Finding Catherine Ryan's Parents: Did I Succeed?

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To read the first two parts of this series, click here, and here.

 

I finished up the 14-Day Research Like a Pro Mini Challenge yesterday. Was I successful? Well, yes and no. Here's how my research progressed.

Jan. 31—Source Citations 

Day 10 was another opportunity to practice writing source citations for our project. Good preparation before researching is key to keeping the focus on the research objective. Writing the source citations for our timeline facts is important to the report writing phase, so we don't have to stop to craft those in the middle of writing the research up. I made sure I had finished writing all the citations I could, as I had gotten a little behind.

Feb. 1—Research Log

Finally, the day to research! Here's I began  following the prioritized research plan. In my project I focused on finding the William and Honora Ryan family in the 1880 U.S. Census and beyond; they were accounted for in 1860-1870 already. Was the daughter Catherine was still with them?

A surprise here was that members of this family were living in Oxford, Warren, New Jersey. Honora Ryan, her son Jeremiah, her daughter Hannah, daughter Ellen (Eleanor), and Ellen's husband James Sullivan made up the household, in addition to a "nephew," 2-year old William Ryan. Catherine was not found here.¹

The Ryan family in 1880, Oxford, Warren, New Jersey.

I was confident this was the same family as found in Scranton earlier, as several pieces of information correlated with other known facts, such as the Ellen and Hannah's Pennsylvania birthplaces, and the occupation of Jeremiah working "in rolling mill" much like he had in Pennsylvania earlier. I learned that there was an iron furnace in Oxford, managed by a member of the Scranton family, who also ran them in Scranton, Pennsylvania.²

 

Feb. 2—Research Log

In a second day of researching, I continued looking for this family, and in 1900 I found the "smoking gun." Family members were back in Scranton, living on Von Storch street: "Jerry," still working in an iron works, was living with mother Hannora Ryan, his sister, Catherine C. Johnson, and her daughter Hannora.³

 

The 1900 census in Scranton showed this Ryan family.

Again, I was confident that this family was the same one in past censuses. Many facts about the family correlated, and some conflicts were easily resolved.

But this also meant that this Katherine could not be my ancestor who died in 1881 in Danville, Pennsylvania.⁴ Drats!

I could have stopped researching, but since I was familiar with Scranton-area records, I decided to look a bit further into newspapers, death records, and city directories to flesh out the evidence a bit more. I found obituaries for their mother Honora, whose 1901 funeral was held from the "family residence on Von Storch," and that of the brother Jeremiah, who died in 1916 "at the home of his sister, Mrs. Catherine Johnson."⁵

Feb. 3—Report Writing-Outline

Today's task was to complete an outline for our final report. This was easily done as the Research Like a Pro research document template was already outlined. I added the various census and other records I found in the Findings and Analysis section. I had been writing notes as I went along, so most of my thoughts and analysis was already documented. I find writing as I go gives me a jump start on a final report.

Feb. 4—Report Writing

With my citations done, and many notes already written, completing the final research report took a few hours. Most of my analysis involved correlating the evidence found in the sources to tie the family together, demonstrating that they were the same family throughout. Once Catherine appeared in the 1900 census, it was no longer possible that she was the same person as my ancestor. I did not need to continue to follow my research plan. 

So, yes, I was successful in that I disproved my hypothesis that this Catherine Ryan, the daughter of William and Honora Ryan was the same as the Catherine Ryan who married Michael Gilbride in 1875 in Scranton, Luzerne, Pennsylvania.

But, no, I was unsuccessful in identifying the parents of my second-great-grandmother Catherine. Eliminating this family from consideration, however, was just as important as finding Catherine's true family, so the research was worthwhile. 

I need a bit of time to regroup on this puzzle before digging in again. Onward...

If you'd like to read my full report, click here.

Until next time...

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved. 

NOTES

¹ 1880 U.S. Census, Warren County, New Jersey, population schedule, p. 4B, ED 205, Oxford, line 27, dwelling 30, family 56, Jeremiah Ryan household; image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBW-DY4 : accessed 24 January 2024); citing National Archives and Records Administration, microfilm publication T9, roll 799, Washington, D.C.

² County of Warren, New Jersey,History (https://www.warrencountynjheritage.com/history/warren-county-sites-museums/history-of-oxford-furnace : 1 February 2024), "History of Oxford Furnace," n.d.

³ 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania, population schedule, city of Scranton, E.D. 88, sheet 7A, line 45, 1515 Von Storch Ave., household of Jerry Ryan; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/52373203:7602 : accessed 30 January 2024); citing National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group Number 29, Series Number: T623, roll 1421, Washington, D.C.

⁴ Pennsylvania. Lackawanna County, City of Scranton, City of Scranton Department of Public Health, death certificate for "Catharine Gilbride," 27 Jan 1881; "Record of deaths, 1878-1905, in the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania," digital image, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9YG-R95K-X?); FHL film 007700813, image 1411.

⁵ "Funeral of Mrs. Ryan," The Scranton Times, 10 August 1901, p. 10, col. 3; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-tribune-mrs-honora-ryan-dies/139909640/ : accessed 1 February 2024). Also: "Deaths," The Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania), 7 September 1916, p. 3, col. 5, Jeremiah Ryan, 6 September 1916; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/48842288/ : 30 January 2024).