Thomas S. Riley

Thomas Sylvester Riley, né Thomas Owen Riley, (January 8, 1852 – December 28, 1938) was an American lawyer, politician, and businessperson who was based in West Virginia. Riley served as the state's eleventh Attorney General from March 4, 1893, until March 3, 1897.

For other people named Thomas Riley, see Thomas Riley (disambiguation).

Honorable

Thomas S. Riley
Photograph portrait, published in 1919
11th Attorney General of West Virginia
In office
March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1897
GovernorWilliam A. MacCorkle
Preceded byAlfred Caldwell Jr.
Succeeded byEdgar P. Rucker
Personal details
Born(1852-01-08)January 8, 1852
Marshall County, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), U.S.
DiedDecember 28, 1938(1938-12-28) (aged 86)
Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S.
Resting placeMount Calvary Cemetery, Wheeling, West Virginia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Catherine Philomenia "Minnie" Breinig
ChildrenThomas S. Riley
James B. Riley
Robert J. Riley
ParentsOwen Riley (father)
Mary Dailey Riley (mother)
Alma materFairmont State Normal School
West Liberty State Normal School
ProfessionLawyer, politician, and businessperson

Riley was born to Irish immigrant parents in 1852 in Marshall County, which was then part of Virginia. He graduated from West Liberty State Normal School in 1877, where he read law under Wheeling-based lawyer James Dallas Ewing, and was admitted to practice law in 1878. He formed a partnership with Ewing, which was later joined by Thayer Melvin. In 1887, Riley was elected Chairperson of the West Virginia Democratic Party State Executive Committee, serving until 1892.

From 1890 to 1892, Riley served on the Board of Regents for West Virginia State Normal Schools. He was elected Wheeling’s city solicitor in 1891 and the following year, he was elected West Virginia’s attorney general. Riley became the first Roman Catholic to win election to a statewide office in West Virginia. He unsuccessfully ran for election to represent West Virginia's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives in 1906 and was appointed to the West Virginia School Book Commission in 1912. Riley continued to practice law until his death in 1938.

Early life and education

Riley was born as Thomas Owen Riley on January 8, 1852, in Marshall County, which was then part of Virginia.[1][2][3][4] His parents, Owen Riley and Mary Dailey Riley, were born in Ireland and emigrated to the United States.[1][4] Riley spent his early life on a farm and was educated in the local public schools, where he taught after graduation.[2] He commenced his post-secondary education at Fairmont State Normal School in 1875, then attended West Liberty State Normal School from 1876 until graduation in 1877.[2][3] In July 1877, Riley began reading law in the law office of Wheeling-based lawyer James Dallas Ewing.[2] He was subsequently admitted to practice law on October 26, 1878.[2] Riley changed his middle name from Owen to Sylvester to avoid his surname being confusing with O'Riley, a different clan.[4]

Law career

Following his admission to the bar in 1878, Riley formed a law partnership with Ewing.[2][5] In 1881, Riley's and Ewing's firm was joined by Thayer Melvin following Melvin’s resignation as Judge of the First Judicial District.[2][6][7] The firm became known as Ewing, Melvin, and Riley, and continued thus until Riley’s departure in 1894, after which he was replaced by J. W. Ewing.[2][6][7] In October 1890, Riley was admitted to practice at the Supreme Court of the United States.[8] In April 1898, Riley was elected a director of the Consolidated Building Loan and Trust Company, and was selected as the company’s attorney.[9]

Political career

In November 1887, Riley was elected to the West Virginia Democratic Party State Executive Committee to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Joseph S. Miller, Commissioner of Internal Revenue.[10] Riley was elected Chairperson of the Democratic Party State Executive Committee in 1887, where he served until 1892.[2][3] West Virginia Governor Aretas B. Fleming appointed Riley a member of the Board of Regents for West Virginia State Normal Schools, representing West Virginia's 1st congressional district,[2] where he served from 1890 to 1892.[2][11][12] In February 1891, Riley was elected as Wheeling's city solicitor, serving for two years.[2]

