McHenry County IL Archives History .....Riley Township History - 1877 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 20, 2008, 9:41 pm

RILEY, TOWNSHIP 43, RANGE 5.

   This township was settled from 1836 to 1843 by T. W. Cobb, Roswell Bates, N.
E. Barnes, Jenkins Underwood and Osborn, and, in 1845, they built on the north
part of the town a frame school house, showing that these settlers, too, came
from a land where education was deemed as necessary as dollars. 

   Having plenty of facilities in adjoining townships, they have erected no
church within their limits; the population being almost equally divided between
the Methodist and Congregationalist denominations, who hold their meetings in
the various school houses, of which at present there are eight.

   The dairy business forms quite an item in the industries of this town, about
thirty of its farmers being engaged in some branch of the milk business, and the
town has one cheese factory.

   Riley has many good orchards that produce an abundance of apples and
cherries, but there are no nurseries in the township, Marengo being able to
supply all wants of that kind.

   In early times, Riley had a store kept by H. G. Hastings, but now Marengo is
handy enough for all practical purposes.

   This township is well adapted to either grain or stock, and several of the
large farmers have turned their attention to fattening steers for the Chicago
market.

   About three-fourths of her soil is prairie and one-fourth timber.

   Riley possesses one improvement that she can boast of, but manifests no
disposition to do so, and that is a Town House. The other towns do their
business on election days in school houses and halls.
 
  Though not so well watered as some of the towns, it possesses one stream of
water called Coon Creek, the two branches of which unite on Section 22, near the
Town House and cheese factory, thence flowing northwest and passing out into
Boone County about the middle of the west line of Section 6.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF THE TAX-PAYERS AND VOTERS
OF
McHENRY COUNTY;

CONTAINING ALSO

A Map of the County; a Condensed History of the State of Illinois; an Historical
Sketch of the County, its Towns and Villages; an Abstract of Every-day Laws of
the State; a Business Directory; Officers of Societies, Lodges and Public
Officers; a Department of General Information for Farmers, Dairymen, Etc., Etc.

CHICAGO: C. WALKER & CO.
1877.


Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by
C. WALKER & CO.,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

CULVER, PAGE, HOYNE & CO.,
PRINTERS, CHICAGO.


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