Batt & Liza Ryan Oral History
Liza Hill and Bartholomew Ryan were the second couple married in the new parish, St. Patrick's, In Waukon, Iowa. Witnesses for the ceremony on Jan. 30, 1877, were James Kennedy and Catherine Ryan.
There were five daughters in the Hill family, Mary born in Ireland, Bridget and Ann born in New Hampshire, Elizabeth born in Massachusetts, and Margaret, born in Iowa. The obituary of Margaret McDonald Hill, mother of Liza (or Elizabeth) indicates she arrived in the United States 52 years before her death. However the Edward Hill family was included in the New Hampshire, Merrimack County, Concorde township census of August 16, 1850. The family continued to move from New Hampshire to Massachusetts to Ohio and finally to Iowa where the entire family is included on the Aug. 16, 1860 census, Wexford, P.O. Taylor Township, Iowa.
Bartholamew Ryan was born Feb. 27, 1850 in County Tipperary, School Hill, Ireland, the son of James and Ann Ryan. The entire Ryan family mother, father, brothers and sisters (one sister and her husband) came to the United States in 1864. The family settled in the Waukon, Iowa area. They resided on farms in Union Prairie township. When the railroad came to Waukon in 1876 they moved to Waukon and built the Central House. Batty Ryan came to the Dakota Territory in 1880 and homesteaded on a farm 4 miles west of Kimball, SD.
Batt and Liza had two children when they arrived in Brule County, two sons, John and Ed. Their third son, James, arrived July 4, 1882 and was the first white child born in Kimball. The family continued to grow and Francis Sylvester was born Sept. 6, 1884; Leo July 2, 1887; Will, May 17, 1892 and Ethel, March 1, 1894.
***Batty and brother James built the Central House. Batty may have been living in Colorado in the Boney home. He was investigating the area for homesteading. The best way to verify if it is the Batty Ryan in our family is to check the 1880 census and see if he is listed. Batty and Eliza were married in 1877.
***Obituary shows Batty spelled as "Battie"