Editor's Note: I have chosen three sets of Fr. Ryan's personal letters for
this website, based on the criteria described in the Essay. The four letters to his mother
and sister (Eliza) date from years during or immediately following Civil War hostilities when
Fr. Ryan was based in Tennessee. Scanned images of these original handwritten letters
are included with transcripts. Also listed below are transcripts of nine letters written
by Fr. Ryan to his friend Louis B. James during the last five years of his life. The original
copies of these letters have not yet been located. We know of them through a printed
compilation edited by James that appeared in consecutive issues of The Rosary, a
Catholic journal, from September 1897 through January 1898. These letters
hold special interest for the insights they offer into Fr. Ryan's later career as a public
figure, as well as his reflections on philosophical, religious, and poetic matters. Lastly,
I have included three other letters for which we have original copies, each of which holds
references important to Ryan's biography. The letter of August 30, 1883 (to Father Lynch)
establishes Ryan's itinerary to check against other accounts of that year. The August 12, 1884
letter (to the Reverend Mother) includes the only written reference in these letters to Sr.
Mary Josephine Donnallan, who later compiled these archives. And in the second undated letter to
the Reverend Mother, Fr. Ryan mentions the business failure of his Baltimore publisher
which caused him an unexpected financial reversal, and which may have motivated him to continue
a draining schedule of travel for public appearances during the last two years of his life.--DRB
Letter to his mother and sister: September 19, 1864
Letter to his mother and sister: April 7, 1865
Letter to his mother and sister: August 3, 1866
Letter to his mother and sister: September 20, 1866
Letter to Louis B. James: January 3, 1882
Letter to Louis B. James: January 13, 1882?
Letter to Louis B. James: August 27, 1882
Letter to Louis B. James: November 22, 1882
Letter to Louis B. James: January 23, 1883
Letter to Father Lynch: August 30, 1883
Letter to Louis B. James: November 21, 1883
Letter to Louis B. James: December 8, 1883
Letter to Reverend Mother: August 12, 1884
Letter to Reverend Mother: [date unknown] 1884?
Letter to Louis B. James: February 3, 1885
Letter to Louis B. James: February 10, 1886