Sacramento County
Biographies
EDWARD A. RILEY
EDWARD A. RILEY.--A rancher whose methods have long
been a source of interest to his neighbors and friends, is Edward A. Riley, who
lives and operates about eight miles northeast of Galt. He is a native son, and
as such has always been very devoted to California; having been born at
Sacramento on May 7, 1854, the son of Peter and Margaret (Clark) Riley, the
former a native of County Cavan, Ireland, who as a
young lad came to Boston and there was reared, while he learned the blacksmith
and carriage-making trade. In 1849, he came out to California, by way of the Panama route, and at Michigan Bar he went into the mines. It was
when he returned to New
York from California that he was married; and in 1851 he returned to California with his bride and settled in Sacramento
City. He joined with a man named Hayes in forming a
co-partnership under the firm name of Hayes & Riley, to do a blacksmithing
business, and they had a shop at the corner of 11th and J Streets, where the
Native Sons building now stands; and they were widely known for their expert
workmanship and the honesty of their methods. Mr. Riley died at the rather
early age of forty-five, having already accomplished an immense amount of hard
work; and Mrs. Riley passed away in her fifty-seventh year. In the autumn of
1854, Mr. Riley gave up blacksmithing and settled on 500 acres about five miles
north of Galt; and there he lived for the rest of his days, the father of five
children, among whom our subject was the second in the order of birth. Augusta,
the eldest, is deceased; Edward A. is our subject; and John, Mary Ellen, and
Thomas P. are all deceased. The latter married and left four
children; Alice, Nellie, Eva, and Thomas E.
Edward A. attended the Hicksville
district school, and also a school in San Francisco; and after his father's death, he lived with his mother
until she died. Of the original land purchased by his father, Edward received
204 acres, now lying on the state highway; and he later sold 100 acres, so that
he today owns 104 acres situated on the east side of the state highway, eight
miles north of Galt. At Sacramento, on October 26, 1881,
Mr. Riley was married to Elizabeth Davis, who was born on the Davis ranch, along the Cosumnes River, southeast of Elk Grove, the daughter of David L. and
Elizabeth (Murray) Davis. David L. Davis came out to California in 1851, from Cedar County,
Iowa; he was a native of Ohio, but Mrs. Davis, was a native of County Down, Ireland. Mr. Davis mined at first, and later he went to farming on
the Cosumnes River, in Sacramento
County. The worthy parents had twelve children, all of whom
proved worthy of their parentage. John J. resides in Idaho; Mrs. D. S. Watkins lives in Sacramento; Mrs. C. H. Cantrell is of Elk Grove; David L. is
deceased; Elizabeth, Mrs. Riley, and Phoebe were twins; the latter died aged
seventeen months. The others are: William, David L.; Alexander Henry, Thomas
Napoleon and Jason Hamilton, twins, and Charles Dickinson. There was a school
district named after Mr. Davis, and Mrs. Riley when a girl attended this
school. Mr. Davis died at the age of seventy-two, and Mrs. Davis breathed her
last on May
9, 1921, at the age of
eighty-nine.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Riley
lived at his home for three months, and then they purchased 218 acres northeast
of Hicksville, onto which they moved; these 218 acres were known as the
Old Chadwick ranch. Mr. Riley did general farming upon it until a few years
ago, when he took up stock-raising. He keeps from fifty to 100 head of cattle,
and still owns the 104 acres of the home place. Mrs. Riley owns three parcels
of land, a sixty-acre piece, and two forty-acre
pieces. Mr. Riley is a Democrat and Mrs. Riley is a Republican, but they both
support the best men and best measures, regardless of party lines.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento
County, California With Biographical Sketches, Page 304. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.