From Proud Heritage, Volume I by DCPA, currently out of print.
John J. Ryan, born January 1848, arrived in the United States with his father from Cork, Ireland in 1860. He was 12 years old at the time. They lived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for awhile, but he made his way to the little town of Dallas, Texas, known in the north and east as “Queen City of the Southwest”. He had learned the carpenter trade, and Dallas seemed a likely place as it was growing, with new families arriving every day. Dallas was a town of unpaved streets and black, waxy roads. The first woodburning railroad car pulled into Dallas July 16, 1872. The line was the Houston and Texas Central. In 1874 the first City Directory was published by Lawson & Edmonson. There were 4001 white and 618 black people in town. On April 19, 1875 Jefferson Davis came to Dallas. I’m sure John J. Ryan must have been one of the spectators watching the parade.
It wasn’t long before he met a petite young lady named Mary Eleanor Bryan who had arrived in Dallas from Appalachicola, Florida. She lived with her aunt, Mrs. Susan Amelia Edgeworth Hanson, down on Wesley Street, not too far from the Courthouse and the center of town at the time. They were married in Dallas on March 24, 1880 and found a place to live up on Harwood Street.
As usual, a big celebration took place that July 4, 1881 in the little town of Dallas, Texas. Firecrackers and a big parade were in order as Independence Day brought out most of the inhabitants. The population had swelled to over 10,000. Mr. and Mrs. Ryan didn’t attend the parade that particular July 4. It wasn’t that they were not patriotic; in fact, Mrs. Ryan was one of the descendants of a revolutionary soldier, but she was having labor pains, and Mr. Ryan had to go get the doctor to deliver her first child. Minnie Ellen, as she was called, showed her Irish ancestry by her good looks; dark brown hair with reddish highlights, ivory complexion and big brown eyes that danced with laughter.
Dallas got her first paved streets in 1882. Elm and Main Streets were paved with bois d’arc blocks. Buttermilk became a city-wide drink and it was sold in all the leading saloons. Whiskey could be had for $1.00 per gallon. Sanger Bros. advertised men’s worsted suits for only $10.50 each. There was no electricity, gas, air-conditioning, refrigeration, screens on windows or running water in houses.
As Mr. Ryan’s family grew, with a boy, Frank, who died at age 3 months, Aline Susan, and another boy, Howard, the apartment became too small; and since he was a carpenter, he built a modest home on a lot given to his wife by her Aunt Sue. This lot was on Wesley Street near the Hughes Candy Company, later called Brown Cracker and Candy Company. This home was close to the Dallas County Court House and Minnie and her sister, Aline, and brother, Howard, would go down and play in the three story building. They loved to go up to the magnificent square tower into which was built a huge clock.
By now the first electric lights gleamed from wooden poles lining the downtown streets. The first public schools were opened to the children of Dallas citizens.
Minnie, Aline and Howard all attended Cumberland Hill School. Their high school was Dallas High School, from which each graduated. Minnie’s best friend was Emy Martino, who lived on Routh Street, and whose father ran a saloon. Mr. Martino was considered rich in those days and some people thought that Minnie’s running around with his daughter gave her high and fancy ideas.
In March, 1893 tragedy struck the Ryan household. Minnie’s Mother died in childbirth and poor Minnie, Aline and Howard were left to make a home for their Father.
John Ryan bought a tract of land to the northwest of Dallas, just outside the city limits, and built a small cottage for himself after his children left the nest. He lived there alone until a few years before his death. Minnie and her husband, Robert Constantine Frazier, had built a home on the same tract by 1916 and moved John Ryan in with them to take care of him in his later years. He died January 6, 1925 on his birthday, and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Dallas County.
References:
- Dallas First Hundred Years 1856-1956, Geo. H. Santerre.
- Dallas Times Herald February 2, 1969.
- Dallas Public Library.
- Good Old Days, Dallas County Pioneer Association, September 1981.
By Kathryn C. Lee, granddaughter, Dallas
