John Riley Banister

John Riley Banister (May 24, 1854– 1918) was an American law officer, cowboy and Texas Ranger.

Early years

Banister, was born in Banister Hollow, a small settlement located in Camden County, Missouri, which was to become a local hub or center for surrounding communities. His parents were William Lawrence and Mary (Buchanan) Banister. According to biographical sources, all the Banisters were musicians and played fiddle, banjo, guitar and other instruments. They also sang long ballads and played Irish and Scottish jigs and reels.

Around 1863 John's father, after being wounded twice while serving in the Confederate Army, did not return home and instead moved to Texas and married Mary Catherine Miller, a young woman of mixed Anglo-Saxon and Native American descent, with whom he had six other children. Whether or not William had formally ended his marriage with Buchanan prior to marrying Miller is a fact not noted in any historical record.

Move to Texas

What inspired Banister to leave Banister Hollow is not clear, although oral history suggests that it was in part due to his mother's unhappiness and abusive treatment from an uncle named Argiles Hicks. Further anecdotal evidence suggests that the wild, chaotic nature of the region was also an influence, as, according to Leona Bruce, mobs and guerillas were a constant threat. Furthermore, the attraction to the West, the land where Banister's father had gone before, may have been the strongest impetus. Banister, at age thirteen, along with his brother, Will (who was named for their father) decided to leave their home to seek out their father in Texas.

John Riley

John Riley may refer to:

People

John Riley (poet)

John Riley (1937–1978) was a poet who was associated with the British Poetry Revival.

Riley was born and grew up in Leeds. He served in the Royal Air Force from 1956 to 1958 and then attended Pembroke College, Cambridge, graduating in 1961. He then worked as a teacher in various schools around the Cambridge area. During this period, he became acquainted with many of the poets who made up the Cambridge group, one of the key elements of the Revival.

He left to take up a teaching post near Oxford in 1966. That same year, he set up the Grosseteste Press with his friend Tim Longville. The pair started a magazine, Grosseteste Review, two years later. Riley retired from teaching in 1970 and returned to Leeds to write full-time. In 1977, he was received into the Orthodox Church. He was murdered near his home on the night of October 27–28, 1978.

Riley's poetry was influenced by Charles Olson and Osip Mandelshtam, whose poetry he translated into English. His first book, Ancient and Modern was published in 1967 and the posthumous The Collected Works in 1980. The latter includes the first full printing of his major long poem, Czargrad. A Selected Poems was published by Carcanet Press in 1995.

Jack Riley (American football)

John Horn Riley (June 13, 1909 – March 22, 1993) was an American football tackle in the National Football League for the Boston Redskins. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.

Early life

Riley was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, as well as St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin. While at St. Johns, he participated in rowing and captained a championship crew in 1927.

College career

Football

Riley attended and played college football at Northwestern University. While he was there, Northwestern had a 20-5-1 record and won two Big Ten Conference championships. He was named an All-American in 1931.

Wrestling

Riley also wrestled at Northwestern and was the national collegiate heavyweight champion in 1931 and 1932. He then won a silver medal in wrestling at the 1932 Summer Olympics, behind Swede Johan Richthoff and ahead of Austrian Nickolaus Hirschl.

Professional career