Franklin Lafayette Riley, Sr., son of E. M. and Mary Shows Riley, was born in Hebron in what is now Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi, in 1835. The tenth child in a family of thirteen, Riley was educated in the Lawrence County schools until May 29, 1861, when he enlisted in Company B, Sixteenth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry. Riley saw action in the Shenandoah Valley and in the Seven Days’ Battles around Richmond, Virginia. After recovering in a Lynchburg, Virginia, military hospital from a wound he suffered in the battle of Antietam, Maryland, Riley was sent home to Lawrence County on a furlough. During his furlough, Riley married Balsorah I. Weathersby, also of Lawrence County. He soon returned to active duty, serving until his parole on July 1, 1865. Riley returned to Lawrence County where he and his wife had eleven children: Balsorah, Edward D., Ellen, Franklin L., Jr., James D., Jefferson D., John B., Maud E., May, Mollie E., and Robert E. Riley initially engaged in planting, but he turned his attention to business in 1871, opening mercantile stores and a bank in Hebron. When the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad, a subsidiary of the Illinois Central Railroad, wanted to build a railway near Hebron in 1903, Riley offered to donate the right-of-way if the railroad would build the depot on his land. The railroad agreed, and Riley subsequently moved his mercantile stores and bank to New Hebron. Riley continued to run his businesses until shortly before his death on February 19, 1907.

This collection consists of one letter, dated February 13, 1863, written by Franklin L. Riley, Sr., to his wife, Balsorah. In the letter, Riley discusses his health and the health of a daughter. Riley also refers to a reprimand that he gave to Balsorah, possibly regarding her letter-writing, and he thanks her for a hat and shirt that she sent to him. The letter closes with Riley mentioning some "finger rings" that he had previously sent to her.

1. Correspondence. 1863. 1 item.