Rilea, George and Hannah

RILEA, CHEW, PENNOCK, WALKER, THOMPSON, COLLINS, WELK, MYERS, YOUNG, RYAN, MILLER, HOMEWOOD, SWABB, WILLIAMSON, GLAZEBROOK, LAFAVOUR, MCCUTCHAN

Posted By: Mary H. Cochrane, Volunteer
Date: 7/7/2019 at 08:31:08

BIOGRAPHY ~ THE GEORGE RILEA FAMILY

Reflections of Grand River, Iowa: 1881 - 1981
Clarke Pub. Co. p. 273. Osceola IA. 1981.

The George Rilea Family
The following is a letter or an account of the Civil War experience of Aaron T. Rilea.

1868 -- Civil War
Hopeville, Clarke County, Ia.
I enlisted as a soldier in the U.S. service on the 5th day of Dec. 1861 at Leon, Decatur, Iowa under J. L. Young. I was wounded on the 14th day of May and was captured the 16th, 1862. I was with them one month -- the rebs I mean. On the 16th of Oct. 1864 I was taken Kahalia prison, from there to Loten or Milan prison, from there to Andersonville and from there to the Federal Army which we found at Jacksonville, Florida. On the 27th of April 1865 and got home to my father's mansion the 3rd day of June 1865.

signed Aaron T. Rilea
Aaron T. Rilea, son of Joseph R. and Sarah L. Rilea, was married to Hannah R. Chew on June 6, 1866. After their marriage they moved to Norton County, Kansas, later moving to Nebraska, where Aaron died. Hannah returned to the farm north of Grand River, Iowa, with 5 small children: Willis, Idell, Maggie, Hahn, and Jennie.
Willis Rilea married Esther Pennock in 1898, made his living farming and rearing their children near Grand River, later entering the ministry and moving to the state of Washington. (Friends and relatives of the family will recall the surprize (sic) package of three tiny babies blessing this home -- Ruth, Rena and Roy -- on Sept. 18, 1912.) Note: a photo of the Rilea triplets is still embedded in cement, covered with glass as the entrance to the cave on the old Rilea place, where Mrs. Mickey (Freda Gill) Jones still [1981] lives. Their daughter, Mrs. Cecil (Ione) Walker lives at Creston, Ia. Alice Thompson, Rena Collins, Mrs. Dick (Ruth Welk and Roy (only son) and wife Wilma live in Anacortes, Washington.

Idell married Marion Myers, who daughters are Rena (Mrs. Hammie) Young, deceased, and Jennie (Mrs. Norris) Ryan of Des Moines.

Maggie married John Miller. There were no children of this union, Maggie dying at childbirth.

Jennie married Earl Homewood, spending their lives on a farm near Hopeville. One son, Earl, blessed this union. Earl married Lois Williamson in 1931. They live in the Hopeville - Murray area.

Hahn took Sylvia Mae Swabb of Murray as a bride on November 19, 1902. They farmed 7 miles N. of Grand River in the Doyle Township [Clarke County] area, where their children Verda, Vera, George, and a foster daughter, May Glazebook, were raised there. They left this farm in 1932, moving to the Swabb farm 4 miles N. of Hopeville, later moving to Ottawa and operating a country store, 1936-1940.

After having lived together for 66 years, Mae died in 1968 at the age of 84; Hahn died in 1972 at the age of 92 years.

NOTE: Aaron was interred at Mount Hope Cemetery, Sargent, Nebraska. Hannah Rebecca (Chew) Rilea was born in 1848, the daughter of Richard Albertson Chew and Jane LaFavour (McCutchan) Chew, and died in 1928, with interment made at Gregg Cemetery, Doyle Township, Clarke County, Iowa.

Notes by Sharon R. Becker

Copied from "Reflections of Grand River, Ia. 1881-1981" by Stacey McDowell Dietiker