James J. Ryan 1864-1937 and his wife Mary A. (Fields) Ryan 1871-1938

James J. Ryan and his fate have been a brickwall for many years.  A brickwall I was finally able to break through on one of my recent visits to the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. A little bit of Irish luck and perseverance helped.

James was our grandfather Grampie's (Paul Ryan Sr.) uncles, so here's our great grand uncle.  He was born in Gloucester, married in Gloucester and 3 of his children were born there.  In the 1900 census, he was listed as a bartender.  SURPRISE! 

Here's an odd little story from the Portsmouth Herald Mar 10 1903 possibly placing him there by then:  Note the "two chooses"

By 1910 he and his wife had added 2 additional children to the family and they were living in Portsmouth New Hampshire where he made a living as a saloon keeper.  I do not know what pushed him out of Gloucester to relocate to Portsmouth, but he was still there at the time of the 1920 census.  Then they drop off the earth, as far as I knew.  I could not locate them in either Gloucester or Portsmouth after the late 1920s.

Here's where the Irish luck and perseverance kicked in.  I made an educated guess as to when they might have died (1930s) and then started searching the Massachusetts Death Index looking for Mary listed with her maiden name Fields.  There were just too darn many James J. Ryans.  God Bless Massachusetts for making records available with extra hints!!!  I found two candidates who died in Boston in the late 1930s (yes, two Mary Fields Ryan!!).  I checked each of them out and found our Mary A. (Fields) Ryan!!!  She was a widow at the time of death so I cross checked James J. Ryan in Boston before her death and found 3 candidates.  One of them is our very own James.  I admit, tears welled up when I looked at the death record.  Finally found and no longer wandering out in there without acknowledgement.   

James' occupation was listed as X Ray orderly at the hospital.  Further inspection of the record showed they had lived in Boston for about 10 years as of 1937, which fit in nicely with my timeline.  My theory is that since their children were all grown and gone, nothing much kept them in Portsmouth and the Depression probably pushed them to Boston to be closer to their children and perhaps employment. 

I have since located James, Mary and one daughter Alice in Boston in the 1930 census, so I feel great relief to have gathered those two back into the fold and "finished" their story.