Judge Lawrence C. Ryan was born in Milledgeville, Ga., September 13, 1845, the son of Charles E. and Mary A. (Buffington) Ryan, and the grandson of Dennis L. Ryan, lawyer and editor. The family is of Irish extraction, the father of Dennis Ryan being a native of Ireland who came to the United States in charge of a theatrical troupe, traveling extensively and meeting with favor.
Judge L. C. Ryan, the youngest child of this family, was an apprentice in a drug store at the age of twelve, remaining there until 1861 when, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted in Company F, Thirty-first Georgia Infantry, serving one year. He went to school at Marietta for a time and then re-entered the army in the Twenty-second Georgia Battalion, and was with this outfit at the time of its surrender at Greensboro, N. C.
The war over, he completed his education, taught for a time, then read law and was admitted to the bar in 1867. He began practice at once in Hawkinsville and his success in Pulaski County was duplicated in surrounding counties in both Federal and Supreme courts. He was appointed county judge in 1884 and reappointed in 1892.
He was married in 1868 to Miss Nora Bozeman, daughter of Judge and Mrs. C. M. Bozeman, of Pulaski County. The following children were born of this union: Mary E., Annie W. (Mrs. M. A. Holliman), Charles B., Lawrence C., Jr., and Franklin B. Judge Ryan was a member of the Episcopal Church and was identified with the I. O. O. F., Masons of the Blue Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and Knights Templar. He died March 24, 1899, having been stricken while addressing the Knights of Pythias a few days previous.
