John Reily was born in
Chester County, Pennsylvania on April 10, 1763, and moved with his parents to
Augusta County, Virginia when young. From the age of 17, Reily served in the Revolutionary War, including the
Battle of Camden, the
Battle of Guilford Court House, and the
Battle of Eutaw Springs. After the War, Reily moved to Kentucky. In 1790 he moved to
Columbia, (now a neighborhood of
Cincinnati) to build John Reily's Classical School and became its first school teacher. It was one of the first schools in the territory. He moved to
Hamilton, Ohio, and was elected the first Clerk of Court for Butler County by the associate judges of the court of common pleas, a position to which he was re-elected for 37 years. He was concurrently appointed as clerk for the supreme court of Butler County, a position which he also maintained until 1842. He was also a long time Postmaster of Hamilton, and he served as County Recorder from 1803 to 1811. At first he worked from a small building outside the old fort at Hamilton, before moving the offices to his home, and in 1824 to the newly built court house. Reily was appointed as one of the first trustees of
Miami University, and was president of the board of trustees until 1824. In 1808 he married Nancy Hunter. The Reilys had two daughters and three sons, one of whom,
Robert, founded the town of
Wyoming, Ohio. Reily died in Hamilton June 7, 1850. ==Legacy==