JAMES REILLY
History of Arizona, 1896

In the profession of law a man must be endowed with superior 
intelligence and have gone through with years of careful study 
and training to be able to cope with the brilliant minds which 
do honor to the bench and bar of today.  Prominent in the ranks 
of the foremost lawyers of Tombstone, Arizona, is Hon. James 
Reilly. He was born in the parish of Larah, County Cavan, 
Ireland, October 1830, son of Terence and Eleanor (Brady) 
Reilly, both natives of the same parish.  The maternal 
grandparents, Terence and Mary Brady were born in the same 
parish as was also the paternal grandfather, Terence Reilly 
and all were tillers of the soil.

Until eighteen years old James Reilly assisted his widowed 
mother in the duties on the farm and then left his native 
country to seek his fortune in America. Landing in New York 
City he announced his intention of becoming a citizen of the 
United States at City Hall, New York in February 1849.  In 
June of the same year he enlisted in the U.S. Army at Albany 
New York and was sent to Texas, then a wilderness, to join 
Company C, Eighth U.S. Infantry at Fort Crogan, now in 
Hamilton County with which company he remained in Texas 
and New Mexico until 1859.  During about three years of that 
time the company was mounted and was constantly engaged under 
General Harney in hunting and fighting Indians.  

For three years after that Mr. Reilly was engaged in 
merchandising and cattle raising.  When discharged in 1859 
he went to teaming and freighting and in the fall and winter 
of 1860 made a trip from Port La Vaca, Texas to Fort Buchanan, 
Arizona with freight, in company with McComb, Rooney, Walker 
and Chandler.  The last named was a member of the Texas 
Legislature and the secession movement was strong.  An extra 
session of the Legislature was called by the governor and 
Chandler, leaving the party west of San Antonio, went to the 
Capital.  The party then consisted of twenty one Mexican 
teamsters and herders and four Americans, with eighteen ten-mule 
teams.  The trip was a very hard one and night guards were kept 
constantly after leaving the settled portions of Texas.  Water 
and feed were scarce and one to two feet of snow fell in the 
vicinity of Stein's Peak.  However, they arrived all right at 
Fort Buchanan early in February 1861.  The company, generally, 
was enthusiastic on the question of secession and all, except 
Reilly returned to the Lone Star State.  He remained at Fort 
Buchanan, hauling supplies for Suttler White but one night 
the Indians stole all his mules but two from within ten paces 
of the sentinel's walk.   From there he went to Sonora, with a 
very small capital and engaged in farming and milling and in 
June 1863 brought up in La Paz, Lower California where he did 
not know a soul.  From that time until the fall of 1866 he 
worked in mines at Cacachilas, Triumph and San Antonio.  From 
there he went to Arizona by way of the Gulf and Colorado River 
and after thirty nine days of suffering high winds and lack of 
food and water, they arrived at Port Isabelle--mouth of the 
Colorado River--and there met Captain Polhemus of the C.S.N. 
Company who took the party to Yuma for half fare.  

After this until January 1875, Mr. Reilly worked in the mines 
at Wickenburg and Bradshaw, drove teams and chopped and hauled 
wood and then was appointed deputy sheriff under William 
Werninger, then sheriff of Yuma County.  About that time Mr. 
Rielly commenced the study of law in earnest and was elected 
district attorney of Yuma County in the fall of 1876. He 
started a newspaper in Yuma in 1878 but the following year 
moved to Phoenix where he continued the paper until May 1880. 
He then abandoned that business and moved to Tombstone where 
he has since given his entire time to study and the practice 
of law.  In 1892 he was elected on the Democratic ticket a 
member of the 17th Legislative Assembly of Arizona.

In April 1893, Mr. Reilly was married at Phoenix at Miss 
Nicolasa Ruiz, the daughter of Abran and Luz Ruiz.

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