Cushing Home

The "Other" Ryans of Cushing, Oklahoma

The Great Ryan Migration

After receiving the obituaries from Cushing, Oklahoma, we now have a different view of the "great Ryan migration." We knew that the family had drifted away from Allamakee County before 1900; however, there was one thing that we had not anticipated - at some point many of James and Nancy Ryan's children had moved to the Cushing area. While we may not have the final tally, it appears that at least five family members lived in this area including Nancy Ryan (mother), her sons James Jr., Dennis, Daniel, and Nancy's youngest daughter Honora (Nancy) Burke.

The obituary of Josephine Bridget Ryan, James Jr's wife, provided us with this new-found information. The obituary listed relatives that attended her funeral, but there were several names that could not be identified. These included the Mitchells and the Nihils. The only relative we could initially recognize was Daniel Ryan's wife, who traveled from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Since we knew that James' sister married a Burke, we were certain that the Mr. and Mrs. Jim Burke listed was Bridget's sister-in-law. Later, The United States census information provided us the supporting documentation we needed to make this connection. Prior to viewing the obituary, we did not know what Nancy's husband's first name was, so the obituary helped solve this question.

The obituary gave us one other interesting tidbit - One of Nancy Burke's daughters had married Jim Nihil several years earlier in Cushing, and we through this connection, we found that there are a number of her descendents spread across the United States. A picture of Nancy's daughter, Catherine (Kate) can be seen at the following site. She married Dennis Fleming, and she is pictured among the early Fleming family members.

http://www.tennisonfamily.com/

Take a tour and see what some of your relations look like.

The Nihils

I asked Tim to dig up more information about the Nihils, and quite honestly, there is no better person who can find information about family connections than my twin brother. Nihil is an adaptation of O'Neil, and this family was found along the borders of County Clare and County Tipperary. It is conceivable that the Ryans were familiar with the Nihils in Ireland, as records show baptisms and marriages for Nihils in Newport Parish. The following is what he reported back:

James Nihill and Mary Burke were married in Cushing, Oklahoma.
Mary's parents were Daniel and Nancy Burke, and on rootsweb its noted that her mother's maiden name was Ryan.

The Burkes had spent some time in Nebraska before moving to Cushing, Oklahoma.

The following census information was found:

The Nihills are found in the 1910 US Census in Leavenworth, Oklahoma. Jim Nihill's father died in Leavenworth in 1909. It looks like this family was living in the Leavenworth area up to Jim's death in 1958. In the 1930 Ancestry.Com record, it shows his name as 'Janes Nihill' living at a residence and identified as father in law and not as head of household.
Mary Nihill (nee Burke) died in December of 1971 in Leavenworth.
Alice Sommers (nee Nihill) died in Nov. 1976 in Leavenworth

Military Draft Registrations from Cushing, Oklahoma

Many of these registrations are associated with the James Ryan, Jr. children. There are some we believe a connection exists, such as Forrest Ryan. While it may be hard to read John P's registration, he was quite eloquent in his details about the family movement from Iowa to Canada to Cushing. There are also two Henry Ryan draft records included, and both show they were married. We are not certain if there is a relationship with this family just yet.