Mr. Ryan is a native of the state of Massachusetts, his birth having occurred at Brighton. He comes of Irish ancestry and is a son of James T. Ryan, who married Miss Nora C. Connolly. She was a native of the British provinces and was of Irish descent. James T. Ryan was a contractor and builder, and was one of the first white men to enter Humboldt Bay, California, in the year 1850. He built a large sawmill there and did an extensive business as a manufacturer of lumber. He also became a member of the firm of Donahue, Ryan & Secor, who built the United States monitor Comanche, at San Francisco, in the year 1864. He was prominently identified with the early history of the state of California, taking an active part in promoting the best interests of the young commonwealth. His devotion to the public welfare stood as an unquestioned fact in his career, and his efforts were of the most helpful and far-reaching nature. He represented his district, comprised of Humboldt, Klamath and Del Norte counties, in the state legislature in the years 1860 and 1861, and distinguished himself as a man of unquestioned loyalty to the general good as well as in superior natural and acquired ability. He died in San Francisco in 1876, at the age of fifty-six years, and thus passed away one who had been long known and honored as one of the upbuilders of the great west. His good wife survived him and departed this life in 1902, at the advanced age of seventy-seven years, and her remains were interred by the side of her husband in Holy Cross cemetery in San Francisco. They were the parents of three sons and two daughters, and three of the family are now living, but Mr. Ryan is the only one in Nevada. His sister, Nora M., is the wife of ex-Judge O. P. Evans, of San Fransciso, while Mary is the widow of Captain Charles L. Worden, of the United States army, who died from the effects of the San Juan campaign.

In his boyhood days Hon. J. R. Ryan was brought by his parents to the Pacific coast, the family home being established in California in 1851. He pursued his preliminary education in the public schools of that state, and afterward attended Santa Clara College, in which he completed his course in the year 1864. Entering upon his business career he became connected with the manufacture of lumber in Humboldt county, and remained a resident of California until 1872, when he removed to Nevada, believing that this state afforded a broad field of labor to the enterprising, progressive business man. He engaged in mining in Pioche for a time, and in January, 1874, came to Virginia City, where he secured employment in the assay office of the company with which he is still connected. In 1876 he entered the stock brokerage office of the firm of Driscoll & Company, which later became F. A. Tritle & Company, and subsequently became the successor of the latter firm in the business. Two years afterward, however, he abandoned the brokerage business and turned his attention to prospecting in Arizona and in Eldorado county of California. Returning, however, to Virginia City, Nevada, he was appointed superintendent of the Andes Mining Company in 1890. He accepted the superintendency of the Hale & Norcross Mining Company in 1892, and in 1899 was appointed superintendent of the consolidated California and Virginia Mining Company, while in the same year he was made manager of the Comstock Pumping Association, formed to drain the mines and permit of working at still lower levels, all of the work being done through the shaft of the consolidated California and Virginia Company. Three of the pumps are driven by electric power and the other by hydraulic power. This will permit the mines, which have been such phenomenal producers, to be worked several hundred feet deeper and thus add greatly to the wealth of the country. He resigned the superintendency of the Andes Mining Company in August, 1903, and on the same date was appointed superintendent of the Ophir Mining Company.

Not only in his mining operations has Mr. Ryan been eminently successful, but has also become widely known as a most active and honorable representative of political interests in this section of the state, nor have his influence and efforts been confined alone to Nevada. He has been a lifelong Democrat, influential in the ranks of the party. He served for four years as chairman of the Democratic state central committee, and is now a member of the Democratic national committee. In the year 1896 he was one of the presidential electors of the state, and was the messenger sent from Nevada to carry the state vote for Bryan to Washington. He has for twelve years been a delegate to all the state conventions of his party, and is justly recognized as one of its most prominent and active representatives in the west.

In 1877 Mr. Ryan was joined in wedlock to Miss Eleanor Augustine, who was born in Silver City, Nevada, and to them has been born a daughter, Margaret A., who is now the wife of Alfred Cellier, of San Francisco. In 1889 Mr. Ryan married his present wife, who was then Elizabeth H. Brooks. They have a delightful home in Virginia City, and its hospitality is greatly enjoyed by their many friends. Mr. Ryan belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. As an intelligent and progressive business man he has few peers in this state, and is deserving of uniform recognition as such a citizen. By perseverance, determination and honorable effort he has overthrown all obstacles which barred his path to success and reached the goal of prosperity, while his broad mind and public spirit have made him a director of public thought and action.

Source:
A History of the State of Nevada: Its Resources and People
By Thomas Wren, Lewis Publishing Company
Published by The Lewis publishing company, 1904