Shenandoah County Library Archives

Shenandoah County Library Digital Archives

Blanche (Beedle) Ryan

Files

http://10.10.10.10/zach/Morrison00000jpg/00407.jpg

Dublin Core

Title

Blanche (Beedle) Ryan

Subject

Ryan, Blanche R. (Beedle) (1888-1961)

Description

Portrait of Blanche R. (Beedle) Ryan as a young woman, probably taken before she married.

Blanche was the youngest of six children. Her parents were Noah F. (1847-1927) and Margaret (Basye) (1846-1930) Beedle. Her father had served as a Private in Company K of the Virginia 7th Cavalry Regiment, during the Civil War.

Blanche’s early life was like any other. She married Isaac Franklin Ryan (1883-1971). He was the son of Edward and Lydia Frances (Walters) Ryan. Isaac worked as a laborer in 1910 and a shipbuilder in a shipyard ten years later. By 1920, Blanche was caring for three sons: Freeman Lester (1906-1980), Floyd Elmer (1909-1949) and Harry W. (1916-1960). They lived on a farm in the Ashby District.

Sometime after 1920, Blanche’s mental health deteriorated and by 1930, when the census found her, she was institutionalized in the “Western State Hospital for the Insane” in Staunton, Augusta County, where she lived for over 30 years. She died, still a patient there, and was buried in Mt. Jackson.

Her two oldest sons went to live with an Aunt and Uncle in Washington D.C., where they found jobs. The youngest, Harry, was only 12 years old in 1930. He appeared as a “boarder” to Fannie Weaver in the Ashby District of the County and attended school.

We were unable to find Blanche’s husband, Isaac, in the 1930 census, but he lived in Timberville at the end of his life and was a retired railroad worker when he died.

Creator

Morrison Studio

Source

Morrison Studio Collection - Shenandoah County Historical Society

Publisher

Shenandoah County Library

Date

ca 1904 according to subject's niece
Labelled as "1904" on box of plates.

Contributor

Identified by Hannah Helsley, Blanche Beedle Ryan's niece.
Additional biographical information was compiled from public records.

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT - NON-COMMERCIAL USE PERMITTED

Identifier

000407

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Glass Negatives

Citation

Morrison Studio, “Blanche (Beedle) Ryan,” Shenandoah County Library Archives, accessed April 27, 2024, http://archives.countylib.org/items/show/22643.

Comments

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