy University's Wiregrass Archives Podcast.. June 13, 2022. https://camefromarchives.podbean.com/e/podcast-it-came-from-the-archives-troy-university-s-origin-story/.

Inventory

Series 1: Scrapbooks and Photo Albums, 1890s-1910, 3 items

File ID File Title

224-16-1108-001-001 Scrapbook, news clippings, obits, letters to and from AA Wiley, 1903-1905

224-16-1108-001-002 Scrapbook, personal account of trip to Far East w/ Sect. of War William Howard Taft, July-Sept, 1905

224-20-0906-Item-007 Leather-bound carte-de-visit album believed to belong to Mary Ann Freeman Noble Wiley, w 29 cartes-de-visit + 15 small portraits.

Series 2: Photographs, 1858-ca. 1905, 14 items

File ID File Title

224-18-0112-Item-001 "Photograph of AA Wiley in uniform, on horseback, framed. June 9, 1898, Pres. William McKinley appointed Wiley to Lt. Col. of US 5th Volunteer Cavalry that saw service in the Spanish-American War.

224-20-0402-Item-002 AA Wiley as a child (ca. 1858). Scan.

224-20-0402-Item-003 AA Wiley at age 29 (ca. 1877). Scan.

224-20-0402-Item-004 AA Wiley in his 30s-40s. Scan.

224-20-0402-Item-005 AA Wiley ca. late 1890s. Scan.

224-20-0402-Item-006 AA Wiley ca. 1900. Scan.

224-20-0402-Item-007 AA Wiley after 1901. Scan.

224-20-0402-Item-008 AA Wiley miniature for pocket watch or locket, copy of post 1901 photo. Scan.

224-20-0402-Item-009 AA Wiley engraving based on post 1901 photo. Scan.

224-20-0906-Item-001 AA Wiley portrait photo in frame (14.25 x 17.5")

224-20-0906-Item-003 AA Wiley, cabinet card photo, possibly copy of 224-20-0402-007 (Photographer CM Bell, see https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/c-m-bell-studio-photographs.html)

224-20-0906-Item-004 AA Wiley, oval portrait (3.5 x 5") in dresser top stand

224-20-0906-Item-005 Mary Ann Freeman Noble Wiley, oval portrait, colorized, (3.5 x 5") in dresser top stand

224-20-0906-Item-006 Mary Ann Freeman Noble Wiley, copy of posed photo, standing, n.d. (late 1890s-early 1900s)

Series 3: Writings by others and documents, 1898, ca. 1950, 8 items.

File ID File Title

224-16-1108-001-003 Transcript of remarks by Judge C. W. Buckley to Synod of AL, Nov 14-15, 1898

224-20-0402-Item-001 Noble James Wiley, "Recollections," ca. early 1950s. NJ Wiley discusses his father and mother, AA Wiley and Mary Ann Freeman Noble Wiley in the early pages. Scan

224-23-0513-Item-001 William N. Brown, "Mary Ann Freeman Noble (Mittie) Wiley, 1855-1935," 2023_0427

224-23-0513-Item-002 obv Promissory Note, AA Wiley to United States Mortgage and Trust Company, $60.00, dated January 11, 1902, payable July 1, 1903_Obverse

224-23-0513-Item-002 rev Promissory Note, AA Wiley to United States Mortgage and Trust Company, $60.00, dated January 11, 1902, payable July 1, 1903_Reverse

224-23-0513-Item-003 Montgomery Fair Dept Store to O.C. Wiley, Administrator for AA Wiley estate, 1909_0120

224-23-0513-Item-004 [O.C. Wiley] Administrator for AA Wiley estate to L. W. Ashley, Montgomery Fair Dept Store 1909_0123

224-23-0513-Item-005 Miss [Maurice] Graham to O.C. Wiley, 1909_0327. Pleas with O.C Wiley to help manage Mittie's affairs as her insurance payments are in arrears and she is distressingly overwrought by any kind of business matters.

Series 4: Artifacts, ca. 1900-1910, 10 items.

File ID File Title

224-16-1108-001-004 Crocheted bootie from 224-16-1108-001-001

224-18-0112-Item-002 Brass nameplate for AA Wiley, possibly his House of Representatives desk nameplate (Served 1901 until his death June 17, 1908).

224-20-0906-Item-002 Postcard, AA Wiley, Honolulu, to OC Wiley, Troy, AL, July 31, 1905

224-20-1013-Item-001 Crook handled gentleman's walking stick, engraved "Wiley" on side, ca. 35 inches

224-20-1013-Item-002 Knob handled gentleman's walking stick, engraved "Wiley" on top, ca. 36 inches

224-20-1013-Item-003 Gentleman's riding crop, gold handled, embedded w/ ca. 40 diamond chips, ca. 26 inches (broken).

224-21-0301-Item-001 Printing plate, oval portrait of AA Wiley, copper on wood block, 1.5" x 2" x 15/16", from DuBose, Notable Men of Alabama, 1904.

224-22-1010-Item-001 Walking Stick carved by Joseph N. Fries, February 27, 1899, 94 cm

224-22-1010-Item-002 Walking Stick, carved with spiral scene, 74 cm

224-22-1010-Item-003 Walking Stick, gentleman's leather wrapped with steel knob and tip, 92 cm

Contact Us

Wiregrass Archives
Troy University Dothan Campus
Everett 128
502 University Dr.
Dothan, AL 36303

Phone: 334-983-6556 x21327
Email: wiregrassarchives@troy.edu