Book of Ryans - The American Experience
Chapter Eleven
Don't Forget your poor old mother,
Far across the sea,
Write a letter now and then,
And send me all you can,
But don't forget where 'ere you roam,
That you are an Irishman.
Goodbye Johnny Dear
It can be said that after the confiscation of papist lands in 1652, the Irish began a large-scale emigration to foreign lands. Initially, emigration was compulsory for those who resisted English sovereignty, and although it was used as a mechanism to banish felons for over a century, thousands of Irishmen chose it voluntarily because of potential opportunities it could yield. The Celtics, by their heritage, were migratory people, and departures to unknown destinations seemed as though it were just another chapter to Celtic tradition.
In ancient times Irishmen discovered Iceland and settled its rocky wasteland, and although Celtic tradition recorded several of their exploratory trips, other races also wrote of the Gaels beyond Hibenia's shores. The Norsemen found Irishmen living along Iceland's rocky shores in the second century A.D., and Scandinavian oral history suggests that some cataclysmic event forced them away from their settlements. The Northmen described the lands west of Greenland as "Ireland the Great" which indicated that men of Celtic origin had already settled its frontiers. A Scandinavian tradition describes a story of how Gudlief Gudlungson, while driven off course by ill winds, landed in Greenland, and to his surprise found white men of Irish descent. Years later the Norsemen's leader, Eric the Red, also described meeting white men in Greenland who "wore white garments and yelled loudly, and carried poles before them to which rags were attached."[1] After the English began colonization of the new frontier, miscellaneous accounts witnessed that men of Irish descent were among the first settlers in North America. One of the earliest manuscripts still remaining documented their presence at Sir Walter Raleigh's settlement in Virginia, and their value in history also showed them assisting in the exploration of the new world. During Sir John Hawkins travels around the Gulf of Mexico in 1567, men of Irish descent were listed as members of his crew. Nearly 50 years later the Indians massacred the settlers in Jamestown, and among those 347 settlers slaughtered was an Irishman.
Colonial documents demonstrated the impact that Irish immigration had on early North American history, and among the more detailed lists documenting their arrival including "Voyages, Navigations, Traffiques, and Discoveries of the English Nation (London, 1688), "The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, Emigrants, Religious exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years," "List of the Livinge and the Dead in Virginia in 1623", and countless others.
Northeast United States
The Ryans had been in America's northeast long before the first United States census was taken in 1790. This census was authorized by the Second Continental Congress and signed by President George Washington; however, it only consisted of 12 states and did not include the whole American continent. Today the Ryan surname is among the most common in America today, yet the census figures from early Virginia and Massachusetts, by way of illustration, show that the Ryan name was scarce. The Ryan heads of households, including their servants, are listed along with family member size.[2]
Virginia:
Judith Ryan Northumberland 5 white
Solomon Ryan Monongalia 6 white
William Ryan Charlotte 6 white
1 slave
Thomas Ryan Shenandoah 6 white
John Ryann Amherst 11 white
1 black
Solomon Ryan Harrison 7 white & 1 horse
Michael Ryan Fairfax 0 white
John Ryan Hampshire 8 white
James Ryan Hampshire 12 white
Massachusetts[3]
Dr. Dan Ryan Middlesex 11 white
Richard Ryan Suffolk 2 white
Esther Ryon Essex 3 white
Micah Ryon Plymoth 5 white
The Ryans, though they were among New England's earliest settlers, made up a very small percentage of the population living in the Northeast, particularly in Massachusetts which suggested that they settled elsewhere. One explanation may have been the backlash against Irish immigration, especially Irishmen who were of the Catholic faith, in 18th century New England. The immigration of impecunious Irish peasants caused alarm among the residents of New England, and laws were sanctioned to evict them from New England cities as this Boston paper:[4]
1720. Noting that 2608 Irishmen had arrived in Boston during the past three years, the governor of Massachusetts complained of the "public burden" imposed by the coming of "so many poor people from abroad, especially those that came from Ireland." The General Court of Massachusetts warned immigrants from Ireland to leave the colony within seven months.
