John Riley

RILEY, BURNET, POWERS

Posted By: Marthann Kohl-Fuhs (email)
Date: 5/13/2009 at 15:52:55

1889 BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF
SHELBY AND AUDUBON COUNTIES, IOWA
W. S. DUNBAR & CO., PUBLISHERS
113 ADAMS STREET, CHICAGO

pages 719-720

JOHN RILEY, physician and surgeon,
Exira, Iowa, is a native of the State of
Illinois. He was born in Bureau County,
near the spot where Neponset now stands,
August 18, 1850, and is the second in a
family of seven sons, all of whom lived to
maturity. John and Abigail (Burnet) Riley
were his parents, and they were both natives
of New York. Mrs. Riley's mother and
General Slocum were first cousins, and they
trace their ancestry back for five generations.
John Riley, Sr., is also a doctor, and he and
his wife are both living at Spring Hill, Illi-
nois. He was one of the pioneer physicians
in Illinois. He was educated in New York,
and came to Chicago by way of the lakes, and
thence across the prairies by wagons. In his
younger days he conducted a large and prof-
itable practice, and gained some distinction
in that section of country. John Riley, Jr.,
passed his boyhood in Whiteside County,
Illinois, whither his father had removed when
he was an infant. His primary education
was received in the district school, and later
he attended the Academy of Prophetstown,
and finished his literary education at Fulton,
Illinois. He then began teaching school in
Clinton, Iowa, and continued in this profes-
sion for six years. While engaged in teach-
ing he took up the study of medicine, and
afterward entered the office of Doctors Mc-
Cormick & Smith, the leading physicians of
the place. After reading under their direc-
tion for some time he entered the medical
department of the Iowa State University, and
was graduated from that institution in 1880.
He then came to Exira, and began the prac-
tice of his profession, to which he has de-
voted the whole of his time and energies with
gratifying results. Dr. Riley was married
August 26, 1880, to Miss Mary J. Powers, a
native of Ohio. She was a graduate of the
Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, and
for some time was engaged in teaching at
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They have two chil-
dren - Ethel M. and John. The Doctor is
Master of Exodus Lodge, No. 342, A. F. &
A. M., and M. W. of the A. O. U. W. He
is a member of the town council, and is now
president of the school board; he is also a
member of the Iowa State Medical Society,
and president of the Botna Valley Medical
Association. Of the seven sons in this fam-
ily three are physicians, three are lawyers,
and one is a farmer. One of the attorneys
died in March, 1888; he had studied law with
Mrs. Foster. Their names are - Charles, at-
torney; John, physician; William, attorney
(deceased); George W., attorney; Bruce, phy..
sician; Lincoln, physician; and Henry Clay,
at home on the farm in Illinois. All are
married, except Bruce.