My Genealogy Hound

RILEY NILES, a prominent and representative farmer of the town of Cortlandville, was born in the town of Virgil, Cortland County, October 7, 1827, and was a son of John and Lucinda (Main) Niles, and grandson of John Niles, who was a pioneer settler of Tompkins County. This latter gentleman, John Niles, Sr., secured a large tract of land, which he cleared for the most part and improved in many ways, becoming one of the leading men of his section, esteemed for his hardihood, industry and upright character. His son, John Niles, Jr., settled in the town of Virgil, and cleared a farm from the forest, felling the trees to build him a log cabin, and burning much of the felled timber to render the work of clearing as expeditious as possible; he also utilized a good portion of the wood in making potash. This farm proved very fertile and has become a very fine property, being owned at the present time by W. Calvert and Guy C. Thompson. Our subject’s father died at the age of eighty-five, while Riley’s mother, who was a daughter of Asa Main, passed away at the age of seventy-eight. In the parental family were four children: Riley, our subject; Electa D.; Lucinda C., deceased; and Wells.

Riley Niles was reared as a farmer, and was educated in the district schools. He started out in life with good habits and no distaste for honest work, so while still a very young man he had accumulated a sufficient store to enable him to buy a farm in Virgil, known to-day as the Morehead place. After making many improvements, having been very successful in his agricultural operations, he bought another farm property adjoining, which he subsequently disposed of to good advantage. He next bought in the town of Cortlandville the Z. Tanner farm of 118 acres, beautifully located near South Cortland, where he has since been located. Mr. Niles has added to this ten acres, and also sold a small portion, so that he owns about 1 12 acres at the present time. Naturally progressive and enterprising, he has, whenever the opportunity offered, made such improvements on his farm as have resulted in enhancing its value to a large degree. He has set out a vast quantity of fruit of many varieties, and devotes most of his time to sheep raising and dairying.

Mr. Niles married Miss Martha Tanner, daughter of Zera and Lucy (Chapman) Tanner. Mr. Tanner was born near Cooperstown, N. Y., but early in life settled on the farm now operated by our subject, Mr. Niles, where he carried on general farming until his death by heart failure, at the age of sixty years. His wife lived to be ninety-one years of age. They had seven children, namely: Louisa; Martha; Maria; Julia; Amanda; Zera, Jr.; Arvilla. These are the ones who grew to maturity, but there were still two others in the family, Mary and Katherine, who died in their youth. Mr. Niles has four children, three of whom are living to-day. Edgar DeWitt is a graduate of the State Normal School of Cortland, and teaches school at McGrawville. He married Gertrude Johnson, and they have one child, Jessie, having lost two, Edna and Herbert. Millard A., Mr. Niles’ second son, is a carpenter by trade, but he is at present a coal dealer and mine owner of Denver, Colorado. He married Miss Lettie Fritts, and two children have blessed their home, Eugene and Millard. Ira T., also a resident of Denver, is inspector of the Demurrage Bureau. He married Mayme Brown. The fourth child, Addie, died at the age of seventeen. In his political views Mr. Niles is a zealous Republican, and in past years has been very active in local politics. He is a member of the Congregational Church, and has brought up his family in that faith. In whatever has appeared to him as the best for the community, that has he striven for, with the result that he is accounted one of the best citizens in the town, whose influence is invariably cast for the best moral and intellectual influences.