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Post by imsailing on Nov 11, 2012 18:01:57 GMT -6
I know this is an old conversation, but I found it on a google search. Ed Ryan is my husbands grandfather! We just found this out recently, and about all the hoopla surrounding him. My husband never knew him as he died when my husbands mother was about 8 -10 years old. (He was in his late 50's/early 60's when she was born.) She has never talked much about him. We knew almost nothing other than she used to help him sell pamphlets when she was little. Then recently, she showed my husband a picture of his head stone, and with the dates & city I was able to find out who he was.
I am currently trying to find the audio tape of the appearance on "You Bet Your Life" for a Christmas present for my husband. We have already found & ordered his two main little books he published with all his stories. (His television appearance may have been cut, but the radio broadcast did air.)
From the reading I have done so far, I don't think it is true that South Dakota named Ed Ryan the "biggest liar in South Dakota". The reason why is that one account from littlebighorn.info is the only one I've seen saying that, and because Grandpa Ed frequently gave a wink and a nod to allude to the fact his stories were pretty much tall tales. Also, if you read his stories he published, they read a lot like Paul Bunyon style tall tales & are quite obviously untrue. These are in the same book as the tale of being the lone survivor of Custers last stand.
Any other info anyone else has would be greatly appreciated. My husband has never known anyone from this side of his family & it has been a blessing to find out a little about it & a real hoot to find out what a character his grandfather was. We know he was born of Irish immigrant parents, and I believe the "granddaughter" he spoke of in his book might actually be my mother in law. She was born in 1947, and would have been 3 or 4 at the time he wrote the book, and if Ed was pretending to be 97 at the time, he could not have passed her off as being his daughter! But it also could have been an actual granddaughter from one of his older children.
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Post by desertswo on Dec 4, 2012 21:48:21 GMT -6
This is weird as I just stumbled upon this site quite accidentally while looking for something else. Anyway, your husband and I are probably related, as Ed Ryan was my great-uncle. I'm 56 and my paternal grandmother was Ed's sister, Mary Ann Ryan born in 1879. She married Martin Eagen in 1901. He was 30 at the time.
My extended family (my father had 12 brothers and sisters) used to talk about Ed and how what a master of disseminating bovine excrement he was. I never met him as I believe he died sometime in the 50s when I either hadn't been born yet, or was otherwise clueless. However, there is a photograph that I believe is in the possession of my cousin Mary Lou Egan Gilman. She is the keeper of all the genealogy stuff about the Eagen/Egan clan (yes, they are spelled differently because there is a disagreement among family members with regard to the proper spelling) and the Ryans. The photograph I was alluding to shows my parents and three older sisters standing in front of Mt. Rushmore with Ed.
Anyway, Mary Lou is on Facebook (as am I); just do a search for her name. Hope your husband can find out whatever he needs to know.
Sincerely, Mike Eagen, Captain, USN(Ret)
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Post by mwinn84 on Apr 25, 2015 22:58:13 GMT -6
I know we've discussed this before (can't find it) but it's always a fun story to revisit. This was submitted to a friend: In late 1940's or early 50's - Groucho Marx had a game show called "You Bet Your Life". On this show, he had a man in his 90's who claimed to be the last of Custer's men.
When Custer left for Little Big Horn, he was left behind to care for two sick men. Shortly, the first man died. Soon the other two decided to catch up with the others. Soon, the other man died.
When this man caught up with Custer, they were all dead. He did not know where he really was and what to do, so he went AWOL for 70 plus years.
Is there Kinoscope recording of this show available? Could be an interesting story here. I believe the person on Groucho's show was Windolph, but I've never heard the parts about the two other guys or going AWOL. Has anyone actually seen or heard the show, or is this just a growing legend?
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Post by mwinn84 on Apr 25, 2015 23:00:50 GMT -6
I know we've discussed this before (can't find it) but it's always a fun story to revisit. This was submitted to a friend: In late 1940's or early 50's - Groucho Marx had a game show called "You Bet Your Life". On this show, he had a man in his 90's who claimed to be the last of Custer's men.
When Custer left for Little Big Horn, he was left behind to care for two sick men. Shortly, the first man died. Soon the other two decided to catch up with the others. Soon, the other man died.
When this man caught up with Custer, they were all dead. He did not know where he really was and what to do, so he went AWOL for 70 plus years.
Is there Kinoscope recording of this show available? Could be an interesting story here. I believe the person on Groucho's show was Windolph, but I've never heard the parts about the two other guys or going AWOL. Has anyone actually seen or heard the show, or is this just a growing legend?
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Post by mwinn84 on Apr 25, 2015 23:27:15 GMT -6
Diane Merkel, I was 8yrs old in 1956. Our family was on a work/vacation in Rapid City, South Dakota. My father was a salesman for a local lumber company in Aurora, Il. that also had a lumber yard in Rapid City, South Dakota. While we were out there in South Dakota, we traveled to Custer State Park and the famous "Needles Hyway". After exiting one of the tunnels, a large group of site see'ers were gathered around a old man signing autographs while standing outside of his car. This man had long gray hair and a good size full gray beard. He was signing different photos of himself in various places in the Black Hills. The reason why he was signing autographs is because of his claim that when he was 20yrs old, he was once part of the 7th Calvery under the command of the famous Gen. G.A. Custer in 1876 and the reason why he didn't die at the LBH is because he stayed behind to take care of two sick or injured soldiers. My father bought some of the photos that this old gentleman was selling. My father and mother died in '97 and '99 and I know that I have the photos in my work shop in storage boxes. When I get a chance, I'll look for these photos and post them on here.
