The Ryan Family of Kane, Pennsylvania

The Ryans herein recorded descend from Irish forbears of county Limerick, Ireland, where the family lived for many generations. The grandparents lived and died in Ireland, devoted members of the Roman Catholic church.

Children of the Ryan grandparents in Ireland:

1. John Ryan, of whom further.
2. Michael Ryan, died in Canada; was a farmer, living near Dunville; married Margaret Hayes, from near Niagara Falls, also deceased; children:
   1. Thomas Ryan, living in Buffalo, a grocer;
   2. James Ryan, living in Canada.
3. An unnamed daughter Ryan, married a Mr. Reagan.
4. James Ryan, died in Buffalo, New York; married and had issue:
   1. John Ryan, living in Buffalo;
   2. James Ryan, living in Buffalo;
   3. Margaret Ryan, married Albert Hett, of Buffalo;
   4. Mary Ryan, living in Cleveland, Ohio;
   5. Nellie Ryan, living in Buffalo, unmarried;
   6. Annie Ryan, deceased.

(II) John Ryan

John Ryan was born in the parish of Caharass, county Limerick, Ireland, in 1807. He was well educated in the schools of Ireland. He married, and in 1837 emigrated to Canada, settling first at Lundy’s Lane, later at Robinson’s Road, where he and his two brothers bought a large tract of land. He, however, only remained there two years, then moved to Arthur, and later to Guelph, Canada, where he purchased a smaller farm, which he cultivated until his death, about 1875. Both he and his wife were members of the Roman Catholic church. He married Mary McGuaine, born in county Clare, Ireland, in 1813, died in Guelph, Canada, 1889.

Brothers and sisters of Mary McGuaine:

1. John McGuaine, was a soldier in the British army before coming to Canada, and at the time of his death was proprietor of the Prince Albert Hotel, Niagara Falls, Canada.
2. Owen McGuaine, sailed for Trinidad, South America, and all trace lost.
3. Frank McGuaine, died in Toronto, Canada; married and had issue:
   1. Kate McGuaine, married Thomas Nolan, a grocer, living in Toronto;
   2. Frank McGuaine;
   3. James McGuaine;
   4. Lucy McGuaine;
   5. Dora McGuaine;
   6. Other unnamed children, probably.

Children of John and Mary Ryan, all born in Ireland:

1. Thomas Henry Ryan, of whom further.
2. Michael Ryan, born 1843, died July 3, 1863, in Baltimore, Maryland.
3. James Ryan, born 1847, died in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, July, 1910; a commission merchant; married Margaret Waldman, of Guelph; child,
   1. James H. Ryan, born 1891, a market gardener, resides in Guelph with his mother.

(III) Thomas Henry Ryan

Thomas Henry, eldest son of John and Mary (McGuaine) Ryan, was born on the Browning estate nine miles from the city of Limerick, Ireland, August 26, 1841. He was six years old when his parents emigrated to Canada, settling at Lundy’s Lane, thence at Robinson’s Road, two and a half miles from Dunville. Here he attended the public school. His father then moved around, living in different places, finally settling at Guelph in the province of Ontario in 1858. Thomas H. received little more schooling, but early became a worker on his father’s farm. Later he went to St. Mary’s, Canada, and began driving a team for a contractor, who was constructing a section of the Grand Trunk railroad. He remained with him until 1859, when he came to the United States, settling at Brandy Camp, Elk county, Pennsylvania, where he drove a team until April 19, 1861, when he enlisted in Company G of the Pennsylvania “Bucktail” Regiment, serving three years. He saw hard service, was wounded at Antietam, September 16, 1862, and again at Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. He was honorably discharged and mustered out July 11, 1864.

