Guardian Nicholas Riley
Kent County, Maryland
This page was updated by Mara French on 9/22/14. An asterisk (*) shows continuation of that line. This research is compiled to the best of my ability and offered here free of charge; I take no responsibility for errors. Send any corrections or additions to marafrench@mindspring.com. Revisions: 2012, 2013, 2014.
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PLEASE BEWARE: The following information has not been thoroughly researched as it is only a side-line from Samuel Elburn. Please Beware that two different men named Nicholas Riley are described here all bunched together. Unfortunately I do not have the time to separate them, but if you are so kind to do so, I will add that information. Please send it to marafrench.mindspring.com.
Orphan
From the Kent County's Orphans, Minors and Heirs 1778-1812 by Cynthia V. Schmidt 2002, page 30. April 1794:
The trustees of the poor do place and bind Samuel Elburn an orphan in the poor house to Nicholas Riley until arrives 21 yrs now being 11 yrs of age the 15th of January last past to be taught to read and write and arithmetic as far as the Rule of Three, and be taught the business and occupation of farming.
Nicholas Riley Jr. was born ca. 1720 and appears in the first church pew in Oct 1756 in ÒThe Numbers and Names of the Proprietors of the Pews in the new Addition of the ChapelÓ with Mathew Richardson in the Vestry of Shrewsbury Parish in Old Kent. This was the vestry of North Sassafras Parish, as per ÒOld Kent: The Eastern Shore of MarylandÓ. Included in here are the parishes of St. PaulÕs, Shrewsbury, and I. U. The Reverend was Rev. Lemuel Wilmer. The names Grandy and Wright appear often. The name Elburn and its variations does not appear. See http://archive.org/stream/oldkenteasterns00hansgoog/oldkenteasterns00hansgoog_djvu.txt.
Nicholas Riley Jr. was born ca. 1720 as he married in 1741. His father, Nicholas Riley Sr., died in 1745. He wrote his will on 5 Apr 1745 in Kent Co., MD, Liber 24, folio 135.
Liber 24, folio 135 15 April 1745 Abstract of the Will of Nicholas RILEY, Sr. of Kent Co. To son Nicholas Riley, all my lands in Riley Neck, Sassafrass R., except 100a on the R. adj. Indian Range, & if he d. s. p., then to son Benjamin, & if he d. s. p., then to my daus. Rebecca, Sarah, & Elizabeth; also to son Nicholas, Greenfeeld. 500a in Pennsylvania. To son Benjamin Riley, after the d. of my wife, Mary, my dw. plntn. To daus. Rebecca & Sarah, the s 100a adj. Indian Range. To dau. Elizabeth, after the d. of Thomas Richfoot, Pearses Rambles 50a in Kent Co. & L 10 at mar. or age 16. To wife, Mary, for life, my dw. plntn. To son Hezakiah, who cannot maintain himself, 5 s., & is to be maintained by wife, Mary, & son Nicholas. To John Riley, s. o. Isaac Riley, at age 16, a good horse. Extrs: wife, Mary Riley, & son Nicholas Riley. Witn: Nichos. Smith, Benjamin Palmer, John Riley. 25 May 1745, sworn to by all 3 witn
His name was also spelled Ryley. The land on which the Ryley House was built along the Sassafrass River contained over a thousand acres and was located on both sides of Mill Creek formerly known as Palmer or Quidley Creek, belonging to brothers John Riley and Nicholas Riley Sr. After his fatherÕs death, Nicholas Sr. had his inheritance surveyed under the name of ÒRyleyÕs Land ResurveyedÓ and it totaled 561 acres. His house was a 2-story brick house; one could imagine that Samuel Elburn had a good life there.
Nicholas Riley Jr. m. Sarah Smith on 2 Dec 1741 at the Shrewsbury Protestant Episcopal Parish in Kent Co., MD, where he was elected Church Warden on 4 Apr 1763. His will was brief in nature, and gives to his son William who died 9 years later, during which time he married and the inheritance went to his wifeÕs family, Rachel Stocktin Ryley (Rachel Stockton). Nicholas Riley Jr. had a large increase in comparison to his father. The Detailed Document mentions these locations: Georgetown, Cohansie, Frederick in 1774. Apparently Nicholas Riley Jr. died in 1773 as his son William died in 1782, nine years later, in Monmouth Co., NJ, at the age of 33 and during the Revolutionary War. William was born 20 Aug 1749 in Shrewsbury Parish, Kent Co., MD, shortly after the marriage of his parents. William had a son named Nicholas who was too young in 1773 to receive the plantation, which was agreed upon that he would receive it in 1800. This Nicholas was the man who became the Guardian of Samuel Elburn in April 1794.
