JOHN RILEY, M. D.
The man who devotes his talents and energies to the noble work of ministering to the ills and alleviating the sufferings of humanity is pursuing a calling which in dignity, importance and beneficent results is second to no other. If true to his profession and earnest in his efforts to enlarge his sphere of usefulness, he is indeed a benefactor of his kind; for to him more than any other man are entrusted the safety, the comfort and, in many instances, the lives of those who place themselves under his care and profit by his services. Taking the foregoing into consideration and giving due credit to this noblest of professional callings, it is undoubtedly a mark of the highest distinction to have practiced continuously for thirty-five years in one locality and to be noted as the second oldest practicing physician in the county. Such is the record of the professional gentleman whose name forms the caption of this review. He is one of the honored and successful physicians of this section of the state, having for years ministered to the sick and ailing of Exira and vicinity, and is still actively engaged in the practice of his profession.
John Riley was born on August 18, 1850, in Cambridge, Illinois, son of Dr. John and Abigail (Burnett) Riley, natives of Saratoga county, New York. Abigail Burnett was of colonial origin and the father of the elder Dr. John Riley was of English descent. The family left the ancestral home in Saratoga county, New York, in 1847 and came west as far as Illinois. The senior Dr. John Riley was a physician of wide repute and followed his calling in Whiteside county, Illinois, with signal success. He was a graduate of the Castleton (Vermont) Medical College and came west the year following his graduation, in 1846. At that time Whiteside county was in process of settlement and Doctor Riley, the elder, was one of the pioneer physicians of the county. In fact, it is a matter of historical record that he was the first physician to locate in Whiteside county and was the only one for several years. For a number of years he was located in Rock River, directly east of the city of Rock Island, his headquarters being practically in Morrison, the county seat of Whiteside county. He and his good wife now lie buried in Whiteside county.
John Riley, the younger, of whom this biography directly treats, attended the primitive schools in Whiteside county, and also studied in the Geneseo high school. He taught school for a period of six years, meanwhile pursuing the study of medicine in his father's office. Upon leaving the high school he studied at Quincy College, and later was graduated from Musselman's Business College at Quincy, Illinos. After completing his commercial course he was solicited to take charge of the commercial department of the Northern Illinois College at Fulton. He accepted the offer and continued his collegiate studies for two years while thus engaged. He then entered the Teachers' Training School at Clinton, Iowa, and taught in that institution while studying medicine. Continuing his preparation for the practice of his chosen profession, he was graduated from the medical department of the Iowa State University in 1880. Soon after his graduation Doctor Riley came to this county, locating at Exira, where he has practiced continuously ever since, a period of thirty-five years, and is now the second oldest physician in the county, in point of years of continuous practice. He has been very successful in his calling and has achieved considerable distinction as an able practtiioner [sic practitioner].
In August, 1880, Dr. John Riley was married to Mary Jane Powers, a talented woman, who, at the time of her marriage with Doctor Riley, was a teacher in Cedar Rapids. Mrs. Riley is an Ohioan by birth and is a graduate of the famous Ohio Wesleyan University, located in Delaware, Ohio. She was noted as being a very successful teacher, and has proved a fitting and capable helpmeet for her busy husband. Doctor and Mrs. Riley are the parents of two children, John C. Riley, a jeweler located in Exira, this county, and Ethel Mary, a member of the Episcopal Sisterhood of St. Mary's, in Chicago.
Doctor Riley is a Republican in politics, and is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, being attached to the blue lodge at Exira, the chapter and commandery at Audubon, to Za-Ga-Zig temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Des Moines. He also has membership in the Audubon County Medical Society, the Iowa State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
The long years spent by Doctor Riley among the people of southern Audubon county have endeared him to them beyond measure and his friends are legion. He and his wife are devoted to the best interests of the community and are active in all good works thereabout, being held in the highest regard by all who know them.
|
Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 526-528.
|
|
