One thing to keep in mind if you are looking for census information for someone born around 1890: Apparently, the entire 1890 United States census burned in a fire. So because of this, since Bert Ryan was born in 1885 and was married by 1910, the only census we have to work with for him is 1900. Unfortunately, I haven’t found anything significant for Bert in that year.
So now I am focusing on the Elijah L. Harris family and their census information, hoping to find another lead. I found Elijah listed on a census for 1870, again in Lafayette Mississippi.
Click Here for this full 1870 Census page
He’s got several children by that time. But he is not listed in the census for 1880, the last census taken before Bert Ryan is born. I am going on the assumption that Elijah Harris has passed away before the 1880 census. So, I look for his children in that 1880 census. I see that several of his children are listed as living in the Lafayette, MS area in 1880. Several on the same census page:
Line number 17 lists Martin Harris, son of Elijah L. Harris, and line number 19 lists Clay (Claiborne) Harris, Martin’s brother.
Line # 27 lists a Jane Allman, formerly Jane Harris, sister of Martin Harris from line 17. Line number 30 lists Francis Harris, Jane and Martin’s sister, and line 21 lists Jesse Harris, Jane and Martin’s brother.
Since Elijah L. Harris is nowhere to be seen in this census, but his children are, and the younger children are living with their older siblings. Later, I will find a death record for Elijah that shows that yes, he did in fact die shortly before the 1880 census was taken.
This is all very interesting, you might ask, but where is the Ryan connection??
If we look just a few lines down from Jane (Harris) Allman’s family, we find it:
F.S. Ryan, his wife M.A. Ryan, Son Rush, Daughter Emily, and down on line number 42, another daughter, M.A.. Also listed is an A.A. Hollowell as Mother-in-Law.
Click for Full 1880 Census Page
Since we DNA match with this particular Harris family and there is a Ryan family living very near, I am pretty close to positive that I have found Bert’s parents…or at the very least his adoptive family. Since our original story was that Bert was born a Harris, I assume from just looking at this one census, that his natural father isn’t F.S. Ryan or Rush Ryan. It could be any one of the Harris boys, but I settle on it being either Jesse or Claiborne. My thought is that seeing as how Rush Ryan and Emily Ryan are the same age, they must be twins. If Berts real father’s name is Harris, the only real option for his mother would be Emily Ryan. No real proof of this, just my own conjecture. I’ve found that a lot of ancestry research is conjecture.
Since this is the 1880 census, and Bert won’t be born for five years, I have to think five years ahead. Emily, listed as 19 years old on this census, would be about 24 in 1885. Claiborne is listed as 15 years old and would be 20 at the time of Bert’s birth. These two seem the most logical fit. Jesse Harris would be 15 in 1885…not out of the realm of possibility, but I am thinking Claiborne is more likely.
I lived with this revelation of Emily Ryan being Bert’s mother and a Harris boy…Claiborne or Jesse being Bert’s father for a long time.
BUT… I like to have corroborating data. I would need to find some information that directly or even indirectly connects Bert to this Ryan family. I searched for several weeks, and the odd thing was that all my searches kept pulling up a 1900 census from Gregg County, Texas that lists a Simpson S. Ryan and Mary A Ryan living with their daughter Mary Duncan and her husband James. Were these the same people from the 1880 census in Lafayette, L.A.? Here’s the info:
1880 Census:
1900 Census
In the 1880 census, F.S. Ryan is listed as 45 years old, which would put his birth year 1835. 20 years later, In the 1900 census, Simpson S. Ryan is 66, his birth year 1834. A year off, but still pretty accurate. 1880 census technically says he was born in Mississippi, but I think the census taker put his info on the wrong line. It should say he was born in Mississippi, and parents both born in Ireland. on the 1900 census, his birthplace is listed as Louisiana, and both parents from Ireland.
In the 1880 census, M.A. Ryan is listed as 37 years old, which would make her birth year 1843. On the 1900 census, the name is listed as Mary, her age as 58, and birth year 1842. Again a year off, but pretty close. Also, on both, she and both her parents are listed as being born in Mississippi.
In the 1880 census, M.A. Ryan, daughter of F.S. and M.A. Ryan is listed as being 4 years old which would make her birth year 1876, and born in Mississippi, with both parents born in Mississippi. In the 1900 census, Mary Duncan is 24 years old, born in 1875 with her and both parents born in Mississippi.
Some things inaccurate can be attributed to someone just writing down the wrong information, either by mishearing it, or by being given the wrong information because whoever gave the information just didn’t really know exactly. This is pretty common, I am finding.
Click for Full 1900 Census Page
Still, Texas is a long way from Mississippi, and it seems odd for them to be there. BUT, I knew that Bert had met and married his first wife in Texas, so, if this was Bert’s adoptive family, it would make sense that at some point they would end up in Texas. I just need some information tying the two. Texas is a big state. But, a bit of digging pulled up Bert Ryan and Annie Robinson’s marriage license. When I do, I am not surprised to see it issued in Gregg county Texas, the exact place the Simpson S Ryan family was living.
At this point I am pretty convinced who Bert’s parents and adoptive parents are.
…Then a message came from another Harris descendent.