The history of the Salley Family started in Switzerland with Hans Salin and his wife Anna Biedermann, who were married October 10, 1642.
Their son Hein Salin, who was born in 1651, and his wife Barbara Suther had many children, one of whom they named Heini Salin. Heini married Mariah Von Arx on October 22, 1720 and they and their children migrated from Zeglinger, Switzerland to the American Colonies in 1735. Once there, they changed the spelling of their surname to Salley.
Heini and Mariah (who changed their names to "Henry" and "Maria") had eight children together, the last being born in 1761. That child, Henry Salley, and his family settled in the Orangeburge Township district of South Carolina (later known as Salley, South Carolina) and secured a 200 acre plantation. Henry Jr. had married Ann Friday, the youngest daughter of John Friday Sr., on May 5, 1784 at the age of 23. Henry secured a plantation on the Goodland Swamp in the Orangeburg district and together with Ann had eight children.
John Martin Salley, born March 26, 1788 at the home of his parents on Goodland Creek, was the third son of Henry Salley, Jr.
John Martin Salley married Elizabeth Pou on March 27, 1812 in South Carolina. The John Martin Salley family moved from Orangeburg to Alabama in 1828, where John Martin was elected Sheriff of Lowndes County, Alabama.
Together John and Elizabeth Salley produced eight children, the seventh being Benjamin Franklin Salley.
Benjamin Franklin Salley was born July 18, 1828 and later married Lucretia Winifred Crawford on January 5, 1857. Benjamin and Lucretia together had nine children, the first being Mary Elizabeth, who was born in 1858.
Mary Elizabeth married Joseph Andrew Davidson and over the years, they had the following children:
The Salley Family
