Of William Ryan, Icebergs In July, And How I Found Them

 

     The newest find here at Ellie's Ancestors is William Ryan, a likely candidate for brother of my third-great-grandfather Cornelius Ryan, or Connor as he was known around South Tipperary.  I've written extensively about Connor and his family so if any of the following rings a bell, please use the search feature on this blog to find more about him.

     I first encountered William Ryan years ago in the 1865 New York State Census of Palmyra, New York and I've been wondering who he was ever since.  That year he, his wife Margaret, and their youngest child Mary were all living with Sarah Ryan and her husband William Slattery in Palmyra.  Sarah was the daughter of Connor Ryan who was himself living in Palmyra by that time. William was the right age to have been Connor's brother, but having no other clues, I set him aside for further research.  Now that research has begun.

     Taking a look at immigration records, I found William and Margaret along with their children Patrick, Catherine, and Mary arriving in New York on 19 July 1864 aboard the ship Wisconsin from Liverpool.  Curious about their ship and journey, I turned to the Marine Intelligence column in the New York Times archives.  This is a great resource, reporting New York harbor ship arrival and departure dates along with input from the ship's captains on topics like weather conditions, ships they passed during the crossing, and deaths onboard.  It used to be free but now requires a subscription.  I found a deal offering access to the current NY Times and it's archives at $4 a month for both, a steal as far as newspaper databases go, with the ability to cancel at any time.  In the column I read that the Ryan's ship experienced strong westerly winds during it's voyage which must have slowed their crossing, and was forced to contend with icebergs, one of which came within 50 yards of the vessel.  Between the storms of winter and iceberg season stretching from April to August, the north Atlantic could be a dangerous place.

     Having found the names of William's children on the ship's list, I next looked for them in baptism records.  I found Catherine and Mary but not Patrick.  There was also another Catherine who must have died before Catherine the immigrant was born and a daughter named Anna, all born at Foilduff in Tipperary and baptized at Kilcommon Parish. Trying to sort out all the Anna Ryan's on ship's lists seemed like a fool's errand so I did not attempted it.  All I know for sure is she and another daughter named Margaret were both residing with their parents in Manchester by 1870 as seen below.

Wiliam & Margaret with their children including son Patrick and his wife Bridget Hayes

     The census done in 1870 showed William and his family living on their own farm in the Town of Manchester.  Looking at old property maps of Manchester, New York, which is located right next to Palmyra, I saw William's place was about a mile from the farm where Connor Ryan was then living, owned by his daughter Anna and her husband James White.  It was time to check New York land records at the Family Search site.  There I found William and his son Patrick had purchased the six-acre farm from James Kelly on 31 March 1868 for $700 plus an existing mortgage of $329.  A few months after William's death in February of 1880 the family sold the farm and purchased a larger one.  They seemed to be the picture of a successful immigrant family, but that was about to change.

     During the pre-dawn hours of  a June morning in 1892, flames lept from the barn on the Ryan farm while at the same time Timothy Cosgrove, another Irish immigrant just a mile or two away, smelled smoke.  His barn was also ablaze.  The fires spread to the homes on both properties but while Cosgrove had insurance, Patrick was not so fortunate.  Newspapers say arson was strongly suspected in both cases, though I found no further mention of the case in newspapers.  In early 1894 Patrick sold his farm at a large loss and moved to the Philander Mott place where he resumed farming.  Disaster struck in September of that year when lightning struck the barn on the property destroying Patrick's labor of the season. The Ontario Repository reported that once again Patrick had no insurance and noted, "He had had hard financial luck recently and was just beginning to feel encouraged".  Shortly afterward he sold his farming equipment, tools, and animals.  Patrick's farming days were done.  The census of 1900 shows him renting a home in the village of Clifton Springs, working as a gardener.

     Taken together, the fact William Ryan and his family were living in the same village as Connor, with his daughter Sarah Ryan Slattery after their arrival in America and then bought a farm so close to Connor Ryan in Manchester is strong evidence of a close relationship between the two.  Foilduff, where William lived in Tipperary, is about 20 miles from Churchfield where Connor resided as an adult, I don't know where the two men were born.  When Family History Centers reopen, I'll be taking a look at Palmyra church records to see if I can find more connections, vis-a-vis marriage witnesses and baptimal sponsors.  As always, I will post any further findings here.