Month: April 2018

“The Reputed Father of a Child … Will Not Be Permitted Afterwards to Bastardize Such Issue”: The Case of Ezekiel Samuel Green (and His Father Samuel Kerr Green) (1)

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Louisiana Reports, Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Louisiana, vol. 4
Louisiana Reports, Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Louisiana, vol. 4, A.N. Ogden, reporter (New Orleans: Price Current, 1850), p. 39.

Here’s an experience I’ve had, oh, once or twice (including in my several decades of doing family history): I’m motoring along, absolutely certain I know where I’m headed, and all of a sudden, a signpost appears by the roadside telling me I’ve been on the wrong road all the time. When I was certain I knew where I was going — certain that I knew what I knew. . . . Continue reading ““The Reputed Father of a Child … Will Not Be Permitted Afterwards to Bastardize Such Issue”: The Case of Ezekiel Samuel Green (and His Father Samuel Kerr Green) (1)” →

“In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (5)

William D. Lindsey2 Comments
Down Survey Maps, Ryan Family's Location copy
Down Survey Map, 1656-8, southwestern County Kilkenny, showing Tybroughny, Belline, Rogerstown, Piltown

In my previous posting, I told you that I’d follow up by providing a summary of what I think I know of John Ryan and his family apart from what’s to be found in the records of Templeorum Catholic parish in County Kilkenny, Ireland, which document the baptisms of five children born to John and wife Margaret Oates from 1805 to 1815. What we know of John from sources other than the Templeorum records is, in truth, not much at all — not much that’s solidly proven, that is. It’s a set of suppositions that, in my view, are plausible, given what evidence we have about his and his family’s whereabouts from 1805-1815, as captured by the Templeorum baptismal records. Continue reading ““In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (5)” →

“In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (4)

William D. Lindsey3 Comments
Inset of County Kilkenny Map, Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Ireland
Map for County Kilkenny, Samuel Lewis, Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837) — close-up of southwest County Kilkenny

As my previous posting tells you, though Valentine Ryan and Bridget Tobin married in Mullinavat in 1836, then settled there and raised their family (in the area called Buckstown), Valentine’s roots lie in the Catholic parish immediately adjacent to Kilbeacon parish in Mullinavat on its west side — in the parish of Templeorum and the town of Piltown. Templeorum is in southwestern County Kilkenny in Iverk Barony, bordering on both Counties Tipperary and Waterford. Continue reading ““In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (4)” →

“In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (3)

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Ryan, Bridget Tobin Tombstone
Tombstone of Bridget Tobin Ryan, Orion Cemetery, Grant County, Arkansas. Inscription reads, “May her soul rest in Pais, Bridget Ryan, Died November 19, 1873, aged 55 years.” In the lower right corner is an inscription saying, “Eracted by V. Ryne,” with the name “J. Gill” carved beneath this.

In my previous two postings in this series, I’ve explained how I eventually found my Ryan ancestors’ roots in County Kilkenny, Ireland, after many years of searching. I now want to tell you what I found, once documents began to open to me after I had determined a specific place of residence for the family and a particular Catholic parish in which the family’s baptisms, marriages, and deaths are recorded. A reminder: a cardinal rule of doing research on Irish families is that you must locate their precise place of residence before records will unlock for you. Continue reading ““In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (3)” →

“In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (2)

William D. Lindsey2 Comments
1856_G_W_Cotton
County Kilkenny, Ireland, G.W. Cotton Map, 1856

In my first posting in this series, I began telling you how, after years of searching, I eventually located the specific place in County Kilkenny, Ireland, from which my Ryan ancestors emigrated to America in 1852-3. My family had long known that Valentine  Ryan and his wife Bridget, my great-great-grandparents, brought their family from County Kilkenny to the U.S. — but precisely where they had lived in County Kilkenny, we had forgotten. Continue reading ““In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (2)” →

“In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (1)

William D. Lindsey3 Comments
Valentine Ryan Tombstone
Valentine Ryan Tombstone, Orion Cemetery, Grant County, Arkansas

In two previous postings in my series about Patrick Ryan (here and here), I’ve shared a few pieces of information about Pat’s Irish roots. As I told you in those postings (the first link has a copy of his baptismal record), his parents were Valentine Ryan (1810-1881) and Bridget Tobin (1818-1873), who married 21 September 1836 in Kilmacow Catholic parish, County Kilkenny, Ireland. Following their marriage and up to their emigration to America in 1852-1854, Val and Biddy Ryan lived in Buckstown, a sort of “suburb” of the town of Mullinavat in southern County Kilkenny (and I’ll explain more about that later). Continue reading ““In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (1)” →

Prob. Died Young, Or How Pat Ryan Lost His Eye (As a Union Soldier) (9)

William D. Lindsey2 Comments

Mendelsohn The Lost

This will be my final posting in this series about Patrick Ryan (1846-1893) and his Civil War pension file. If you’re just discovering this blog, you may want to read the whole series of which this is the final piece. What I want to do now is provide some footnotes to  previous postings in the series. Continue reading “Prob. Died Young, Or How Pat Ryan Lost His Eye (As a Union Soldier) (9)” →

Prob. Died Young, Or How Pat Ryan Lost His Eye (As a Union Soldier) (8)

William D. LindseyLeave a comment

Valentine Ryan Heirs, Division of Property, March 1895 (1)

Valentine Ryan Heirs, Division of Property, March 1895 (2(

I’m floundering a bit as I try to draw to a close this series of postings about Pat and Delilah Rinehart Ryan and their pension applications for Pat’s Civil War service and injuries. The problem is that the deeper I reach into the treasure trove of information this file contains, the more connections I’m spotting that I had never seen before. I’m discovering some of those as I share information with you here and try to document aspects of Pat Ryan’s story I had not previously sought to document. Continue reading “Prob. Died Young, Or How Pat Ryan Lost His Eye (As a Union Soldier) (8)” →