Reverend Edward Swing Riley

Reverend Edward Swing Riley is one of my favorites.

The Salisbury Band family members (his grand-kids) didn't like him. They said he was much to strict. He would say "children should be seen and not heard" as the kids played their games. His tombstone is next to the former "Southport Baptist Church" in Southport Indiana. It's become a favorite place for me to bring flowers or flags on holidays.

His first ministry assignment, after his training in Cincinnati ,was Vevey, Switzerland County, Indiana. The old church building is still there.

Not long after that he was assigned to Southport and Greenwood as a circut minister rider. He rolled with a horse drawn wagon between the two locations.

Later, an assignment to Valparaiso, Indiana where his daughter, Abigail met Joseph Salisbury. They were both giving music classes at what is now known as Valparaiso University, which eventually led to marriage and a honeymoon at the Columbia Exposition and the Salisbury Band.

The Rev took another assignment in Manhattan Kansas and after a very successful ministry returned to Southport with a gold retirement watch. It's is my most prized posession, engraved with his name, Manhattan Kansas and 1900. It's a Waltham.

His ancestry includes my German relatives and a connection to George Washington.