THE CIVIL WAR: THE TRUE STORY BOOK 1

Abram Joseph Ryan

Abram Joseph Ryan (February 5, 1838 – April 22, 1886) was an American poet, an active proponent of the Confederate States of America, and a Catholic priest. He has been called the "Poet-Priest of the South" and, less frequently, the "Poet Laureate of the Confederacy."

He was born Matthew Abraham Ryan in Hagerstown, Maryland on February 5, 1838, the fourth child of Irish immigrants Matthew Ryan and his wife, Mary Coughlin, both of Clogheen, County Tipperary, and their first to be born in the United States. The family had initially settled in Norfolk, Virginia, after their arrival in America sometime prior to 1835, but soon moved to Maryland, where the father obtained work as the overseer of a plantation, and named his newborn son after its owner.

In 1840 the family relocated to Ralls County, Missouri, and then, in 1846, to St. Louis, where the father opened a general store. The young Abraham Ryan, as he was called, was educated at St. Joseph's Academy, run by the Christian Brothers. Showing a strong inclination to piety, he was encouraged by his mother and teachers to consider becoming a priest. Ryan decided to test a calling to the priesthood and on September 16, 1851, at the age of 13, entered the College of St. Mary's of the Barrens, near Perryville, Missouri, which was run by the Vincentian Fathers as a minor seminary for young candidates for the priesthood, providing them a classical education with free room and board. By the time of his graduation in 1855, he had decided to pursue Holy Orders, and broke off contact with a young woman with whom he had grown up and whom he later considered his "spiritual wife".

Ryan then entered the Vincentians, taking the oath of obedience to the Congregation. He did three more years of study at the college during the course of which, on June 19, 1857, he received minor orders. The poetry that he wrote to entertain his schoolmates impressed them, especially one who recorded the texts in a personal journal. In 1858, shortly after the death of his father, Ryan was sent to the Seminary of Our Lady of the Angels near Niagara Falls, New York. He was sent there both to pursue his study of theology and to serve as the prefect of discipline for the boys enrolled at the preparatory school attached to the seminary.

Ryan soon showed signs of discontent with his situation there. In January 1859 he wrote his Provincial Superior, complaining that the expected instruction in theology was not being done and about the weight of his workload with the boys, being alone in this task. A reply counseling patience brought another request for a change of the situation which included a veiled hint at the possibility of his leaving the Congregation. The situation was soon remedied to his satisfaction, as his own studies were resumed and his younger brother, David, now also a member of the Congregation, was assigned to assist him.

The Ryan brothers felt out of place at the seminary as Southerners, and Abraham Ryan soon began to express his opposition to the abolitionist movement then gaining popularity in the Northeast. He then joined in the sentiment expressed by the Catholic bishops and editors of the nation in that period, who felt threatened by the anti-Catholic opinions expressed by the leadership of the Abolitionists. His writings in that period began to express suspicion of Northern goals. Possibly for thay reason, Ryan was sent back to St. Mary of the Barrens, as their superiors might have decided to keep the brothers separated.

During the winter of 1860, Ryan gave a lecture series through which he started to gain notice as a speaker. He was ordained a deacon that summer after which he was chosen to accompany a group of Vincentian priests who were to do a preaching tour of the rural parishes of the region in order to revive devotion to the faith. His abilities as a preacher gained wide approval, and his superiors decided to have him ordained a priest earlier than was the normal age under church law. Having gained the permission of the Holy See, on September 12, 1860, he was ordained a priest. The ceremony took place at his home parish in St. Louis, with the ordination being performed by the Bishop of St. Louis, Peter Richard Kenrick, with his mother and siblings in attendance.