Who was Reverend Terry Riley

by Will Rhodes

Overview

This is the story of a man who faced great tragedy in his life and eventually rose above it. A Union Officer, he was wounded in the American Civil War and had a stiff leg as a result. If that was not enough, the injury occurred because a confederate soldier who had been a childhood friend and could have shot him, hesitated and was himself killed. After the war his wife and small son died in a smallpox epidemic. Overcome by this he turned the family business over to a close friend and disappeared. He acquired the reputation of being dangerous when he was drunk and nearly killed a man in a bar fight. He fled for his life. An experience in California after another bar fight changed him and he devoted himself to being an itinerant preacher and teacher. He had gone to University and Seminary before the war but it had all changed. He assumed another name and dyed his red hair to try to remain anonymous. The business he left behind provided him with a living and a confidential arrangement with a bank allowed him to get money when he needed it. When he was found dead in a camp miles from town, they found a letter. It raised more questions. Who was he, really? Where had he come from? Why did he live as he had? The details of all this and the rest of his life were only learned through some coincidences and the collecting of stories about him by a few people who knew him and a bank that was concerned about the money he left and more that was accumulating from the business. When all the strange tales were pieced together it became apparent that he had lived a remarkable life, and touched many people.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940013316034
Publisher:	William F. Rhodes
Publication date:	10/19/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	815 KB

About the Author

I began my working life as an auto mechanic; served four years in the USAF as a vehicle mechanic instructor and later an instructor trainer. I got hooked on two things; teaching and a blond girl I met in a skating rink in Wyoming. I was in Cheyenne “courtesy of the USAF”. We have three kids and live in northwest Pennsylvania. Out of the service I finished college and grad school, taught history, government and economics in public and church related schools. The man who mentored me as a teacher told me unless a history teacher was a good storyteller, the history would dry up and blow away. It’s true. I firmly believe the axiom a society that doesn’t know its history is condemned to repeat its mistakes History is not dates and events, it’s people. My other passion besides teaching is anything with an engine in it, from model airplanes to motorcycles and small racing cars, which I built and raced. This was known to most of my students and occasionally led to some interesting exchanges in my classes. I do insist historical fiction should be as well researched as the history itself. As to my writing there are three things: fiction, research and commentary. Research is curiosity, commentary is conviction, but fiction is fun.