Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1916-07-27
RILEY, HOOS|ER POET
DIES AT HIS HOME
AUTHOR OF IAN OLD SWEET
HEART OF NINE SUCCOMBS
AT HIS HOME
Won Fame and Fortune By His Dia-
lect Poems of Home and
Childhood

Indianapolis, July 22.-James Whit
comb Riley, famous children's poet,
died at his home here tonight follow
ing a stroke of paralysis. Death oc-
Cured shortly after II p. m.
James Whitcomb Riley, born of the
middle west, sang the joys, sorrows,
fancies and humors of its folk, large
ly in it's own dialect. The world was
so touched by his inspiration and the
realism of his homely symbols that
he was one of the few that, devoting
their lives to poetry, gained fortune
Mr.. Riley was peculiarly sensitive
as to the advance of age and evaded
inquiries as to the date of his birth,
but the most accurate information
available indicates that he was born
in 1S48.
"Should you ask his age" one Of
his friends said, "he would answer,
"This side of 40,' and leave you to
guess which side.''
The poet was the son of Reuben A..
Riley, lawyer and political speaker
of Greenfield, Ind. The boy could not
be brought to the dull routine Of
school days, but was wise in the lore
of streams and fields. His mother,
WIN was LlILdOCCIl VAdI llC UClOlC uCI
marriage, was a writer of verse and
Riley later in life attributed some of
his impracticability to her.
Was Sign Painter
Instead of preparing for the prae
tice of law, as his father wished, tn
son turned itinerant sign painted. Fo
II years he roved through the Obi
valley, painting. signs on fences. He
had the trick of the brush and pencil
and drew sketches illustrating the.
virtues of merchandise. He was nat
urally musical and shone as fiddler
in the villages at which his part!
stopped at night. He played for dances,
and at concerts in country hotels.
He led this cheerful, free and easy
life late in the '7Os, then he took en-
ployment as reporter on news
paper at Anderson, Ind. In 1877, for
the purpose, as he said, Of proving
he perpetrated the Poe hoax which
for years was literary sensation. He
wrote poem in the style of Edgar
Allen Poe, to which he gave the.
characteristic title of "Leonanie," and
it was offered to the public as hither-.
to unpublished product of the genius
Of Poe. One of the stanzas was:
"Leonanie-angels named her,
And they took the light
Of the laughing stars and framed her
In a smile of white.
And they made her hair of gloomy
Moonshine and they brought her
In the solemn night"
In some quarters the poem was ac-
cepted as genuine; in others it was
denounced as fraud. After the con-
troversy had waged for months Riley
confessed.
Dialect Verse Popular
In the early '80s he began writing
verses in in "Hoosier" dialect for the
old Indianapolis Journal. He sent
worth Longfellow and they received
and ''the Hoosier poet" began to win,
public. He was an excellent reader
of his own dialect verses and for the
following Is years or until 1898, he
made tours of the country, appearing
in public with great success both
alone and in association with the hu-
morist, Bill Nye, who was his init
mate friend.
Publication Of books of poems year
after year brought Riley fortun,
and wide recognition Of his lterar,
genius and not only in the genr,
form. Many Of his poems are Of i'm
sginative fantasy of gently philoso-
phic vein.
Honored by Colleges
In 1902 he received the degree Of
master of arts from Yale university
and in 1904 the University Of Pennsyl-
vania conferred upon him the degree
of doctor Of letters. Indiana univer-
sity conferred the honorary degree Of
LID. on him in 1907.
In July 1911, the poet presented to
the city of Indianapolis property
valued at $4,000 for site for pub
lie library and school administration
building.
Mr.. Riley never married but he was
lover of children, whose spirit he
OWNED so intimately, and Of family
life. Many of the last years of his
life he spent quietly at his home in
secluded section of indianapolis.