Nora & Maggie Ryan - Jones County Homesteading
Ryan Homesteaders in
Jones County, South Dakota
In researching old Iowa newspapers we found the following news item dated 1910. From the Bedford Times Republican (July 28, 1910) we learn Nora Ryan homesteaded in South Dakota. Nora was born to Patrick and Margaret Ryan of Taylor County, Iowa. The Bedford newspaper also covered news coming out of Lenox, Iowa, which was where our Ryan cousins lived.
Bedford Times Republican; Bedford, Iowa; July 28, 1910
The following chart shows how Nora Ryan and her family are related to our own.
We could not find any land records for Nora Ryan in or near Belle Fourche, South Dakota. You may recall Frank and Leo Ryan homesteaded in Meade County, which was near Belle Fourche. The only entry for a Nora Ryan in the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) records was found in Jones County, South Dakota. Jones County at one time was part of Lyman County until 1917 when it became a separate county. The following land patent information was registered in 1905.
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Patent Description Patentee: Nora Ryan
Survey State: South Dakota
Acres: 159.97 Metes/Bounds: No
Title Transfer Issue Date: 6/9/1905
Land Office: Montana State Office
Cancelled: No
US Reservations: Yes
Mineral Reservations: No
Document No: 1286
Accession/Serial Nr.: SDMTAA 021526
BLM Serial Nr.: SDMTAA 0215266
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From the BLM information we can see the land claim was made in Draper Township, which can be seen in the plat map below for Jones County.
Several interesting observations need to be made here. Two Ryan claims were made on the same day, both claims were adjacent to each other. Nora Ryan made one claim and the other was made by Maggie Ryan. Maggie Ryan was Nora’s mother. Nora also had a sister named Margaret but I could not find any instance where the younger Margaret used the nickname ‘Maggie’ too. However, it is possible since there is no evidence elder Margaret ever traveled to South Dakota.
NAME MERIDIAN TWP RANGE SECTION ACREAGE TYPE CASETYPE DOCID DATE
RYAN MAGGIE 07 001 S 030 E 001 160 272002 PA 1285 06/09/1905
RYAN NORA 07 001 S 030 E 002 80 272002 PA 1286 06/09/1905
RYAN NORA 07 001 S 030 E 002 40.01 272002 PA 1286 06/09/1905
RYAN NORA 07 001 S 030 E 002 39.96 272002 PA 1286 06/09/1905
07 Meridian also known as the Black Hills Meridian
Our ancestor, Mary Turgeon, homesteaded in nearby Scoville Township. Mary Turgeon married “Irish” John and Susan Smith’s son, William. Mary Smith, daughter of John and Susan Smith, homesteaded in next door Lyman County.
The Map below shows the location of Jones County in South Dakota. Nora and Maggie Ryan’s claims were in Draper Township, Jones County. From BLM data it appears they homesteaded in sections 1 and 2, which can be seen in the township map below. Also, the community of Draper can be seen near the bottom of the map. Today one passes this community while driving the interstate highway from Chamberlain to the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Below is the legal land description for Nora Ryan’s land claim.
Aliquot Sec./ Township Range Fract. Meridian State Counties
Parts Block Section
S1/2NE 2/ 1-S 30-E No Black Hills SD Jones
1 2/ 1-S 30-E No Black Hills SD Jones
Remarks: LOT 1 or NENE QUARTER
2 2/ 1-S 30-E No Black Hills SD Jones
Remarks: LOT 2 OR NWNE QUARTER
It is possible Nora did file a land claim near Belle Fourche sometime after 1905. Unfortunately no record of this other claim can be found.
What I find interesting about this is we know Batt Ryan did not see his sister Margaret for 41 years, yet we suspect these families stayed in contact with each other. It is possible Nora may have seen her South Dakota cousins sometime during her stay in South Dakota. We will never know for sure. In today’s world we have many ways for traveling from one point to another. Train travel in the early part of the 19th century was probably the fastest method. If someone is reading this article one hundred years from now he or she may think our modes of travel are antiquated too. Perhaps one day we will find other Ryan or Smith cousins who homesteaded in western South Dakota during the early part of the twentieth century.
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September 2009