Collection Information
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content
Cataloging Information
Processed
by
Charles Latham
22 November 1991
Updated 25 March 2004
Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 5 folders
COLLECTION DATES: Inclusive 1836-1899; bulk 1862
PROVENANCE: Gertrude S. Appel, Indianapolis, February 1977
RESTRICTIONS: None
COPYRIGHT:
ACCESSION NUMBER: 1977.0205
Townsend Ryan (1813-1879) was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In early manhood he moved to Hamilton, Ohio. After sustaining reverses in the Panic of 1837, he decided to study medicine, and did so first at Ohio Medical College and then at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.
He began to practice in Lewisville, Henry County, Indiana, then in 1843 moved to Anderson. In addition to being a physician, he is listed as a merchant, as a river trader, as promoter of the Bellefontaine Railroad and of the Richmond, New Castle, and Logansport Railroad, and as owner of a shoe store.
During the Mexican War, Ryan was a first Lieutenant in the 52nd Indiana Regiment. A Democrat, he served a term in the Indiana General Assembly in 1848-1849, and was owner of the Anderson Weekly Democrat in 1849. In the same year he was vice president of the Indiana Medical Society, which he had been active in founding.
On the outbreak of the Civil War, Ryan was made Colonel of the 34th Indiana Regiment. After serving a year, mainly in Arkansas, he resigned in June 1862, having been accused by some of his fellow officers of improper financial practices. He served in the same regiment, as a surgeon, from April to December 1863.
In 1874 Ryan was city councilman in Anderson.
He married Susan Wilson. One of their sons, Henry C. Ryan, also served in the Civil War and in the Indiana legislature, and later was a prosecuting attorney and referee in bankruptcy.
Sources: Biographical Directory of Indiana General Assembly
Netterville, Centennial History of Madison County
Materials in collection
This collection, filling five folders, contains deeds, business papers, receipts, and military papers. It is arranged by category, and chronologically within category.
Folder 1 contains a collection description and a calendar of some of the Civil War documents.
In Folder 2 are deeds and other business papers, dated 1836-1863 and mainly concerning Townsend Ryan.
Folder 3 contains papers concerning the charges made against Colonel Ryan in the spring of 1862. The substance of the charges is that Ryan made a personal profit from forage and horses belonging to the Army, practicing subornation and forgery in the process. There are defenses by Ryan and his supporters, including the claim that the whole affair has been stirred up by Lt. Col. Cameron, whom Ryan charges with insubordination. Finally there are communications from his superior, dismissing the whole affair as a "family fuss" that will be ironed out when the regiment sees more action.
In Folder 4 are other military papers unrelated to the charges; in Folder 5 are business papers dating 1865-1899, concerning both Townsend Ryan (who died in 1879) and the estate of his wife, who died about 1893.
For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials: