- Joined
- May 12, 2010
- Location
- Now Florida but always a Kentuckian
Abram Joseph Ryan was probably born on Feb. 5, 1838 in Hagerstown, Maryland, the son of Irish immigrants. There is some debate on the date and place, as some claim he born a year later in Norfolk, Virginia. Ryan and his family went to St. Louis, Missouri. He was educated at the Christian Brothers School. He then went to Niagra University in New York to study for the priesthood. He was ordained a priest on Nov. 1, 1856 in the Vincentian order.
Father Ryan was a southerner to the core. He enlisted in Confederate Army in 1862 and served as a Chaplain throughout the conflict. It is believed he was at the Battles of Lookout Mtn. and Missionary Ridge. There is well-authenticated service at Battle of Franklin and Battle of Nashville.
His first pieces of poetry, "In Memoriam" and "In Memory of My Brother", were inspired by the death of his younger brother who was serving in the Confederacy in April, 1863 near Mt. Sterling, Ky.
After the war, he moved to several parishs in the South. He finally settled at St. Mary's parish in Mobile, Alabama. There he established a weekly literary magazine called "The Banner of the South". Most of his poetry was published in the magazine. He also published poetry of fellow-southerners, James Ryder Randall, Paul Hamilton Hayne and Sidney Lanier as well as an early story by Mark Twain.
He also put out several volumes of verse, including "Father Ryan's Poems" and "A Crown for Our Queen".
Father Ryan died on April 22, 186 at a Monastery in Louisville, Ky. His body was returned to St. Mary's in Mobile and he is buried at the Catholic Cemetery in Mobile, Alabama. A stained glass window was placed in the Confederate Memorial Hall in New Orleans in his memory.
Father Ryan was a southerner to the core. He enlisted in Confederate Army in 1862 and served as a Chaplain throughout the conflict. It is believed he was at the Battles of Lookout Mtn. and Missionary Ridge. There is well-authenticated service at Battle of Franklin and Battle of Nashville.
His first pieces of poetry, "In Memoriam" and "In Memory of My Brother", were inspired by the death of his younger brother who was serving in the Confederacy in April, 1863 near Mt. Sterling, Ky.
After the war, he moved to several parishs in the South. He finally settled at St. Mary's parish in Mobile, Alabama. There he established a weekly literary magazine called "The Banner of the South". Most of his poetry was published in the magazine. He also published poetry of fellow-southerners, James Ryder Randall, Paul Hamilton Hayne and Sidney Lanier as well as an early story by Mark Twain.
He also put out several volumes of verse, including "Father Ryan's Poems" and "A Crown for Our Queen".
Father Ryan died on April 22, 186 at a Monastery in Louisville, Ky. His body was returned to St. Mary's in Mobile and he is buried at the Catholic Cemetery in Mobile, Alabama. A stained glass window was placed in the Confederate Memorial Hall in New Orleans in his memory.