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RIKERs  LISTED  IN "Who Was Who in America"

1897 - 1942

RIKER, Albert Burdsall, clergyman; b. New Albany, OH Oct 19, 1852; s. Rev. Samuel Clark and Amanda (Snider) Riker; A.B., Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH, 1879; A.M., 1884; D.D., Ohio Univ., 1888; Phi Beta Kappa from same, 1908; m. Mary Edith Davis (Mus. B.), Aug 18, 1881; children:  Charles Ross, Samuel Clark, Olive Marie, Albert Joyce. Licensed to preach, 1872; pastor Worthington, OH 1879-81, Columbus, 1881-84, Athens, OH, 1884-87, Chattanooga, TN, 1887-91, Wheeling, WV, 1891-96, Charleston, WV, 1896-98; pres. Mt. Union Coll., 1898-1908; pastor Moundsville, WV, 1908-11, Oakland, MD, 1911-13, Parkersburg, WV, Oct 1913-16, Columbus, OH, 1916-23, Chillicothe, OH, 1923-27, Columbus, 1927--. Mem. Gen. Conf. M.E. Ch., 1900; Chaplain Insane Hosp., Athens OH, 1884-87; W.Va. Penitentiary, 1909-11. Chmn. Columbus Vice Commn., 1918; trustee Ohio Wesleyan U., 1917-; mem. Rotary Internat., 1924. Home: Columbus, 0H. Died May 3, 1929.

RIKER, Andrew Lawrence, engineer, inventor; b. N. Y. City Oct. 22, 1868; s. William J. and Charlotte L. Riker; student Columbia U.; m. Edith Whiting, Apr.9, 1890; children:  Edith Whiting, Charlotte Lawrence, Andrew Lawrence. Began as elec. and mech. engr.; was pres. Riker Electric Motor Co.; was designer of the Locomobile; designed and built an elec. tricycle, 1884; 4-wheeled elec. motor car, 1895; gasoline car, 1902; car which won Vanderbilt Cup race, 1908; established world's speed record on Long Island for electric cars, 1899, which was held for 10 yrs.; pres. Ventilouvre Co.; apptd. mem. Naval consulting bd., 1915 (chmn. com. on internal combustion motors). Died June 1, 1930.

RIKER, Carroll Livingston, mech. engineer; b. Staten Island, N.Y. July 31, 1854; s. Andrew Jackson and Caroline Elizabeth (Tysen) Riker; ed. Sheck's Inst., New Brighton, S.I., N.Y., Leonard Inst., Coytesville, N.J., and under pvt. tutors; m. Elizabeth Chipman Carman, of St. Johns, N.B., May 10, 1877. Began in boyhood to study current and wave action in the ocean and rivers; has been granted more than 20 patents for mech. inventions; designed hull of steamboat Castleton at age of 17; designed and built refrigerating warehouse in N.Y. City, 1874 (the first ever built); designed and built, I887, the most powerful pumping dredge constructed to that time, which was employed in filling Potomac Flats, below Long Bridge, at Washington, D.C.; established, 1882, on the Hudson River, the first factory in the U.S. for mfr. of unfermented grape juice; designed during Spanish-Am. War, 1898, and presented to U.S. Govt. a new type of torpedo that would float at any desired depth, and submitted plan by which a string of these torpedoes could be floated down upon enemy vessels or drawn around them; originator of project to control the Gulf Stream by inducing compulsory deposits of sand on the Grand Banks, by the Labrador Current (bill for appmt. of Govt. Commn. introduced in Congress, 1912); originator of plan for control of the Miss. River, so as to yield a net ann. income of $100,000,000; originator of plan for neutral control of the seas, outlined in joint resolution introduced in Congress, Feb. 1915; a founder, 1914, of Volunteers for Peace, advocating a preliminary continuous conference looking towards peace between belligerent nations in Europe. Home: New York, N.Y. Died May 7, 1931.

RIKER, John L, mcht.; v.p. and dir. Bank of New York (N.B.A.), 2d Nat. Bank, Laflin & Rand Powder Co.; v.p. and trustee 5th Av. Safe Deposit Co.; trustee Atlantic Mut. Ins. Co., Greenwich Savings Bank, Met. Trust Co.; dir. various companies. Retired. Mem. Holland Society. Home: New York, N.Y. Died 1909.

 

 

 

                           

 

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