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Below is a family biography included in the book, The History of Clark County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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James Ryan is a well-to-do farmer of Irish birth, who was born in County Kilkenny in November, 1812. His parents, also natives of Ireland, were Richard and Julia (Delaney) Ryan. His parents never left their native country; here the father died in 1830, and the mother a few years later. Our subject received an Irish education, and at the age of twenty-two brought his newly wedded bride to New York City. After about a year each on Staten Island and in Richmond, Va., they came by way of the Ohio and Mississippi to Warsaw, Ill. As soon as the river was frozen they crossed at Warsaw (which was then called Churchill), in the spring of 1840, and went out west in the spring of 1852, but returned home in the fall of 1854 to Keokuk. They then adopted Clark County as their home, and soon after settled on their present estate, where he has since lived, with the exception of about two and a half years spent in the Western States, and in California. His wife, Susan, the daughter of James and Mary Hart, was born in 1812 in England, although her parents were of Irish birth, in which country she was married July 2, 1836. But four of their nine children are living: James J., Edward W., Charles and Mary A. Our subject is a fine business man, and now owns 120 acres in Lewis and eighty acres in Clark County, most of which is improved. He is an earnest member of the Democratic party, while in religion his family all hold to the faith and teachings of the Catholic Church. His wife was but a child when her father died, and her mother afterward married W. O’Connor, and both died in Kilkenny.

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This family biography is one of 232 biographies included in the Clark County, Missouri portion of the book,  The History of Lewis, Clark, Knox and Scotland Counties, Missouri published in 1887.  For the complete description, click here: Clark County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Clark County, Missouri family biographies here: Clark County, Missouri Biographies

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