Northumberland-Tioga County PA Archives Biographies.....Ryon, George W. 1839 - living in 1899 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com July 4, 2005, 11:38 pm Author: Biographical Publishing Co. GEORGE W. RYON, attorney of Shamokin, Pa., a portrait of whom is shown on the opposite page, is widely known as one of the most thoroughly progressive citizens of the Keystone State. Combining rare business ability and tact with a thorough knowledge of law, he has been foremost in advancing the material interests of the town in which he resides and practices his profession. Mr. Ryon was born in Elkland, Tioga County, Pa., April 30, 1839, and is the oldest son of George L. and Hannah (Hammond) Ryon, the latter a descendant of a Connecticut family which early settled in this state. The principal material for this sketch is taken from "The Prominent and Progressive Pennsylvanians of the 19th Century," published by the Record Publishing Co., of Philadelphia, Pa. Our subject's great-grandfathers on both ancestral lines were soldiers in the Continental Army and served throughout the Revolution, one attaining the rank of colonel and commissary-of-subsistence in the division commanded by Gen. Anthony Wayne. John Ryon, Jr., grandfather of our subject and a son of one of the Continental warriors, resided in the Wyoming Valley until about eighteen years of age. He then settled in Elkland where he quickly took a high place in public affairs. He represented the Tioga-Bradford district as state senator for eleven years, being elected as a stanch Democrat. He also was for fifteen years associate judge in Tioga County, which position he filled with dignity and honor. While a member of the senate he introduced a resolution favoring the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency, which resolution was passed by both houses of the State Legislature. Seventy years ago Mr. Ryon was superintendent of the Pennsylvania Canal, and carved in stone in the western end of the Shamokin dam opposite Sunbury his name as such under the date, 1829. When our subject was ten years old his parents removed from Elkland to Lawrenceville, in the same county. George W. grew to manhood on his father's farm, receiving his education in the Lawrenceville Academy, the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, N. Y., and at a commercial college in Rochester, N. Y. After graduating from the Rochester college he was employed for a year as a civil engineer on the Kenosha, Rockford & Rock Island Railroad, having his headquarters at Rockford, 111. In 1859 Mr. Ryon went to Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, Pa., where he began the study of law in the office of his uncle, Judge James Ryon. Two years later he passed a very creditable examination and was admitted to the practice of his profession at Pottsville, Pa. He soon afterwards took up his practice in Lawrenceville, subsequently seeking wider opportunities for his talent, and in 1869 removing to Shamokin, Pa., where he rapidly built up a good practice and where his greatest successes as a lawyer have been made. Always among those most prominent in working to advance the prosperity and development of Shamokin, Mr. Ryon's efforts have been fully appreciated by his fellow-citizens and he has frequently been tendered public office. He was one of the principal organizers and an incorporator of the Shamokin Banking Company and was its first president at the age of thirty-one years, and he yet holds the office. He also was one of the incorporators of the Shamokin Gas Light Company; a promoter of the Shamokin Manufacturing Company, of which he is a director; a stockholder in the Shamokin Water Company; a trustee of the Shamokin Silk Mill, a new industry with a large mill now nearing completion; and is a stockholder in the Shamokin Silk Throwing Company, which was incorporated in December, 1898. For several terms our subject was borough solicitor, and his services were of inestimable value to the borough. In or out of public office Mr. Ryon has been energetic and tireless in his endeavor to promote those things which have been for the public benefit. In politics, as were his ancestors, our subject is an unswerving Democrat. In 1876 he was a delegate to the national convention in St. Louis which nominated Tilden and Hendricks as the national candidates of the Democratic party. He also was a delegate to the state conventions which placed in nomination for governor Heister Clymer and Judge Pershing. In 1881 his party testified to its appreciation of Mr. Ryon's services in its councils and in its behalf gave fitting recognition to his eminence as a lawyer by nominating him as its candidate for president judge of Northumberland County. His popularity with the people of his county was demonstrated strikingly, for, although defeated, his defeat was almost as flattering as would have been a victory. Twelve thousand votes were polled and Mr. Ryon was beaten by only 219 votes. In October, 1891, Gov. Pattison appointed Mr. Ryon a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Charities of Pennsylvania and in November, 1896, he was re-appointed by Gov. Hastings for another term of five years. He has served with energy and painstaking zeal, which have won him the admiration of his fellow members on the board. For many years Mr. Ryon has been a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of Shamokin, and during the major part of his service as trustee he has also been chairman of the board, and yet occupies the important office. He was a member of the committee which supervised the construction of the handsome edifice now occupied by the church society, contributing much of his time and means toward making the building what was desired. Our subject was married on April 29, 1869, to Phoebe Huntzinger, daughter of the late William Huntzinger of Schuylkill Haven, Schuylkill County, Pa. To them have been born three children,—William H., Lewis H., and Bessie. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District Published by Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899) This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/pafiles/ File size: 6.4 Kb