POSTED MESSAGES OR INQUIRIES

• 02/16/2009- I recently stumbled across two posts (of undetermined date) on your website that mentioned the possibility that E. William Riley (b. abt. 1812 in S.C.) might be a son of John Riley, Sr.  The story I’m most familiar with says E. William was born in S. Carolina (based upon the 1850 Calhoun County census) and married Elizabeth Majors Land, born in Georgia, around 1840.  William Lawrence, my Great-great-grandfather, was his son.  William Lawrence served in the 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers. He enlisted in Dale County, Alabama in 1862 under Captain W.T. McCall.  His arm was amputated after being wounded at the Battle of Waynesboro, Georgia.

  Based upon DNA inference, E. William’s Paternal Haplogroup is R1b1b2a1b5b, which places us in northwest Ireland in the not-so-distant past.  However, it is quite a jump from County Cavan to South Carolina!  If you know a male in direct line from John Riley, Sr. who has completed Y-DNA testing, we could confirm or rule out the connection.  My DNA can be found on Y-search (www.ysearch.org) as JNCWC.  I am also on Ancestry.com.  My tree is listed under tree name GREMAX.  I would enjoy learning more.

  Gregory Riley

  gregridel@gmail.com

  gregandchelle@embarqmail.com

  http://rileyreflections.blogspot.com/

  http://www.facebook.com/Gregory.D.Riley

• 01/11/2009- I was looking at the “Descendants of John Riley Senior”  web site this evening and noticed what I believe to be a typographical error with Herbert Riley and Claudie B. Riley data.

  vii.   HERBERT RILEY, b. May 1898, Dale County Alabama; d. Aft. 1950; m. EFFIE; b. 1900.

  My grandmother’s (Claudia B. Riley Speigner’s) bible indicates that Herbert Riley’s name was James Herbert Riley, b. 23 Sep 1899 and that he married Vannie "Nanny" Wright on 17 Dec 1916. No place of marriage or birth date was given for Vannie Wright. However, I remember family saying that granny and uncle Herbert got married at the same time.

  viii.   CLAUDIE B. RILEY, b. 17 Dec 1900, Dale County Alabama; d. Jul 1983, Wetumpka, Elmore County Alabama; m. (1) Fox Henderson (Spigner) SPEIGNER; b. 1896, on 17 Dec. 1916 in Georgia across river from Eufaula, AL; m. (2) CONNIE WRIGHT, 1916, Dale County Alabama; b. 1895.

  I believe that m. (2) Connie Wright, 1916, Dale County Alabama; b. 1895 goes with Herbert Riley. I have no record of him having married Effie. I also believe her name was Claudia although everyone called her Claudie. They also called Herbert “Hubbard”

  Claudia B. Riley married Fox Henderson (Spigner) Speigner on 17 Dec 1916 in Georgia, across the river from Eufaula, AL. They lived in Dale County until sometime after 1930. The 1930 census shows them living with their children, Mabel, J. D., and Roy on Riley Road, Beat 9 (Echo), Dale County. Sometime between 1930 and 1940, Claudia and Fox were divorced and Fox married Vinnie Jurkin. Claudia never re-married.

  When Fox and Claudia were married, Fox’s last name was spelled Spigner. Sometime in the mid to late 1920s, the family of Spigners in south Alabama discovered that the original spelling of the name was Speigner (from the original John George Speigner who came to America in 1753) and decided to change the spelling back to Speigner. John George had received a grant of 400 acres from King George in 1754, and some of the family had remained loyal to the King during the Revolutionary War. A number of the family (grandchildren of John George at the time of the war) changed the spelling to Spigner and some to Spigener. Most likely to avoid being confused with the Loyalist Speigners, and also to not sound so Germanic as the Hessian troops were committing a lot of atrocities in South Carolina. When land opened up in Alabama, a number of Spigners, Spigeners and Speigners made their way west to homestead. My great-great-grandfather, Jesse Spigner, moved to south Alabama sometime between 1835 and 1840 with his mother, Mary Ann; stepfather, Amos DuBose; sister Mary Ann and her husband John Wells. The first records I have found of them in Alabama is the 1840 Census which shows Amos Dubose and John Wells both living in Dale County, AL.

  I was looking at the web site trying to assist someone with a question regarding a Mary Riley marrying a Stuckey. Is there anything in your data to connect these two names.

  Best regards,

  Jack Speigner

•  01/06/2010- I have a question regarding Whitaker Riley, who marred Naomi Bess and lived in Henry County.  Did we conclude that Whitaker Riley (b. abt. 1797) was truly John and Mary Whitaker Riley's son? 

          Thanks, Charles Riley Parnell

• 05/22/2009-  Does anyone know if John Riley, Sr, (married to Mary Whitaker), was in the Rev. War? If so, do you have any information on his records? It would seem that he would have served because of his age.

Thanks,

Madelyn Stark [starkmad@bellsouth.net]

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