devota ryan family

Edward & Merle Ryan Family... - Murdo, South Dakota & Elk Grove, Illinois

Cousin Bill Austin, grandson of Devota Ryan Delehanty is second from left (front row).

Cousin Devota Austin, grand-daughter of Devota Ryan Delehanty, second from left.

The Austin family' news articles can be viewed by clicking on the banner below

Click on the "banner" to view the 25 articles surrounding Devota, her mother, Merle, and her daughter's family - the Austins of Elk Grove Village.

Old Census Records

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Devota Ryan's sister, Blanche, died near Murdo, South Dakota. Click to Enlarge.

Other dates of note:

Devota Delehanty, K; died 10/01/1983

Merle Ryan; died 2/21/1971

Joan Delehanty married Alfred E. Austin; 2/1/1950.

Edward Ryan obituary. See Family Affair.

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An Embarrassing Moment.

When Tim first sent me the first few articles, he asked if we should hide them in our site (e.g., Delehanty connections to organized crime. But since this wasn't exactly a secret in our family, I didn't see any issues.

This story about Devota is a little different. It is similar to the troubles that Ticket Master recently got into by selling Spring stein tickets way above the listed ticket price:

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It appears that she worked for a company like Ticket Master and got tied into this activity.

Prohibition and the Chicago Beer Wars

At one of the first Ryan reunions in the late 1970s, one of the cousins asked Devota Ryan if she was the "girlfriend of Al Capone." She responded that she had "met him" and that was about it.

In Chicago, she met a young Joe Delehanty, and by the 1930 census she is seen living with Joseph and his brother. Her occupation is listed as housekeeper. The Delehanty boys occupations are listed as "salesman."

In the 1920s we find a few references to Joseph Delehanty. Based on these few news articles, it appears that he had some association with organized crime. However, it is uncertain what side of the law he was working on...

We don't know if this is the same Joseph Delehanty that Devota Ryan married in the 1930s. We know that Devota had developed some notoriety herself as being the first "pin-up girl" in a 1929 Chicago magazine. It may have been her "notoriety" that got her introduced to Al Capone, or quite possibly through her husband...again we can only speculate that the gangster Joseph Delehanty was Devota's husband. Delehanty is an uncommon surname...so it requires further research.

The Delehanty brothers were noted one other time in the newspapers. When one of the Chicago Tribune's reporters, Mr. Lingle, was killed by a Capone thug; the police pulled in the "usual suspects", including the Delehanty brothers...

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We have not seen his name listed after this point. In the 1950s we don't see him accompanying Devota to family events.

The Edward Ryan Family Story, Tim Smith

Little is known about this family and much of their history remains an enigma. Edward's fate was unknown to our own family. We knew he had a family in Western South Dakota, but little else was known. Sometime in the early part of the twentieth century Edward married Merlia Kelley. She was also known as Merle, and was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa, in 1885. Not much else is known of her background, except she had a brother living in Murdo, South Dakota. Edward's parents were Batt Ryan and Eliza Hill, and he was born in Waukon, Iowa.

In 1905 Merle and Edward were living in Smith Township, Brule County, South Dakota. By 1910 this marriage disintegrated and Merle was taking care of three young Ryan kids: Blanche aged 4, Devota aged 3 and Jennings aged 7 months. Jennings was born William Jennings Ryan and probably named after a great politician of his day, William Jennings Bryan. This family minus Edward were living in western South Dakota next to Merle's brother and his family. The US census lists Merle as a 'widow'. In 1918 young Blanche Ryan died, and the Mitchell newspaper wrote Merle was a 'widow'. Why this family tore apart is unknown; however, 'bad blood' seems to describe Edward and Merle's relationship. Perhaps Batt Ryan's family was hiding Edward's whereabouts, or they may have told Merle that Edward died. By 1923 Edward moved back to Kimball to die. His obituary lists his children's names but only mentions a wife living in Murdo.

Jennings Ryan married a local gal in western South Dakota. His progeny may still live in the area. Devota attended school in Vermillion and at some point moved to Chicago. There she married Joseph Delehanty and raised a family. Merle moved to Chicago too and died in 1971. Nothing is known about Joseph Delehanty. In Chicago during the Roaring Twenties lived a beer baron by the name of Joseph Delehanty. Was this Devota's husband?

For those of you old enough to remember, Devota attended the first Ryan reunion in the Nineteen Seventies. I remember seeing her seated next to Leo Ryan, and asked others about this woman as I had never seen her before. Devota may have lived an interesting life outside of the Plains. We were told she married a mobster or that she was the first pinup girl. If so that would have made her one of the more interesting persons at the reunion! However, I suspect her real story was much tamer. Devota died on October 18, 1983.