New England was racially homogenous, and many of its early residents preferred that it stay that way. There were few Irish, Germans, Catholics, or Negroes, and 98 per cent belonged to Congregational churches. New York's Governor Dongan, himself of Irish extraction, was quoted in 1687 to have said, "Bee not many of the church of England, (and) few Roman Catholicks, (but) abundance of Quakers, preachers, men and women, especially - singing Quakers, ranting Quakers, Sabbatarians, Anti-Sabbaterians, some Anabaptists, Some Independents, some Jews; in short, of all sorts of opinions there are some, and for the most part of none at all."[5] Dongan's writings of New York's religious affiliation validates historical evidence which confirms that the earliest settlers were men and women from persecuted religious sects in Europe. This does not mean that Irishmen were scarce in colonial America, on the contrary, most of the original Irish men and women were of the Protestant faith. Even today, there are more Irish Americans that are Protestant than Catholic; regardless, the Ryans whom were mostly Catholic made their way to the Americas, even though there numbers were small. Records maintained during the colonial period displayed a number of Ryans entering Boston harbor before 1770; however, none of their names appeared in the 1790 census. It can be assumed that they either were not counted, which is probable if they migrated westward into the frontier, or left Massachusetts for other areas more permissive of Irish immigrants.[6]
1763 Lydia Ryan arrived in Boston from Ireland
1764 On schooner `Hannah', September 11 from Cork,
came Francis Rien and James Ryon.
1765 Other arrivals in 1765 included Phillip Ryan,
John Ryan, Peter Ryan, James Ryan, and John
Ryan.
1766 Passenger list of `Willmott' from Cork shows
that on November 15th Patrick Ryan entered
Boston ports.
Darby Ron arrived on other transportation.
1767 Arriving on the brig `Ann & Margaret' in
October 14th came Dinish Rien.
1763 Captain Doble's passengers to Boston from
Newfoundland, 1763. William Ryan . 34
passengers total, one died after landing, 3
required hospitalization.
After the rebellions of 1642 and 1698 when the Irish were transported in large numbers, hundreds of surnames were altered to hide their Celtic descent. The explanation for this is uncertain, but perhaps because the new world was Protestant and mostly of English extraction, it was probably easier to blend in unnoticed and distance themselves from their ancestral heritage. In general Colonial America showed little tolerance for Catholics, and their hatred was historically rooted by their ancestor's persecution for being Protestant in Catholic Europe. This loathing formed the basis of colonial customs and laws, many of which were updated versions of the Penal laws, and these rules guided early settlement laws that defined relationships with non-Protestants.
If the Irish were allowed to select their destination, the new world generally was not their first choice; however, because early America also served as England's penal colony over 10,000 Irish men and women were sent to the Americas, including Barbados, to serve sentences ranging from seven to fourteen years. The Irish felons were free to return to Ireland after their sentences were completed, but the vast majority chose to stay rather than brave the dangerous trip home. The Irish generally melted into the countryside, and often assumed new identities to distance themselves from their criminal past. This perhaps explains why the statistics of pre-Revolutionary American showed so few Roman Catholic, and most of these were of French and Spanish origin.
After the turn of the century, the numbers of Irish, including Ryans, did not alter significantly; yet, certain American states unexpectedly saw an increase of Irish by the 1810 population census. Canada was usually the preferred choice, especially by the Papists of southern Ireland, because of their common bond to Catholic France. They found less prejudice in the northern provinces, but their economic choices were limited. Many remained very poor holding the lowest paid jobs such as fishermen and common farm laborers. Their choice to move further west in Canada was difficult as well as expensive, so a number of Irish transplants moved to the southern colonies to seek more favorable employment opportunities. New York was a major recipient of this migration, and by the 1810 census the Irish were noticeably becoming a sizeable minority. This survey also showed the Ryans appearing prominently for the first time. Those identified in the survey included Betsy Ryan, Charles Ryan, J. Ryan, Margaret Ryan, Nathan Ryan, Phillip Ryan, Richardson Ryan, Thomas Ryan, Timothy Ryan, William Ryan of Cayugo, and William Ryan of Gene.[7] The Ryans, no doubt, had been in New York long before this survey, but because census taking was infrequent and large segments of the population were not always counted, their original presence in the state may never be fully documented. One of the earliest Ryans recorded in New York, at a colony originally called New Amsterdam, resided in Schenectady which began as an early 17th century Dutch trading center.[8]
Ryan (Reyel) James and Elizabeth were among the first settlers in Albany, New York. They had four children William b. 1736, Anna b. 1739, Sara b. 1741, and Phillip b. 1743.
