My grandmother was Mabel Ryan of Salt Lake City, Utah. Her grandfather was John Joseph Ryan, who I think deserves a place among your Prominent Ryans. He was one of the founders of Colorado Agricultural College, which later became Colorado State University. He was a pioneer in the Colorado Territory in the 1860's, became a successful businessman and politician in the Territory and later the State. At one time he was Mayor of Loveland, Colorado. John Joseph Ryan came to America in the early 1840's as a child, with his parents John Ryan and Mary Meagher, from Roscrae, County Tipperary, Ireland. They settled in Davenport, Iowa, where he was educated as a bookkeeper, married the Sheriff's daughter, then trekked on foot across the Great Plains to seek his fortune in the West. After a few setbacks in the wilderness, he established a freight hauling business working for the U. S. Army at Fort Collins in Colorado. He then returned to Iowa to fetch his wife and young child, John Harvey Ryan, Mabel's father. In Loveland, Colorado, there is a Ryan's Gulch Lake, named for him.

The sketch above is about all I know about John Joseph Ryan, from items published in Colorado. If you or any other Ryans you may have contact with know anything more about him or his forbears, I would appreciate your letting me know. Especially when and where he came to America and the ship.

Regards,
John Zerby
Houston, Texas