Harris Henry Riley (1903–1960)
Hard-Luck Father
This is the story of Harris Henry Riley, the father of John William Riley. That makes him the great-great-grandfather of two of my grandchildren. He was born in Vermont, worked with his hands, and loved baseball, and he is the reason the Riley story moves from Burlington to Springfield. I'll be honest with you: Harris was a rough-and-tumble sort of man. He had some hard knocks, and some of them he brought on himself. I've kept those stories in, because they're part of who he really was.A Burlington BoyHarris was born on June 29, 1903, in Burlington, Vermont. His parents were William J. Riley and Emma (Lefebvre) Riley. In our family tree, his father's name appears as "Wm J Riley dit Bernard." A "dit" name is a second, alias surname, very common among French-Canadian families, and with a mother named Lefebvre, the Rileys of Burlington probably had French-Canadian roots. We haven't found the records to prove that yet.It was a big family. Harris had two brothers, Harold and Albert, and four sisters: Ida, Emma, Frances, and Florence. Frances and Florence were both born in 1907, so they may have been twins. In 1910 the census found seven-year-old Harris living with his parents in Burlington's Ward 2.The NavyHarris joined the U.S. Navy as a teenager. Our records give two dates. Three family documents dated March 8, 1919, are labeled as Harris "being sent to the US Navy," and a newspaper in March 1920 lists "Harris H. Riley of Burlington" among ten young men recruited. Either way he was only 15 or 16, and the Navy didn't take boys under 17, so he very likely said he was older than he was. Lots of boys did that back then. In 1920 the census counted him with the military at Kittery, Maine, which is home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. We haven't found his service record yet.Baseball and OhioBack in Burlington, Harris ran a baseball team. In March 1924 the newspaper announced a new team, "The Smalley Independents," and named Harris as manager and promoter. So the Riley love of baseball goes back at least to him. That same spring there was trouble, too. In April 1924, Harris was convicted of driving while drunk in Winooski, Vermont. He was fined, and his driver's license was taken away for three years. His son John pitched for the St. Albans Giants, and his grandson Michael was drafted by the Minnesota Twins.Around 1923 Harris spent time in Cleveland, Ohio. On February 11, 1925, he married Loretta B. Connelly there. His son, John William, was born in Cleveland on September 9, 1927. The Ohio birth index lists Harris as the father, under certificate number 1927082935. By 1930 the family was living in Akron, Ohio. Harris's father died back in Burlington in March 1928.Hard Years in VermontThe family returned to Burlington in the 1930s, in the middle of the Great Depression. In February 1934 Harris filed for bankruptcy. On August 21, 1935, Loretta died there, only 30 years old. In November 1935 the newspaper again reported Harris for drunk driving. That December, in Port Henry, New York, just across Lake Champlain from Vermont, Harris married Doris D. Guyette. Our records give both December 7 and December 14 for the wedding; the 14th may simply be the day the newspaper reported it. Doris was born in Bakersfield, California, on December 31, 1905. Harris lost his mother, Emma, in May 1936.Here is a family mystery for you. John was born in 1927, while Harris was married to Loretta, and when Loretta died in 1935 her obituary listed John as her son. But nearly every newspaper item we've found after that, from 1945 through John's own obituary in 1997, names Doris as John's mother. We believe Loretta was John's mother and that Doris raised him from the age of eight, and that's how our family tree shows it. John's full Ohio birth certificate names his mother, so it would confirm this for good. In the 1940 census, Harris was running his own business in Burlington, but we haven't learned what kind.SpringfieldBy 1942 Harris and Doris had moved to Springfield, Massachusetts. We don't know exactly why. He worked as a weatherstrip contractor, sealing up drafty doors and windows.Harris's rough edges show up in the Springfield papers too. In 1942 he sued Vincenzo Mazzafero, the owner of the Blue Moon cafe in East Longmeadow, over a broken wrist he suffered in a dispute about a steak. Doris testified that Mazzafero swung "a light baseball bat." The case went to trial in 1944, and the jury decided for the cafe owner. Then, in August 1949, Harris's car struck a trailer truck in Agawam. Police chased him for four miles before arresting him for driving under the influence and leaving the scene. He pleaded guilty and was fined $50 plus $20, and a drunkenness charge was filed. In the 1950s he owned The Gallant Co. on Riverdale Street in West Springfield, which sold aluminum combination windows and doors. One newspaper ad asked, "Who is the Gallant Co. of Spfld.?" and answered, "Harris H. Riley & Son." The son was very likely John, who in 1950 was installing aluminum combination windows himself. The family lived on Marble Street in the late 1940s and later in Longmeadow, West Springfield, and finally on Dwight Road in Springfield. Harris was a member of St. Paul's Church.His Last YearsNear the end of his life, Harris was a foreman at the West Side Shade and Blind Company. On the evening of Sunday, November 27, 1960, he collapsed at home. He died the next day, Monday, November 28, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, age 57. His funeral Mass was held at Holy Name Church, and then he was taken home to Vermont. He is buried at Mount Calvary Cemetery, the St. Joseph's parish cemetery in Burlington. Doris, who died on September 3, 1970, is buried in the same family lot.He left his wife Doris, his son John, a daughter (Mrs. Donald Fisher of Essex Junction, Vermont), his brothers and sisters, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. The daughter was most likely Anna Belle Fisher, who married Donald T. Fisher in 1937 and was later Ann McLaughlin of Newport, New Hampshire. Her maiden name appears as both Peno and Woodard, and she wasn't Loretta's child, so she may have been Harris's stepdaughter. Her 1937 Vermont marriage record would tell us for sure.