The forced eviction of Britain's unwanted criminals to the colonies explains how some Irishmen arrived, but it does not completely illustrate how most entered American harbors. Aside from jail sentences given for criminal or political activity, the bulk of emigrants left for economic reasons. The state of affairs for the Irish peasantry was shockingly severe, and by 1818 a famine forced thousands to leave Ireland in great numbers. Most of the impoverished found their way to America with the largest number of immigrants deserting from the South of Ireland. Alfred Hasbrouck, in his assessment of the state of Ireland's poor, noted that on May 6, 1818, "45 families left Limerick and on the following day nearly one hundred families abandoned Tipperary County"[9] because food supplies were scarce. Employment was also difficult to obtain, and hundreds of young Irishmen enlisted in England's royal army to escape the economic hardships. Many of these recruits instead of finding security in their new life's pursuit, found themselves engulfed in the Spanish revolution in South America. These Irish soldiers, like private William Ryan, belonged to regiments such as the British legion that suffered huge losses in Venezuela and Chile. William Ryan, according to the Archivo National, took part in one of the bloodiest battles at Carabobo in 1821[10] which lost nearly two thirds of its troops; and because the Irish believed that they were being sacrificed in unusually large numbers, searched for ways to leave military service. Mutiny and desertions were not uncommon, but the most unusual desertion occurred after a group of Irishmen enlisted in the King's Corp in Jamaica. Once the regiment made its way Canada "the men scattered and never heard of again."[11]
Throughout England, Scotland and Ireland, emigration became nearly epidemic after its citizenry heard tales of abundant farmlands and wealth in the western colonies. The Irish government became overly concerned with the large numbers of its electorates leaving. Parliament reacted to the loss of its Protestant population much the same way England reacted to the migration of farm laborers during the Black Plague of the 14th century. The loss of population precipitated lengthy discussions in parliament; and plans were devised to prevent their departures. Dublin's attempts to legislate Protestant emigration was ineffective partially because it provided few incentives to stay, but mainly because it failed to address the real issues of Protestant immigration. Many of the Protestant losses came from the Presbyterian and Methodist denominations, which like the Catholics, also were treated as second-class citizens in Ireland. As Parliament continued to maintain legislation favorable to the church of England's interests, disenfranchised Protestants, especially those from the northern counties, made their way to Europe, Australia, and the Americas. This huge migration into the new world provides an explanation why there are more who claim Irish descent in America today than Irish actually living in Ireland. This reminds me of a story of a woman who wanted to know how many Ryans lived in Ireland, and when told that there were 37,000 Ryans quickly retorted with her Irish wit "that there must be at least that number in New York City alone."
Colonial Marriages
When searching for ancestral records, it is usually customary to uncover marriage certificates to track a family's genealogical tree. It also provides some interesting descriptions of how our ancestors lived, and quite obviously is the reason why this has been included. One of the earliest recorded marriage involving a Ryan occurred in New England at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. These records, maintained by Joshua Pierce, Town clerk, showed a marriage arrangement between Daniel Kelly and Joan Ryan[12]
Daniel Kelly and Joan Riyan both of Limerick in ye Kingdom of Ireland wr marryd Jany. 15th 1740-1
Marriage arrangements among Irish descendents was fairly common in colonial America; however, not all marriages were successful. Life in early colonial America was harsh and lonely, and these acrimonious conditions were more pressing for Irish Catholics because they were generally separated from the mainstream of colonial life. Consequently, these psychological (often accompanied by economic hardships) caused husbands and wives to separate or divorce. While in today's society a failed marriages would generally result in divorce, failed marriages in Colonial times were occasionally terminated in much the way this notice in the New York Gazette in 1776 cited:
Ryan, Polly, wife of Lewis Ryan, of NYC - has eloped from her husband (4-29)[13]
Early colonial marriages were typically unions between men and women of similar ethnic backgrounds, and this holds true today even though romantics may contend that "opposites attract". When marriages were performed between colonists of different racial origins, it quickly became the subject of colonial conversation; particularly, if the marriage was between a colonist and a native American. Joshua Hempstead, a New London Justice of the Peace performed one such unusual ceremony in 1741, and because of its rarity it stuck out among the many marriages he performed and registered in his journal:[14]
"...(he) officiated at the marriage of Samual Wangs, an Indian, unto Barbara Rion, an Irish woman."
Marriages between native American Indians and colonists of European descent were strongly dissuaded, much the same way as marriages between Catholics and Protestants were discouraged. One of the negative aspects of these inter-racial marriages was the difficulty their children had in adjusting to societal conditions. The strong racial prejudices towards children of mixed marriages tended to make them outcasts, and this alienation resulted in stereotypes suggesting that they were dangerous and perhaps untrustworthy. Even in the 20th century, the early Hollywood Old West movies seemed to connote that the 'half-breed' was a loner and somewhat dishonest. This prejudicial attitude was strongly embedded in American culture as the experience James Ryan, a 20th century half-breed lawyer on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, had as he tried to mediate a treaty between the U.S. Government and the Sioux Indians. He attempted to negotiate an agreeable settlement over the ownership of western South Dakota, but was quickly discredited by his Sioux neighbors who labeled him a "white man"[15] because they believed he was giving up too many concessions. They searched for a new lawyer who they believed would represent their position more accurately regarding their claim to the Black Hills of South Dakota.