Multnomah-Clackamas County OR Archives Biographies.....Risley, John F. November 25, 1861 - 
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com October 26, 2009, 11:49 pm

Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 136-137
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     JOHN F. RISLEY is one of Portland's best known citizens and is a member 
of one of its old and prominent families, being of the third generation to be 
actively identified with the affairs of this region. He is the owner of 
valuable property here and is numbered among Portland's substantial and 
respected men. Mr. Risley was born in Clackamas county, Oregon, on the 25th of 
November, 1861, and is a son of Jacob S. and Mary (Scholl) Risley, the former 
of whom was born in Delphos, Ohio, and the latter in Illinois. His paternal 
grandfather, Orville Risley, brought his family across the plains to Oregon in 
1845 and located first in Yamhill county, where he lived for about three 
years, but at the end of that time traded his claim for a farm two and a half 
miles south of where Milwaukie now stands. He went to California in 1848 and 
engaged in mining for about one year, after which he bought an interest in a 
boat line running between California and Oregon. In an early day he served as 
city recorder of Portland and became the owner of real estate in Portland, 
owning the half block on which now stands the Broadway building.

     Jacob S. Risley accompanied his parents on their migration to Oregon and 
took up six hundred and forty acres of government land on the present site of 
Oak Grove. In 1849 he joined the gold rush to California, where he mined for 
two years, after which he returned to his Oregon ranch and there devoted his 
attention to agricultural pursuits until his death in 1902, at which time his 
property was divided between his three living children, Charles, John F. and 
Mary. In the family were originally eight children but John F. is now the only 
survivor. The mother was a daughter of Peter Boone Scholl, who brought his 
family across the plains to Oregon in 1848 and took a donation land claim 
where Scholl's Bridge now is. There he conducted a ferry over the Tualatin 
river for many years, and then built a toll bridge, which he operated a number 
of years. He had a well improved farm and was numbered among the well-to-do 
and respected men of his community. Mrs. Risley died in 1886.

     John F. Risley received a good public school education and was about 
eight years of age when, in 1869, the family moved from the farm to Portland, 
where they resided until 1876, when they returned to the farm, and there he 
has lived to the present time. He gave his personal attention to the operation 
of the ranch until 1917, since which time he has managed the Broadway 
building. This building, which is now owned by Mr. Risley and other members of 
the family, is fifty by one hundred feet in size and ten stories high, and has 
proven a profitable investment for the family. Mr. Risley was one of the 
organizers of the First State Bank of Milwaukie, of which he is treasurer.

     In 1899 Mr. Risley was united in marriage to Miss Ella Boehlke of 
Portland, who is a native of Michigan, and they are the parents of two sons: 
Victor S., who is secretary of the Woods Company, of Portland; and John 
Franklin, who is a student in Willamette University.

     Mr. Risley is a member of Milwaukie Lodge No. 109, A. F. & A. M.; 
Portland Consistory, A. A. S. R.; Al Kader Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.; Oswego 
Lodge No. 93, I. O. O. F.; Oregon City Lodge No. 1189, B. P. O. E., the United 
Artisans Life Association, the Kiwanis Club, the City Club, the Chamber of 
Commerce, and the First Unitarian church of Portland. Politically he is a 
stanch democrat and has shown a good citizen's interest in the welfare of his 
city and county. He is a man of splendid personal traits, honorable in all of 
his business affairs, and cordial and unaffected in manner, so that all who 
know him entertain for him only the highest respect.

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