John Foley

Major John Foley (1813 – 14 September 1881) was a 19th-century Irish merchant and Army major who came to prominence after emigrating to the United States.

Life and career Foley was born in Ballinclare, County Kerry, Ireland, in 1813. He married young, but his wife died prior to his emigration to the United States in August 1836. His brother, Patrick, was an Episcopal minister in County Tipperary. in the Roster of the Confederate soldiers of Georgia 1861–1865 via the pages of the 14 September 1861 edition of Savannah's Daily Morning News. He was promoted to major by the following January. He was subsequently offered the role of lieutenant colonel but declined it.

By 1870, Foley was living at 37 York Street (today's 417 East York Street). Three years later, he was elected president of an earlier version of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.

Foley's Columbia Square property, which housed his business between 1840 and 1860, was sold to Sigmund Elsinger in 1882.