Frank Ryan Oral History
Frank Ryan by Mary Rita (Ryan) Jacobsen
Francis Sylvester Ryan was born Sept. 6, 1884 in Dakota Territory. He was the fourth son of Liza Hill and Batt Ryan. The birth date is by word of mouth (from Frank) as the court house and church in which his birth was recorded were both destroyed by fire. He began his childhood on the Ryan homestead and according to him, as soon as a child could walk, there was a chore for him. Cow or buffalo chips were used for fuel in the winter. These had to be turned over in order to be thoroughly dry. Also the cattle were herded by the young ones in the family.
School was an important part of his life as well as church. The school year was determined by the amount of time it took to plant and harvest the crops. Reading was an important activity, no radio, no TV.
Frank lived most of his life in the Kimball area. He spent a few years homesteading in Meade County South Dakota. He received the title to his claim on the 5th day of Jan. 1916 signed by President Wm Edward Taft. He taught school in the Kimball area and was given a commendation from the Supt of schools, Minnie T. Long for is good grades and performance. He was a presenter in the Brule County Teacher's Assn. in the High School Building in Kimball on Feb. 7, 1914. Another presenter at this particular institute was Lillian Meis who later married Leo Ryan. Her subject was "Country Life and the Country School" and Frank's subject was "The Teacher and The School."
The Ryan boys were all good dancers and quite handsome. The young ladies at a dance would wait expectantly for an offer of a whirl around the dance floor with Frank. (This information was received from Mrs. Gus Ronning, a late Kimball resident.)
Frank married Adelaide J. McGonigle in Belvidere, Illinois November 20, 1917. Adelaide lived on Gilman Street in Belvidere and Liza Hill Ryan's sister, Ann Murrin, lived on the same street. This was in the Irish patch and there was much camaderie among the inhabitants. The Ryan boys would take the train to visit their Aunt Ann and Frank evidently made the money for the trip by working for farmers in the area. I met Frank Moan and James Kirane when working for the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. They were introduced to me and my claim to fame was being the daughter of Frank Ryan who had worked for them.
There were eight children born to the union, Catherine who died at birth, Jack born July 1919; Bill - January 1921; Mary Rita - March 1922; Neal - March 1924; Jim - May 1925; Ruth October 1931 and Richard - 1933 who died at birth.
Frank enjoyed reading to his children and a lap full of children heard the Horatio Alger books ("Poor and Proud", "Dick and the Bank Boy", etc.) and among other books the adventure stories by Zane Grey and Jack London. Frank enjoyed a Sunday drive to the Indian reservation or a trip across the Missouri River at Chamberlain and the challenge of the Oacoma Hill. The early cars could not make it up the hill without a stop to cool the engine. Adelaide sat in the back seat with a stick (she was the disciplinarian in the family) and a pot for emergencies. The trips to Mitchell meant going past the Reform School located near Plankinton, SD. Neal and Jim would crouch low until we were safely by the institution.
Upon the advent of the radio the evening activities centered around the radio. Edgar Bergen and Jack Benny were the most popular Sunday evening fare but Frank also enjoyed listening to the music programs offered at that time. "Voice of Firestone", "The Carnation Hour" (whose theme was the music for contented cows) were among the favorites. Frank had some favorite singers among whom are, John McCormick, the famous Irish tenor; Eileen Farrell, Lily Pons and Jeannette McDonald and of course, the voice of the moon coming over the mountain, Kate Smith.
Frank was in the implement (farm machinery) business for a few years and commenced employment at the Kimball Post Office in 1922. He became post-master in 1942. Altogether he was employed 33 years and ten months in the postal department. He began work about 6 am, threw the mail and was home for breakfast at 7 am. The whistle blew at noon and at six in the evening and those were the hours were highly respected; 12:05 pm he was home for dinner and 6:05 pm for supper. He returned to the post office about nine in the evening to sweep the lobby and lock the door. Before we had street people there were stray dogs without a place on a below zero night. Frank would allow them the use of the lobby for the night and was there early in the morning to let them out. He was the Kimball facsimile of the Pied Piper as he sometimes had a troop of dogs follow him as he went home for breakfast. During World War 2, the big one, he wrote to every serviceman from the Kimball area.
Frank retired in 1954 and upon his retirement was presented a rocking chair about which he was not too particularly happy as according to Frank, "He could work just as hard as was just as smart as those young whipper-snappers." Frank worked for Rural Electrification program for several years after his retirement from the Post Office. He continued to plan a large garden with Adelaide's assistance. (He planted without her advice one year and she was quite upset). He bought a strip of property adjacent to his from Tom Flaherty upon which he planted apple trees. Adelaide was able to get a few apple pies out of the project.
Frank died May 20, 1968 in the Chamberlain, SD hospital and was buried in St. Margaret's cemetery, Kimball, SD. The only stone in the cemetery engraved on both sides marks the graves of Adelaide and Frank. The stone company installed the stone backwards and corrected the situation by carving on the reverse side of the stone. Adelaide died July 1, 1965.