John Lafayette Riker
| John Lafayette Riker | |
|---|---|
John Lafayette Riker
|
|
| Born |
August 15, 1822 Manhattan, New York |
| Died | May 31, 1862 (aged 39) Fair Oaks, Virginia |
| Place of burial | Green-wood Cemetery, Brooklyn |
| Allegiance |
United States |
| Service/branch | |
| Rank |
 Colonel
|
| Commands held |
Anderson Zouaves Sixty-second New York State Volunteers |
| Battles/wars |
American Civil War - Battle of Williamsburg - Battle of Fair Oaks |
United States
John Lafayette Riker (August 15, 1822 – May 31, 1862) was an American attorney and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was killed in action at the Battle of Fair Oaks during the Peninsula Campaign.
John L. Riker was born in Manhattan in New York City. His father, James Riker (Sr.) was a merchant, landowner and, at one stage, a New York City alderman. His mother, Elizabeth Van Arsdale, was the daughter of Captain John Van Arsdale of Revolutionary War and Evacuation Day fame. John Lafayette was the younger brother of James Riker, the New York genealogist who wrote A Brief History of the Riker Family, from Their First Emigration to This Country in the Year 1638, to the Present Time (1851), History of Harlem (1881) and Evacuation Day, 1783, with Recollections of Capt. John Van Arsdale, of the Veteran Corps of Artillery (1883).
John L. Riker is said to have been given his second name, "Lafayette", by his grandfather, John Van Arsdale, in honor of Gen. Lafayette, who had arrived at Staten Island on the day that Riker was born. Van Arsdale had served with Lafayette during the Revolutionary War and had met with him on August 16, 1824, the day after Riker's birth. Van Arsdale and the Veteran Corp of Artillery, of which he was a member, had received Gen. Lafayette at the Battery, on that day. Despite a lapse of forty-four years, Van Arsdale was recognized by Gen. Lafayette, which so pleased him that later that day when he visited his newborn grandson, he named him "John Lafayette".
Sometime in the 1840s Riker married his first cousin Anna E. Elder. Anna was the eldest daughter of Hannah E. Riker, who was the younger sister of his father, James. About 1848 Anna gave birth to Riker's first child, Anna E. Riker. A year or two later she gave birth to a son, John L. Riker Jr. In 1851 Riker's wife, Anna, died of "hysteria". The following year his father James Riker Sr. died and in 1854 his young son, John L. Riker Jr. died of congestion on the brain.
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