The son of Oregon Pioneers who had crossed the Oregon Trail in 1847, Riley Holt Curl was one of many children borne of the marriage of Caleb Curl, originally from Missouri, and Margaret Fulkerson, also of Missouri. The couple married on March 21st, 1850 in Polk County, Oregon then settled in the Scio, Linn County area on a Donation Land Claim. Riley Holt Curl was one of their nine children, born June 14th, 1855, on the family's donation land claim. Upon graduation from school, he attended college and became a dentist, practicing in Albany, Linn County, Oregon. He also married Nancy Ella Holman, a native of Missouri, on Jan 17th, 1884 and the couple was blessed with three children, two daughters and a son. Sadly, the couple were divorced by the time the 1920 Census was taken (on Jan 12, 1920); Nancy remarried to James Welch and moved to Portland, Oregon. James and Minnie were living at 987 Mayland St. in Portland when James died while at work on Apr 2nd, 1928. He was buried at River View Cemetery in SW Portland, Oregon. Nancy Ella died in 1933 and is also buried at River View Cemetery under the name Ella Holman Curl Welch.
Riley remarried on Oct 1st, 1921 in Clark Co., Washington to Minnie May Underwood, a native of Ohio. They rented a home at 229 Broadalbin St. in Albany, Linn County, Oregon, for $25 per month and had a radio set when the 1930 census was conducted on Apr 15th, 1930. Dr. Curl retired in 1936 and died from heart failure (chronic myocarditis, an infection of the heart lining) the following year, on Oct 29th, 1937. He was buried at the Masonic Cemetery in Albany, Linn County, Oregon. Minnie, who went by May, died Oct 25th, 1939 from an appendix abscess and cystic right ovary. She was also buried at the Masonic Cemetery in Albany, Oregon. May they all Rest in Peace forever.