Clark, Robert Carlton, Ph.D. "History of the Willamette Valley Oregon."  Vol. 3.
Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1927. 

WARREN T. RICHES

     For seventy-four years Warren T. Riches has been a resident of Marion
county, leaving the impress of his individuality upon the history of its
development, and he is now living retired in Turner, enjoying the reward of a
well spent life. A native of Canada, he was born June 1, 1852, on the
battlefield at Thames, Ontario, where Tecumseh was slain, and his parents,
Charles and Harriet (Watts) Riches, were British subjects. His mother was the
first child of the family born in the Dominion and his father was a native of
England. In 1829, when a youth of fifteen, he sailed for Canada with his
parents, who located near Hamilton, Ontario, and died three weeks after their
arrival in that province.

     Charles Riches, the eldest of their seven children, shipped before the mast
when nineteen years of age and for two years was a sailor on the Great Lakes.
His brother Thomas also became a mariner and was drowned while shooting the
rapids at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Charles Riches purchased land in Canada
and engaged in farming in that country until 1853, when he started for
California, making the voyage around Cape Horn. At San Francisco he boarded a
vessel bound for Portland, Oregon, and after reaching the Rose city journeyed to
Marion county, locating east of Salem, in the Waldo Hills district. For two
years he cultivated leased land and also followed the trade of shoemaking,
having the first shop of the kind in the Capital city. In 1855 he took up a
donation claim of three hundred and twenty acres, most of which was prairie
land, and built a log house on the tract, a portion of which is included within
the town limits of Turner. He was one of the early stock raisers of this
locality, breeding cattle and sheep, and later became a grain grower. He
remained on the donation claim until his demise in 1889 and was long survived by
his widow, who passed away in 1913. To their union were born eleven children:
Priscilla, deceased; Warren T.; Eliza C., who has passed away; Mrs. Alma Knight
and Alice V. Riches, who are living in Turner; Mrs. Elsie Simeral, of Silverton,
Oregon; Charles H. Riches, whose home is situated in the vicinity of Turner;
Russell, Oliver C. and E. Gilbert, all of whom are deceased ; and Irma, a
resident of Portland, Oregon.

     Warren T. Riches attended the public schools of Marion county and was also
a student at Willamette University. In 1880 he opened a meat market in Silverton
and for two years was the proprietor of the business. On the expiration of that
period he was married and in 1883 purchased an interest in a general store,
becoming a partner in the firm of E. E. McKinney & Company. For eighteen years
he was identified, with the business, which constantly expanded, and during that
period he also dealt in grain. Mr. Riches was one of Turner's most enterprising
and successful business men and also became a prosperous agriculturist. In 1909
he purchased a ranch of forty-five acres near the town and turned his attention
to stock-raising, specializing in pure bred Jersey cattle. He developed one of
the finest stock farms in the county and operated the place until 1927, when he
leased the property. He then moved to Turner and has since lived in the old
home, which he erected in 1884.

     In 1882 Mr. Riches married Miss Nellie Hicks, a native of Iowa and a
daughter of Marshall and Sarah (Ashmead) Hicks, who migrated to Oregon in 1876.
For six years her father cultivated a ranch near Silverton and then erected a
home in Woodburn, where he lived retired until his death in 1912. He had long
survived the mother, who was called to her final rest in 1893. In the family of
Mr. and Mrs. Hicks were five children: Ward, deceased; Mrs. Clara Cammack, of
Portland, Oregon; Nellie; Allie, who has also passed away; and Roy, whose home
is in Woodburn. Previous to her marriage Mrs. Riches was an instructor for six
years, teaching under Professor Lane, a half-brother of James G. Blaine, at one
time a candidate for the office of president of the United States. Mr. and Mrs.
Riches became the parents of three children. The eldest, Stanley A., was born
April 23, 1883, in Silverton and has a valuable herd of Jersey cattle. He owns a
fine ranch near Turner and ranks with the foremost stock breeders of this part
of the state. He married Miss Grace Mascher, of Silverton, and is the father of
two children: Waldo, who was born February 21, 1911; and Rachel, born January
19, 1921. Gladys was born August 24, 1887, in Turner and supplemented her public
school training by attendance at Willamette University, from which she was
graduated. For nine years she engaged in teaching, afterward becoming the wife
of W. J. Robinson, and on March 10, 1921, she passed away, leaving two
daughters: Jane Frances, who was born August 12, 1916; and Ruth Riches Robinson,
born January 13, 1919. Wallace Tecumseh Riches, the youngest child, was born in
Turner,
March 22, 1898.

     Mr. Riches is an ardent champion of the cause of education and all of his
children received liberal advantages along that line. For thirty years he was a
school director and also acted as clerk of the board. He was appointed deputy
assessor of Marion county and filled the position for ten years. For four years
he was road supervisor and with characteristic thoroughness and efficiency
discharged the duties of every office to which he was called. Along fraternal
lines he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being
affiliated with Fidelity Lodge, No. 26, of Turner. He remembers the time when
this district was a wilderness and he has witnessed remarkable changes as
frontier conditions have been replaced by the improvements and advantages of
modern civilization. As one of the pioneers of the Willamette Valley Mr. 'Riches
has a wide acquaintance and his life of rightly directed endeavor has won for
him the unqualified esteem of his fellowmen.


     
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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in June 2016 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.