Background
Corley was born in Lexington County, South Carolina, and spent four years as a student at Lexington Academy.
United States representative politician
Corley was born in Lexington County, South Carolina, and spent four years as a student at Lexington Academy.
He engaged in business in 1838. Corley came out against talk of secession when it began being heard in South Carolina in the early 1850s, and an effort was made to expel him from the state. Corley later claimed he had been the only editor in South Carolina to condemn as "disgraceful" South Carolina Senator.
Preston Brooks assault on Massachusetts Senator.
Charles Sumner on the senate floor in 1856. Corley entered the Confederate States Army in 1863 and was captured by Union troops at St. Petersburg, Virginia, on April 2, 1865.
He took the oath of allegiance on June 5, 1865. Corley served as delegate to the South Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1868.
Running as a Republican, he was elected to the Fortieth Congress, serving from July 25, 1868, to March 3, 1869.
He served as special agent of the United States Treasury in 1869, commissioner of agricultural statistics of South Carolina in 1870 and treasurer of Lexington County in 1874. He died in Lexington, South Carolina, on November 20, 1902, and was interred in Saint Stephen"s Lutheran Cemetery.