JOHN AND MARY ELLEN (RILEY) RILEY

(for larger image-click on each picture)

 

John Riley (b.1855) is the son of Barny and Elizabeth Riley.  He was born in Linn County, Iowa, and resided there until his family left Iowa for Linn County, Missouri in the mid 1870’s. Mary Ellen was the daughter of John and Charity (Hill) Riley.  John’s (B.1855) father Barny (b.1825) was a brother to John (b.1830) who was Mary Ellen’s father.  John took his betrothed Mary Ellen from where she lived with her family in Tama County, Iowa, onto Missouri where John’s folks, the Barny Riley family, had settled.  John and Mary Ellen were married October 6, 1877, in Linneus, Linn County, Missouri.  While living in Linneus, John and Charity gave birth to a daughter Louisa in 1881.

 

John Riley was a railroad man and a farmer.   The picture above shows him with a crew working on the Rock Island track in Platte County Missouri, between Stillingsand.  There is no date on the picture.  The individuals written on the back of the picture are identified as follows:  Standing, Ed Butner (Foreman), Chas. Kenney, _ Bolivar, Chas. Butner, Dan Brown, John Riley, Wm. Smith, Fred Wiseman; Sitting, Robt. Langly, Homer Trosper, Marshall Nolan, John Wiseman, and La Olivis.

Mary Ellen gave birth to a second daughter Leona Elizabeth Riley in 1887.  Leona was born in LaPorte City, Black Hawk County, Iowa, not far from where John and Charity Riley were living.  John and Mary Ellen evidently traveled back to Iowa for the baby’s birth, then traveled back to Missouri, where John followed the railroad for work.  They are found on the U. S. Federal 1900 Census living in Leavenworth, Kansas. John is shown as farming and living with his wife Mary Ellen, and two daughters Louisa, and Leona. 

 

 

In 1902, John and Mary Ellen decided to move north to Glyndon, Minnesota.  Most likely the promise of land in northern Minnesota and the growth and stability of railroad work convinced John to bring his family to the Red River Valley of the North.  Below is a picture taken of Louisa and Leona with their friend Leota Soster on the day they left Leavenworth, Kansas for Minnesota in 1902. 

 

Top Center, Leota Soster, Bottom, Louisa and Leona Riley

Taken the day in February 1902 when the Riley’s left

              Leavenworth, Kansas, for Minnesota.

 

Louisa (far left) and Leona (on right) Riley standing beside their horses.

 

John and Mary Ellen Riley and their two daughters, Louisa and Leona, brought two teams of horses and a cow, one team pulling a covered wagon, and the other two horses ridden by Louisa and Leona.  They traveled from Leavenworth, Kansas, to northern Minnesota in the Spring of 1902.  Leona stated that her dad was in no particular hurry to go along.  They traveled during the day, camped by the riverside at night, and hunted wild game and caught fish for their meals along the way.

Coming to Glyndon, John began farming and found work with the Burlington Northern Railroad. Approximately ten years later, the pretty Riley sisters found husbands who happened to be the Moore brothers.  Louisa married Claude Moore and Leona married Edwin Moore.  Louisa and Claude had one son, Douglas Moore (b.1914).  Leona and Edwin had three children: Dawn Moore (b.1915), Darwin Riley Moore (1917), and Calvin Moore (b.1929).

Mary Ellen passed away June 16, 1932.  It is documented on her death certificate that her mother was Charity Hill.  John passed away October 17, 1936.  They are buried at the Riverside Cemetery north of Glyndon.   To date, six generations of descendants have resided on the same property first settled by John and Mary Ellen Riley in 1902.

 

 

Submitted by Andrea Waage Rootham, 08/26/2006, e-mail jaroot10@juno.com.