This Nicholas had a son Nicholas Riley, born 8 Aug 1778 in Kent Co., MD, just 6 years before Samuel Elburn was born. He d. 15 Dec 1866 in Butler Twp., Knox Co., OH. John Bantham was appointed guardian to Nicholas Riley, a minor under age 14, on 8 Aug 1786 when Nicholas Riley was only 8 years old; he was b. 8 Aug 1778 in Kent Co., MD. Nicholas RileyÕs wife, Hannah Shrimplin, was born 22 Sep 1784 in Londonderry township, Bedford Co., PA.
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/6868436/person/-1211961286 -- the dates of Nicholas Riley may be off and need to be checked later on when I have more time.
On 17 Apr 1794 Nicholas Riley, the son of William Riley, became the Guardian of Samuel Elburn. Assumedly, Nicholas was born ca. 1765-1770, several years before Samuel Elburn was born in 1783. When William Riley died in 1782, just a year before Samuel Elburn was born, his wife Rachel was pregnant with daughter Mary for whom Rachel took out guardian papers in the Fall of 1783. John Bantham was appointed Guardian for her son Nicholas Riley in 1786, after which he married Rachel. Nicholas Riley was considered an orphan at his fatherÕs death.
The Nicholas Ryley House (or Gregg Neck Farm) is located on the east side of Gregg Neck Road, about 1.1 miles north of Rt. 290 northeast of Galena, on one of the numerous necks of the Sassafras River, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Revie in 1968. The house was built ca. 1709-1711. Photo taken in 1985.
Samuel Elburn lived as a youngster with Nicholas Riley as his Guardian. Nicholas Riley was b. 8 Aug 1778 in Kent Co, and he had many children, but not until 1803 when he raised 14 children; therefore, he might have needed Samuel to work for him. Assigned guardianships in those days may have meant that he was treated as a ÒsonÓ or as an Òindentured servantÓ and taught the skill of farming by working as a farm laborer.
Samuel was of age at age 21 in 1804. Nicholas Riley married Hannah Shrimplin in 1800 at which time Nicholas migrated to Wellsburg, VA, which is now in WV. Unfortunately Virginia is not in the 1800 census, but Nicholas is listed in the 1800 census of Kent Co., MD, with 15 household members:
4 males under 10 (could not be
Nicholas children as they were born after 1803).
1 male 10-15, Samuel Elburn was born in 1783, age 17 in 1800 (could be him)
2 males 26-44, Nicholas was born in 1778, head of household.
1 female 45+, probably Rachel Stockton Riley as she did not
die until 1820.
3 other free persons, refers to free people of color
4 slaves, refers to enslaved blacks
5 household members under 16
3 household members over 25
In 1805 at the age of 27, Nicholas moved to Ohio. Nicholas Riley had first left Wellsburg, VA, and moved to Washington Co., PA in 1805. Perhaps they wanted to settle things with her family as she was born 22 Sep 1784 in Londonderry twp., Bedford Co., PA. In 1806 they moved to Bethlehem Twp., Coshocton Co., OH, and to Knox Co., OH in 1807. Nicholas Riley is buried at the Riley Cemetery in Butler twp, Knox Co., OH. He had lived in Butler along the river the Indians called Owl Creek east of Millwood, OH. Nicholas Riley was listed on the 1810 Tax List of Union Twp., Knox Co., OH. See Details.
The 1820 census of Chestertown, Kent Co., MD, shows Nicholas Riley with a family of 13. By this time Samuel was married, and he would have been 37 years old. NicholasÕ father, also named Nicholas, was an orphan by the time he was 14 and John Bantham was appointed his guardian. This could be the reason his son decided to reciprocate and be a guardian for another. The information on his father is from p. 99 of Indentured Orphans 1778-1787 in Henry C. PedenÕs book on the Inhabitants of Kent Co. This was in 1786. Something doesnÕt look right about this. This Nicholas migrated from Kent Co., MD to Wellsburg which was then in Virginia and later became part of WV.