Sunday, October 25, 2009

A Family Affair



In 1910 the three oldest daughters of Edward and Lillie Wood Ryan were "in a family way." Sarah Katherine Ryan Kinert, the eldest, already had a young son, Floyd. It would be the first for Cora Ryan Lipp and Ethel Ryan Downing. Their mother was also expecting.

On August 9, 1910, the Ryan sisters' youngest sister Margaret was born. On August 26 Ethel's eldest son Orville was born. On December 1 Cora's only child Dorthalene was born. On January 18, 1911, Sadie's daughter, Adela, was born. Then things went terribly wrong. Eight days later Sadie died, apparently of sepsis.

The widower was unable to take care of the children and work too. Floyd went to live with Cora. Adela was raised by another family.

Cora and Ethel lived past 80. Floyd died of an infection at 28. I never knew Adela. My mother never met her. I don't recall hearing her mentioned except in response to direct questions. By the time I had enough information and the internet to track her down she had died.

4 comments:

Claudia said...

I haven't hear that expression since my grandmother died in 1965. It sounds better than Preggers.

GenealogySleuth said...

That's what they said so it seemed appropriate.

Nancy said...

Hi, Cheryl --
I've been enjoying your blog. I just wanted to let you know that I nominated you for a Kreativ Blogger Award because I like it so much. You can get the badge at my blog, My Ancestors and Me, at http://nancysfamilyhistoryblog.blogspot.com.

Lori H said...

Such a sad story. My great grandmother died in childbirth when my grandmother was only 8 years old. My great grandfather had two children to care for and his family, for whatever reason, wouldn't help him. My grandmother suffered through a couple of cruel stepmothers because of it. I'm glad that Floyd had family to raise him.