As the Democratic Party State Committee Chairperson, Riley convened the West Virginia State Democratic Convention at Parkersburg in July 1892.[13][14][15] At the convention, Riley won the Democratic nomination for Attorney General of West Virginia, which he contested against B. F. Kidd.[13][14][15] In November 1892, Riley was elected the state’s eleventh attorney general,[2][16] becoming the first Roman Catholic to win election to a statewide office in West Virginia.[4] He served as attorney general in the state's eleventh administration under Governor William A. MacCorkle from March 4, 1893, to March 3, 1897.[17][18][19] In August 1896, at the West Virginia State Democratic Convention in Wheeling, Riley was renominated as the Democratic candidate for state attorney general.[20][21][22][23] The convention band played The Wearing of the Green in Riley's honor as he gave his acceptance speech.[22] In November 1896, Riley lost the position to Republican Edgar P. Rucker.[16]

At the April 1904 West Virginia State Democratic Convention in Charleston, Riley was a candidate for a state delegate-at-large at the 1904 Democratic National Convention in St. Louis.[24][25] Riley supported Richard Olney for the Democratic presidential nomination.[25] In 1906, Riley was the Democratic candidate to represent West Virginia's 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives,[2][3] which he lost to Republican William Pallister Hubbard.[26]

In February 1912, Governor William E. Glasscock appointed Riley a member of the West Virginia School Book Commission, which was created under a 1909 act of the West Virginia Legislature to contract for uniform textbooks for the state’s public schools.[27][28][29] In 1913, Riley was rumored as a candidate for United States Attorney in the Northern District of West Virginia after several of his friends from Wheeling visited Washington, D.C. to advocate for his selection in opposition to the appointment of Stuart W. Walker.[30][31]

Personal life

Marriage and children

Riley married Catherine Philomenia "Minnie" Breinig of Wheeling, daughter of Michael and Elizabeth Breinig, on November 11, 1891 at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph.[1][2][32] Riley and Breinig were married by Roman Catholic Bishop of Wheeling John Joseph Kain.[32] They had three children together: Thomas S. Riley, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia justice James B. Riley, and lawyer Robert J. Riley.[2][3]

Organizational memberships

Riley was a member of the Carroll Club, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fort Henry Club, and the Wheeling Country Club.[2] He was an active member of the Ohio County Bar Association and the West Virginia Bar Association, regularly attending the associations' annual sessions.[33][34] In 1920, the West Virginia Bar Association selected Riley as a delegate to the American Bar Association convention in St. Louis.[34] From 1924 to 1925, he served as the chairperson of the West Virginia Bar Association's Committee on Uniform State Law.[35]

Riley and his family were Roman Catholic and attended the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Wheeling.[2] Riley served as a director of both St. Vincent’s Home for Girls and St. John’s Home for Boys in Elm Grove.[36] Riley was also a member and president of the Knights of St. George of Wheeling.[37]

Later life and death
Riley Law Building, pictured on left

Riley served as the attorney for Bishop of Wheeling Patrick James Donahue until Donahue’s death in 1922, and as the attorney for Donahue’s successor Bishop John Joseph Swint until Riley’s death in 1938.[38][39] Bishop Donahue inherited 36.5% of a Texas oil estate; in 1907, he made Riley trustee of the estate, which included 66 sections of West Texas oil lands.[39]

In 1922, Riley constructed the Riley Law Building at the corner of 14th and Chapline Streets in Wheeling.[4][40] During the building’s construction, Riley laid bricks alongside the construction workers to demonstrate proper bricklaying techniques.[4] As of 2020, the Riley Law Building is Wheeling's third-tallest building at 10 stories and 132 feet (40 m) in height.[40]

Riley continued to practice law until January 1938.[1] After suffering a long illness, he died at 4:30 p.m. on December 28, 1938, at his residence at 10 Park Row, Wheeling, in Ohio County's Triadelphia district.[1][3] At the time of his death, Riley suffered from diabetes mellitus, chronic nephritis, chronic myocarditis, and dementia.[1] He was interred at Wheeling's Mount Calvary Cemetery on December 31, 1938.[1] Riley was survived by his wife and his three sons.[1][3] One of his sons, James B. Riley, served for over twenty years as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.[41]

Legacy

In his 1919 book "Bench and Bar of West Virginia", former West Virginia Governor George W. Atkinson described Riley as "a close student, a hard worker", and "remarkably successful in the practice of his profession".[33] Following his death in 1938, the Associated Press described Riley as the "last member of the State's 'Old Guard' Democrats who held sway in the decade before the turn of the century",[3] and stated he had "guided the destiny" of West Virginia for half a century, along with Democrats West Virginia Governor Aretas B. Fleming, U.S. Senator John E. Kenna, John T. McGraw, William A. Ohley, and J. W. Sinclair.[3]

References
  1. "Death Record Detail: Thomas Sylvester Riley". West Virginia Archives and History, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. 2020. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  2. Atkinson 1919, p. 320.
  3. "Thomas S. Riley, 86, Old Guard Democrat, Is Dead at Wheeling". The Cumberland News. Cumberland, Maryland. December 29, 1938. p. 9. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Thomas S. Riley House". Friends of Wheeling website. Friends of Wheeling. 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  5. "J. D. Ewing Dead". The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer. Wheeling, West Virginia. August 31, 1898. p. 2. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Brant & Fuller 1890, p. 547.
  7. West Virginia Bar Association 1907, p. 133.
  8. "Supreme Court of the United States". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore. October 14, 1890. p. 4. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Their Annual Meeting". The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer. Wheeling, West Virginia. April 14, 1898. p. 3. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "The Democratic State Executive Committee of West Virginia held a meeting at Parkersburg". The Shepherdstown Register. Shepherdstown, West Virginia. November 18, 1887. p. 2. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. Fairmont State Normal School 1891, p. 2.
  12. Fairmont State Normal School 1892, p. 2.
  13. "The State Convention". The Shepherdstown Register. Shepherdstown, West Virginia. July 29, 1892. p. 2. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Col. MacCorkle Accepts". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore. July 29, 1892. p. 2. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Hot Work and Fights". Pittsburgh Dispatch. Pittsburgh. July 29, 1892. p. 7. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. Callahan 1913, p. 467.
  17. Lewis 1904, p. 401.
  18. Lewis 1906, p. 287.
  19. Harris 1916, p. 388.
  20. "Democratic Ticket". Spirit of Jefferson. Charles Town, West Virginia. August 25, 1896. p. 2. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. "The Democratic State convention will be held at Wheeling next Wednesday, August 12th". The Shepherdstown Register. Shepherdstown, West Virginia. August 6, 1896. p. 2. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. "A Full State Ticket". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore. August 14, 1896. p. 2. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. "Virginia and West Virginia". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore. August 14, 1896. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. "Candidates for Empty Honors Getting Quite Plentiful". The Fairmont West Virginian. Fairmont, West Virginia. April 19, 1904. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. "Hearst Boomers There Attempt to Capture the West Virginia Delegates". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore. April 20, 1904. p. 10. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. Halford 1909, p. 133.
  27. "Appoint School Book Commission". The Hinton Daily News and Leader. Hinton, West Virginia. February 10, 1912. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. "Board Meets". The Fairmont West Virginian. Fairmont, West Virginia. June 3, 1912. p. 4. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. "Text Book Lists for Low Grades in the State are Announced by State School Book Board". The Daily Telegram. Clarksburg, West Virginia. July 13, 1912. p. 3. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. "McGraw is Said to Favor General Riley for Federal District Attorney". The Daily Telegram. Clarksburg, West Virginia. April 3, 1913. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. "McGraw Tries to Defeat the Appointment of Walker in Favor of General Thomas Riley". The Daily Telegram. Clarksburg, West Virginia. December 17, 1913. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. "Marriage Record Detail: Thomas S. Riley and Philaminia Breining". West Virginia Archives and History, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. 2020. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  33. Atkinson 1919, p. 322.
  34. "Hon. John J. Coniff Elected President of West Va. Bar". The Wheeling Intelligencer. Wheeling, West Virginia. July 29, 1920. p. 8. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. West Virginia Bar Association 1925, p. 1.
  36. Dennis 1920, p. 50.
  37. "Cane Presentation". Wheeling Daily Register. Wheeling, West Virginia. April 5, 1886. p. 4. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. "Three Wheeling Lawyers Named in Texas Suit". The Raleigh Register. Beckley, West Virginia. October 28, 1965. p. 1. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. "Oil Earnings Are Sought By Diocese". The Cumberland News. Cumberland, Maryland. September 1, 1966. p. 18. Retrieved October 22, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. "Riley Law Building". Ohio County Public Library website. Ohio County Public Library. 2020. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  41. "Republican Successor Seen For Judge's Seat", The Raleigh Register (June 30, 1958), p. 1.

Bibliography
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