John Reily
American soldier (1763–1850)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Reily (1763–1850)[1] was a soldier in the American Revolution who later held a number of civic positions including helping draft the Ohio State Constitution. Reily Township in Butler County, Ohio is named for him.
John Reily | |
|---|---|
| |
| Hamilton County delegate to the 1802 Ohio Constitutional Convention | |
| In office November 1, 1802 – November 29, 1802 Serving with nine others | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 10, 1763 |
| Died | June 7, 1850 (aged 87) |
| Party | Federalist |
| Spouse | Nancy Hunter |
| Children | five |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1780–1782 |
| Unit | Virginia Militia |
| Battles/wars | American Revolutionary War |
Biography
John Reily was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania on April 10, 1763, and moved with his parents to Augusta County, Virginia when young.[2][3][4]
From the age of 17, Reily served in the Revolutionary War, including the Battle of Camden, the Battle of Guilford Court House, and the Battle of Eutaw Springs.[5]
After the War, Reily moved to Kentucky. In 1790 he moved to Columbia, (now a neighborhood of Cincinnati)[2][6] to build John Reily's Classical School and became its first school teacher.[7] It was one of the first schools in the territory.[7] The school grew and he soon hired a second teacher, Francis Dunlavy.[8][9]
In 1799, he was elected clerk of the Legislature of the Northwest Territory, and re-elected to that position in 1800 and 1801.[10] In 1802 he was elected as one of the seven trustees of the new town of Cincinnati.[10] Later that year he was a representative at the Constitutional Convention that drafted Ohio's first Constitution.[10] In 1802 he was also one of the first subscribers who purchased shares to start the Cincinnati Library, one of the first libraries in the state.[11]
He moved to Hamilton, Ohio, and was elected the first Clerk of Court for Butler County by the associate judges of the court of common pleas, a position to which he was re-elected for 37 years.[10] He was concurrently appointed as clerk for the supreme court of Butler County, a position which he also maintained until 1842.[10] He was also a long time Postmaster of Hamilton, and he served as County Recorder from 1803 to 1811.[10] At first he worked from a small building outside the old fort at Hamilton, before moving the offices to his home, and in 1824 to the newly built court house.[5]
Reily was appointed as one of the first trustees of Miami University, and was president of the board of trustees until 1824.[10]
In 1808 he married Nancy Hunter.[10] The Reilys had two daughters and three sons,[10] one of whom, Robert, founded the town of Wyoming, Ohio.[12]
Legacy
In 1807, a new township was formed by in Butler County by splitting the existing St. Clair Township. The new township was named Reily Township after John Reily.[10]
In his positions as clerk, Reily used high quality materials. The materials, combined with his "bold" character strokes meant that his hand-written records from the early 1800s were still clearly legible in the early 1900s.[15]