My Genealogy Hound

M. A. Riley, well known among the business circles as proprietor of one of the largest cotton-gins and grist-mills in Cross County, was reared on a farm in Shelby County, Tenn., and subsequently farmed for himself in his native county, until 1869, when he removed with his family to this county, and purchased his present farm of 100 acres, then in a wild state. He now has fifty acres under cultivation, with a good house, barn and buildings. M. A. was the son of L. C. and Eliza C. (Wiley) Riley, of North Carolina origin. His parents were married in North Carolina, and came to Tennessee in 1836, where his father purchased 320 acres of land. Mr. Riley, Sr., was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and died in 1846, his wife dying in 1881 at the age of sixty-two years. To these parents were given five children, three of whom are still living: William, John and M. A., all residents of this county. In 1885 M. A. Riley moved to Cherry Valley, where he purchased four acres of land, and erected one of the finest residences to be found in the village, and also erected a large steam cotton-gin and grist-mill, and has a large custom throughout the surrounding territory. Mr. Riley was married in 1868 to Miss Rebecca A. Wiley, a native of Tennessee, and a daughter of Macaney and Nannie (Lovel) Wiley, also of Tennessee. They are the parents of five children, two of whom are deceased: Luella (deceased), Etta, Laura, Robert (deceased) and Walter. Politically Mr. Riley is a Democrat. He and his wife are connected with the Baptist Church.