Friday, January 18, 2008

A Hill Country Cotton Farmer with His Best Friend ca. 1932

Samuel Feemster Riley is photographed with his favorite English spaniel during the early 1930’s. Sam Riley was a cotton farmer in the New Chapel community who enjoyed quail hunting with his dog when not working in the fields. He was born May 26, 1890, the son of John Thomas Riley (born September 22, 1856 in Itawamba County) and Amelia Rankin (born January 16, 1859 in Itawamba County). John Thomas Riley was the son of John Thomas and Elizabeth Williams Riley. The elder John Thomas Riley immigrated to Itawamba County from Edgefield District, South Carolina during the 1830’s. Amelia Rankin was the daughter of Ethelbert and Mary Jane Cason Rankin, early Itawamba settlers.

Samuel Feemster Riley married Lizzie Eron Cockrell, the daughter of Henry Calvin (son of Marion Albert and Elizabeth Gillentine Cockrell) and Hattie Buse Cockrell (daughter of Thomas and Mary Gassaway Buse) of Itawamba County.

The above scene was photographed in front of the old Riley homestead that was established near the fertile bottomlands of Shoaf Creek in southwestern Itawamba County during the 1830’s.

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