Riley family

The Riley family papers document the family of Ashbel Wells Riley and his children George S., Ashbel, Jr., and Anna.

Ashbel Riley (1795-1888) was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut. In 1816, he settled in Rochester, New York, and worked as a builder; he eventually became a prominent landholder and city government official. Riley was one of the first aldermen on the Rochester city council and served on the board of health during a devastating cholera epidemic in 1832. Riley also had a distinguished military career, beginning in 1818 when he became an orderly sergeant of the local militia regiment, the Penfield Rifles. In 1820, he received a commission as lieutenant colonel of a second local regiment, the Rochester Rifle Guards, and became colonel of the 22nd Rifle Guards in 1831. He was promoted major general in 1834, and in 1838 took command of the 3rd New York Rifle Division. Riley, a Presbyterian, became an active temperance lecturer, delivering over 8,000 temperance speeches throughout the United States, Great Britain, and Europe, and actively promoting the formation of total abstinence societies throughout New York State. In addition to temperance, he supported other progressive causes such as antislavery, penal reform, and care for the mentally ill. He used much of his personal wealth to promote these causes and to build churches and schools in the Rochester area.

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