A. K. RILEY

A. K. Riley, President of the Omaha Abstract Company, was for many years prominently identified with the interests of Harlan and Shelby County. He was born in Schoharie County, New York, August 10, 1852, and is a son of A. B. and Lois (Kellog) Riley, natives of New York, and of Puritan ancestry. His earlier youth was spent in attending school and assisting in his father's woolen mills. At the age of sixteen he entered the preparatory school at Fort Edward, New York, and was graduated from that institution with honor in 1872. He then entered Princeton College, and was graduated in the class of 1876. After leaving college he went to Schoharie, New York, and read law in the office of Krum & Grant during the winter if 1876-'77. In the spring of 1877 he came to Iowa and accepted a position as professor of mathematics in Jefferson Academy, at Jefferson, Iowa. He remained there one term, and read law in his leisure hours in the office of Russell & Tolliver. He was admitted to the bar in the winter of 1878. After making a tour of southwestern Iowa on horseback, he decided to locate in Harlan. He purchased a set of Shelby County abstract books of C. M. Robbins, and opened a general law, loan and abstract office. He continued this business until the spring of 1887, when he sold out to Hertert Brothers. During his residence in Harlan he was one of the originators and owners of The Hub, which afterward consolidated with the Harlan Herald, now known as the Harlan Republican. He was also one of the incorporators and stockholders and attorney for the Shelby County Bank. After disposing of his business interests in Harlan, Mr. Riley removed to Omaha and engaged in his present business. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., Harlan Lodge. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party. He was married August 27, 1878, to Miss Beta M. Hard, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of A. G. Hard, a resident of Missouri Valley. Mr. and Mrs. Riley are the parents of three children - Allen K., Jr., Albert G. and Robert H. Both Mr. Riley and wife are members of the Congregational church.

Source: 1889 Biographical History of Shelby County, Iowa, pp. 465-466. Transcribed and submitted by Nancy Riggs.