After his war experience he returned to Brandy Camp, where until the autumn of 1864 he was in charge of the farm of Mrs. B. P. Little. He then during the winter of 1864-65 was employed skidding logs for Chauncey Brockway. In the spring of 1865 he was rafting on the river and worked in the saw mills until August of that year. He then entered the oil fields, working in Titusville and through the Venango field, finally in September, 1865, settling in Kane, which has ever since been his home. For a time he was in the employ of General Kane, and in 1868 entered the service of the Pennsylvania railroad, continuing with them eighteen and a half years. From 1893 until 1903 he was superintendent in charge of the McKean county poor farm, a period of about nine years that he was away from Kane. In the meantime he had secured oil leases and after leaving the superintendency devoted himself to oil production, in which he was very successful. He is an independent Republican; was township treasurer for several years and for two years councilman of Kane. He is an attendant of the Episcopal church. He is an ex-member of the Union League Club of Philadelphia, and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He stands high in the Masonic order; is past worshipful master of Kane Lodge, No. 566, Free and Accepted Masons, having been made a Mason at Smethport in McKean Lodge, No. 388, in 1868, forty-four years ago. He is a companion of Kane Chapter, No. 279, Royal Arch Masons; a knight of Trinity Commandery, No. 58, of Bradford, Knights Templar, and in the Scottish Rite he belongs to Presque Isle Lodge of Perfection at Erie, Pennsylvania, and to Coudersport Consistory, holding the thirty-second degree. He is highly regarded among his brethren and held in the greatest esteem by his business associates and social acquaintances.

He married, June 3, 1866, Harriet Marsh, born in Rockingham, Vermont, May 14, 1843, died in Kane, June 7, 1904 (for Marsh family see Davis sketch in this work).

Children of Thomas Henry and Harriet (Marsh) Ryan, all born in Kane:

1. Catherine Marsh Ryan, born April 21, 1867; graduated from Lock Haven Normal School, 1887, and from Bellevue Training School for Nurses, 1898; resides in Kane with her father; member of the Episcopal church.
2. Benton Charles Ryan, born August 17, 1868; now a conductor on the P. S. & N. railroad; married (first) June 14, 1893, Agnes Marr, born in Tamaqua, died in Renova, Pennsylvania, April 24, 1894; married (second) October 11, 1899, Margaret McCarthy, of Smethport, and resides at St. Mary’s, Pennsylvania. Children, Agnes by first marriage and the others by second:
   1. Agnes Ryan, born April 1, 1894;
   2. Robert Ryan, born in Kane, September 14, 1900;
   3. Marian Ryan, born in Kane, January 6, 1902;
   4. Alice Ryan, born in Smethport, June 5, 1904;
   5. Timothy Ryan, born May 31, 1906.
3. Josephine Ryan, born May 16, 1871; married, August 21, 1895, Ralph P. Yerdon, traveling salesman for the Cary Safe Company of Buffalo, New York, and resides in Kane.
4. Myra Ryan, born March 23, 1873; married John K. Morrison, a farmer of Emporium, Pennsylvania; children, all born at Emporium:
   1. Kendall Morrison, April 9, 1896;
   2. Thomas Cyril Morrison, November 29, 1897;
   3. Clyde Morrison, January 28, 1900;
   4. Maxwell Morrison, August 26, 1902.
5. Edmund Locke Ryan, born February 18, 1875; an attorney at law, practicing in Buffalo; married (first) Delia Hicks, of Des Moines, Iowa; married (second) Lillian May Patterson, of Connaught, Ohio. Children, Thomas Henry by first marriage and Dorothy and Catherine Marsh by second:
   1. Thomas Henry Ryan, born in Kane, February 11, 1900;
   2. Dorothy Ryan, born in Kane, July 13, 1903;
   3. Catherine Marsh Ryan, born in Olean, New York, December 28, 1908.
6. Ruth Ryan, born March, 1877, died 1880.
7. Mary Louise Ryan, born January 17, 1879; married Roy Carleton Gifford, son of Warley Gifford, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
8. Harriet Ryan, married R. C. Gleason, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
9. Florence Ryan, born November 29, 1883, died March 31, 1901.
10. Jennie Ryan, born August 15, 1887; graduate from Kane high school, class of 1906, now living with her father at the family home in Kane.

The mother of these children was a devoted Christian woman, a member of the Episcopal church.

See: Genealogy of the Allegheny Valley Pennsylvania

Source

Jordan, J. W. 1840-1921. (1913). Genealogical and personal history of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania. New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co.

This genealogy is based upon the source cited above. Only the structure and formatting have been changed for clearer presentation; the genealogical and biographical content has been preserved.