Welcome to
Jasper County, Iowa
Historical and Genealogical Data Exchange
|
|
|
|
Reverend
James E. Ryan No
estimate of the immense amount of good that conies from a long and useful life
like that of the late James E. Ryan, can be made, for it was far reaching in its
effects and will continue through coming generations, like the light that
"shines more and more unto the perfect day."
Few lives have been so unselfish, so pregnated with good deeds and so
controlled by an insatiable desire to be kind and beneficial to his fellow men;
therefore, his memory is cherished wherever he was known, by thousands whom his
life touched directly or indirectly. Rev.
Mr. Ryan was born in the city of Roscrea, Ireland. His parents came to New York in 1831 when he was a small boy,
thence they went to Montreal, Canada, and there they were living during the year
of the great cholera epidemic. His parents being poor, the subject was compelled
to start in life for himself when very young, being about nine years old when,
in 1837 he began clerking in a dry goods store in Toronto, continuing in the
same line of work seven years there and in Ontario, Buffalo and New York City
and a number of other large cities. In
1845 he united with the Episcopal Church and resolved to become a minister, and
he at once began a course of study at the academy at Romeo, Michigan, then under
the direction of Prof. Rufus Netting Law. During
the winter of 1846-1847 Mr. Ryan taught school and boarded around among the
patrons of the school. In the fall
of 1847 he entered the freshman class at Western College, later locating at
Hudson, Ohio, where he remained three years, but, being poor and out of funds,
he left college at the close of his junior year to accept a position offered him
as tutor in Williams Hall, a school for boys, and at the same time he became a
divinity student at Bexley Hall, both institutions being located at Gambier,
Knox county, Ohio, the seat of Kenyon College. He was graduated from Bexley Hall
in 1853 and the same year he was ordained deacon by Rev. Charles P. McIlvaine,
bishop of Ohio, and the following year he was ordained to the second office of
priest by the same bishop. For
several years he served as rector of Grace church at Warren, Ohio.
In 1858 he was sent by the church as a missionary to Kansas, later taking
charge of the church at Atchison, that state, then he was called to St. Paul's
church at Des Moines, Iowa, and he entered upon the duties of that important
parish in the fall of 1864 and for a period of twenty-six years he labored
faithfully and effectively in the diocese of Iowa, giving his best efforts to
the various churches to which he was called. In 1871 and again in 1877 he had
the honor of representing the diocese of Iowa in the general convention of the
churches and was for a number of years deacon of the northern and central
conventions, and in 1885 he resigned the rectorship of the Good Shepherd in Des
Moines. Later, about 1880, on
account of ill health, he and his family came to Newton, Iowa, where he spent
the balance of his days. On
April 8, 1875, Rev. Mr. Ryan was united in marriage with a lady of talent and
culture, Mrs. H. C. Hawkins, at her home in Troy, Kansas.
She was born April 17, 1834, in Canandaigua, New York. She first married
H. C. Hawkins, of Marshall, Michigan. Afterwards
Mr. Hawkins and his wife moved to Topeka, Kansas, throughout which state he
became known as one of the ablest lawyers of the same and ranked high as a
public man serving, at one time, very ably and commendably as a member of the
Legislature of that state. His
death occurred when he was a comparatively young man, forty-three years old. By
their union one son, J. C. Hawkins, was born, who married Eva Ketman, of
Humboldt, Iowa, the daughter of a very prominent family there, and Mr. and Mrs.
J. C. Hawkins are now living in Newton, Iowa, where they, like Mrs. Ryan, have a
host of friends and are highly respected and influential in the best social
circles. Rev.
James E. Ryan was a man whom to know was to love, admire and praise, for he was
high-minded, learned, kind, generous, untiring in his efforts to do good and at
the same time unassuming, content merely to follow in the footsteps of the
humble Gallilean and to know that he was doing His will, consequently the
widespread fame and honor he won was justly due him, and the world is better and
happier by his having lived in it. The Past and Present of Jasper County, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, 1912 B.F. Bowen Co., Indianapolis, IN, p. 583. |
|
|
