Edward Charles Ryan is secretary of the Mutual Building & Loan Association of Emporia, which is his native city, and he represents one of the old family names in that section of the state.
The Mutual Building & Loan Association, whose other executive officers are A. H. Plumb, president, and M. C. Little, treasurer, was established in 1907, and after eight years of business now had assets of over $800,000. It receives money in payment on stock deposits and loans on real estate and buildings in Emporia and farms in that section. It is one of the best managed and most prosperous concerns of the kind in the state. The offices of the association are at 11 West Sixth Avenue.
Edward Charles Ryan was born at Emporia June 15, 1877, and is a son of Thomas L. Ryan, who for many years had been one of Emporia’s successful manufacturers. The family is of Irish ancestry, and Andrew Ryan, grandfather of Edward C., was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1798. He grew up and married there, and afterwards emigrated to Ontario, Canada, where he followed farming until his death in 1852. He was a liberal in politics. Andrew Ryan married Mary Loughran, who was born in County Armagh in 1800 and died in the Province of Ontario in 1886. Their children were: Andrew, who was killed by a falling tree on his farm in Ontario in 1846; Anna, who died in Ireland; Mary, who died in Ontario in 1915, as the wife of Henry Bennett, a farmer, also deceased; Patrick, who was a sailor and died in Michigan; Catherine, who married Thomas McCann, a farmer, and both died in Michigan; Margaret, who married John Ward, a Canadian farmer, and they died in Ontario; James, who died at Halstead, Kansas, in 1913, was a blacksmith by trade and a very prominent republican in that section of the state, having served as sheriff a number of years and also as justice of the peace; and Thomas L., who was the eighth and youngest of the family.
Thomas L. Ryan was born March 1, 1841, in Lenark County, Ontario, Canada, was reared on a farm in that province, learned the trade of carriage maker, and on January 1, 1864, moved to New York State. He served in the state militia until the close of the Civil war and then followed his trade until he moved to Emporia in 1869. Since that date for more than forty-five years he had been an active factor in local business affairs. His carriage factory is one of the largest concerns of its kind in Southern Kansas, and is one of the principal establishments in Emporia, located on East Sixth Avenue. Thomas L. Ryan had also played a part in local affairs, having served as sheriff four years, as deputy United States marshal several years, and for four years was county treasurer of Lyon County. At one time he was a director and stockholder of the Emporia National Bank. Thomas L. Ryan married Mary Friel, who was born in Ontario in 1848. They are the parents of three children: Louis D., who was born September 26, 1875, and is a veterinary surgeon at Emporia; Edward C.; and Thomas Leo, born June 16, 1880, and now in the produce business at Eureka, Kansas.
Edward C. Ryan had spent practically all his life in Emporia and was graduated from the high school of that city in 1894. About the time he left high school his father was serving as county treasurer and he became his deputy and served four years. His next experience was as teller in the Emporia Savings Bank, and he held the same position in the Emporia National Bank from 1900 to 1910. Since 1910 he had been secretary of the Mutual Building & Loan Association.
In 1904 at Emporia he married Miss Margaret Gilmore, daughter of David and Margaret Gilmore. Her father, now deceased, was a furniture dealer in Emporia, and her mother is still living in that city. To their marriage have been born two children: Charles, Jr., born March 5, 1908, and now a student in the public schools; and Margaret Gilmore, born August 4, 1914.