Willshire lies in the far southwestern part of Van Wert County on the St. Marys River, very near the Indiana Line. It was laid out by Captain Riley in 1822.
Captain James Riley had been appointed to survey the Northwest Ohio Territory. Riley reached the St. Marys River in July 1819 to begin his survey work. Other men working on the survey gang were the captain’s son, James Watson Riley, deputy surveyor; a Major Low and Henry Wing.
In 1820, Riley purchased seven tracts of land on the St. Marys River. He built a small log cabin before he brought his family to the wilderness. His wife and children had been staying in Chillicothe since May 1820.
Riley’s cabin was located at the Devil’s Race Ground, near the rapids of the St. Marys. He moved his family there in January of 1821. Soon they began building their larger home. (This was described in last week’s story)
In August, of that same year the entire family became very ill. James Watson Riley returned from a survey trip and discovered the whole family taken down with chills and not one was able to wait on the other. Each member of the family was placed on a bed on wagons and hauled to Piqua, 60 miles distant, to receive medical treatment. The 60 mile trip took 5 days.
The November frost killed the vegetation and stopped the decay which caused the fever. The family returned to their cabin in March 1822, with skins like tanned leather, the result of the fever.
Riley built a two-story frame grist mill that year also.  However he was cheated by the builders, which led to his financial ruin.
During the year 1822, Captain Riley also founded, surveyed and platted Willshire, which was named in honor of William Willshire, who rescued him from slavery in Africa.
In 1824, the surveying of the Ohio lands was completed and Captain Riley gave his attention to running his mill and other interests until January 1826, when he was attacked by an affection of the head and neck and was taken to Fort Wayne for treatment. From there, he was put on a bed in a boat and shipped to Detroit. The next step was to put him in a bed on another vessel on Lake Erie, which took him to Buffalo.  Then he was transferred to a boat on the Erie Canal and sent to New York.
In 1830, he was recovered enough to return to the sea. He had become bankrupt in 1837. Riley was hired by the New England Sailing Ship Lines to command one of their large sailing vessels. Going to sea was always his first love. During one of his travels he was able to visit with his benefactor, Mr. Willshire in Magadore. In 1840 Riley left New York on his brig “William Tell” for St. Thomas and the West Indies and died when 13 days out and was buried at sea.