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Post by tubman13 on Apr 26, 2015 5:01:37 GMT -6
Diane Merkel, I was 8yrs old in 1956. Our family was on a work/vacation in Rapid City, South Dakota. My father was a salesman for a local lumber company in Aurora, Il. that also had a lumber yard in Rapid City, South Dakota. While we were out there in South Dakota, we traveled to Custer State Park and the famous "Needles Hyway". After exiting one of the tunnels, a large group of site see'ers were gathered around a old man signing autographs while standing outside of his car. This man had long gray hair and a good size full gray beard. He was signing different photos of himself in various places in the Black Hills. The reason why he was signing autographs is because of his claim that when he was 20yrs old, he was once part of the 7th Calvery under the command of the famous Gen. G.A. Custer in 1876 and the reason why he didn't die at the LBH is because he stayed behind to take care of two sick or injured soldiers. My father bought some of the photos that this old gentleman was selling. My father and mother died in '97 and '99 and I know that I have the photos in my work shop in storage boxes. When I get a chance, I'll look for these photos and post them on here. Windolph, died in 1950 last battle survivor. The person you allude to could have been one left behind at the depot, not involved in actual fight. Sill would love to see the photos.
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Post by fred on Apr 26, 2015 6:30:25 GMT -6
Diane Merkel, I was 8yrs old in 1956. Our family was on a work/vacation in Rapid City, South Dakota. My father was a salesman for a local lumber company in Aurora, Il. that also had a lumber yard in Rapid City, South Dakota. While we were out there in South Dakota, we traveled to Custer State Park and the famous "Needles Hyway". After exiting one of the tunnels, a large group of site see'ers were gathered around a old man signing autographs while standing outside of his car. This man had long gray hair and a good size full gray beard. He was signing different photos of himself in various places in the Black Hills. The reason why he was signing autographs is because of his claim that when he was 20yrs old, he was once part of the 7th Calvery under the command of the famous Gen. G.A. Custer in 1876 and the reason why he didn't die at the LBH is because he stayed behind to take care of two sick or injured soldiers. My father bought some of the photos that this old gentleman was selling. mwinn84, It would be extremely interesting to see those photos, but I must tell you the last fellows of the 7th Cavalry to die were Charles Windolph who died in Lead, SD, March 11, 1950, at the age of 98, the last white survivor of the battle itself. Jacob Horner died in Bismarck, ND, on September 21, 1951. Horner was the last surviving member of the Seventh Cavalry participating in the Sioux campaign of 1876, but he had been left at the Powder River Depot with more than 100 others. Still, it would be cool as heck to see what you have. Best wishes, Fred.
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Post by imsailing on Feb 1, 2017 2:25:01 GMT -6
This is weird as I just stumbled upon this site quite accidentally while looking for something else. Anyway, your husband and I are probably related, as Ed Ryan was my great-uncle. I'm 56 and my paternal grandmother was Ed's sister, Mary Ann Ryan born in 1879. She married Martin Eagen in 1901. He was 30 at the time. My extended family (my father had 12 brothers and sisters) used to talk about Ed and how what a master of disseminating bovine excrement he was. I never met him as I believe he died sometime in the 50s when I either hadn't been born yet, or was otherwise clueless. However, there is a photograph that I believe is in the possession of my cousin Mary Lou Egan Gilman. She is the keeper of all the genealogy stuff about the Eagen/Egan clan (yes, they are spelled differently because there is a disagreement among family members with regard to the proper spelling) and the Ryans. The photograph I was alluding to shows my parents and three older sisters standing in front of Mt. Rushmore with Ed. Anyway, Mary Lou is on Facebook (as am I); just do a search for her name. Hope your husband can find out whatever he needs to know. Sincerely, Mike Eagen, Captain, USN(Ret) Mike, Sorry I never responded. Lost the link to this and forgot about it!! I have seen a lot of Eagen family stuff on Ancestry....linked into the Ryan clan. Yes, Ed did pass away in 1955. I would love to see that photo. I believe you and my husband are second cousins! How cool! His mom & your dad would be 1st cousins! A few years after Ed passed away, his wife also died. My mother in law was raised by her older sister whose husband was in the military and they ended up out here in CA where my husband was born and they stayed. Because of that, he never knew any of his mother's family other than her 1/2 sister. Thanks for your response and sorry I didn't see it until now. Great to "meet" you! I will try to find you guys on FB.
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Post by imsailing on Feb 1, 2017 2:31:04 GMT -6
Diane Merkel, I was 8yrs old in 1956. Our family was on a work/vacation in Rapid City, South Dakota. My father was a salesman for a local lumber company in Aurora, Il. that also had a lumber yard in Rapid City, South Dakota. While we were out there in South Dakota, we traveled to Custer State Park and the famous "Needles Hyway". After exiting one of the tunnels, a large group of site see'ers were gathered around a old man signing autographs while standing outside of his car. This man had long gray hair and a good size full gray beard. He was signing different photos of himself in various places in the Black Hills. The reason why he was signing autographs is because of his claim that when he was 20yrs old, he was once part of the 7th Calvery under the command of the famous Gen. G.A. Custer in 1876 and the reason why he didn't die at the LBH is because he stayed behind to take care of two sick or injured soldiers. My father bought some of the photos that this old gentleman was selling. My father and mother died in '97 and '99 and I know that I have the photos in my work shop in storage boxes. When I get a chance, I'll look for these photos and post them on here. I would sure love to see those photos and show them to my husband. Ed Ryan was the old man and he was my husband's grandfather. My husband never knew him....Ed died in 1955. We have found his books. I wonder if you remember a little girl being with him? He had a young daughter late in life....we think he often passed her off as his granddaughter, as he was telling people he was in his 90's!!! That little girl was my mother in law and he often brought her with him on his shenanigans!
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