TENNESSEE HISTORY Classroom
FULL HISTORY STORIES
Father Abram Ryan
Abram Joseph Ryan was born Feb. 5, 1838 in Hagarstown, MD to Matthew
and Mary Coughlin Ryan. The young couple, who had been born and
raised in the village of Clogheen in County Tipperary, Ireland,
was part of the first mass migration of Scots-Irish to the United
States. Shortly after the birth of their son, the couple moved
to Norfolk, VA. In fact, like most early American families, they
moved around a lot as opportunity presented itself and soon the
Ryans took up residence in St. Louis, MO. When Abram reached an
appropriate age to begin his education, the parents, who were
practicing Catholics, sent their son to the Christian Brothers
boarding school in the city. The young man turned out to be a
brilliant student, but soon found his calling in theology and
excelled in the subject. It didn’t surprise many that young
Abram decided to join the Priesthood. He left his home and family
to attend Niagara University in upstate New York. Following his
university studies, he attended Our Lady of Angeles Seminary and
was ordained a priest in the Vincentian Order on Nov. 1, 1856.
The 18-year-old priest started his career as a teacher at Niagara
University and soon returned to his beloved Missouri where he
taught theology at the diocesan seminary in Cape Girardeau, MO.
and remained close to his family.
As sentiment began building in America over the question of State’s
Rights, Father Ryan took an activist stand in favor of the Southern
cause and supported the efforts of the region’s leaders.
His family was also supporters of the South as were most in the
region. When the war began in 1861, the Vatican in Rome began
trying to decide whether or not they should officially recognize
the newly formed Confederate States of America. Father Ryan’s
personal family was joining the Confederate cause and his brothers
enlisting into the service.
As a dedicated priest, Father Ryan knew he couldn’t wait
for any official decision and, on Sept. 1, 1862, enlisted as a
chaplain in the Confederate Army. He was never attached to an
official regiment or staff and served where he was needed. His
appearance wasn’t the norm for a priest. Although he appeared
mature for his age, he had long hair and a unique spiritual magnetism
that attracted attention from all who saw him in action or heard
him speak. As a priest, he was noted for his tenderness and compassion,
but was said to have inherited an Irish temper from his parents.
As the War Between the States began escalating in Northern Virginia,
Ryan found himself performing the priestly functions of delivering
sacraments and last rites to the soldiers from both sides he found
dying on the fields of battle.
Father Ryan also gained a reputation as an Angel of Mercy among
the Confederate soldiers he served and many noted he had no fear
of death. In the heat of some of the heaviest fighting, Father
Ryan knowingly risked his own life on numerous occasions retrieving
wounded soldiers and evacuating them to safety. As the war moved
forward, news soon reached him that his younger brother had been
killed in action in Kentucky. Father Ryan was grief-stricken,
and in an effort to deal with the tragedy, penned a poem that
was eventually published in a Southern newspaper. The words were
such that they gripped people across the region and began earning
the young Priest the nickname "Poet-Priest of the Confederacy".
Father Ryan soon became a noted figure among the Southern leaders
and forged friendships with them. Among his closest of friends
was Confederate States’ President Jefferson Davis, whom admired
the young priest greatly. Father Ryan’s service made him
a popular figure among the soldiers and he, on more than one occasion,
delivered fiery sermons and speeches that inspired them in their
darkest moments on the battlefield.
As the war began to wind down, however, Father Ryan served in
whatever capacity he found he was needed and that brought him
to the war-torn lands of the South’s western theater where
he worked in a number of ways helping the devastated churches
and inspire the congregations to rebuild their homes and cities.
Father Ryan took over parishes in Tennessee and spent a good deal
of time in Nashville, Clarksville and other communities in the
region helping to repair and reestablish the churches damaged
by the war. His reputation as a priest continued to grow and earned
him a respect from Tennesseans reserved for few religious leaders.
When news reached him that General Robert E. Lee had surrendered,
Father Ryan was among thousands of Southerners who were devastated
by the surrender of Richmond. He saw the ruins of a great civilization
lying around him and felt a sense of pride in the solidarity that
still existed among the region’s people who were now defeated.
He once stated his belief that there was no famous land without
its ruins and, in a moment of despair, penned those thoughts on
a shoebox – venting his emotions in a poem he called "The
Conquered Banner".
"Furl that banner," he wrote, "for ’tis weary;
Round its staff ’tis drooping dreary; Furl it, fold it, it
is best; For there’s not a sword to save it; And there’s
no one left to lave it in the blood which heroes gave it; And
now its foes now scorn and brave it; Furl it, hide it – let
it rest !... Furl that Banner, softly, slowly ! Treat it gently
– it is holy – for it droops above the dead. Touch it
not – unfold it never, Let it droop there furled forever,
For its people’s hopes are dead !"
He later told a friend that he had written the measure with an
old Gregorian hymn in mind. He didn’t think much more about
it because, like most Southerners, the priest had to move on with
his life and deal with the problems he knew would lay ahead for
the region.
From May 1865 to June 1866, he made his home at the Church of
the Immaculate Conception in Knoxville. His short time at the
Church of The Immaculate Conception in Knoxville was one where
he did a lot of writing in addition to his duties as a priest.
Although small in numbers, Knoxville’s Catholic community
began growing with the 1850s influx of railroad workers in the
city who were largely Irish.
While the town was dominantly Protestant with Methodist newspaper
editor William "Parson" Brownlow denouncing them in
his publications, the Catholic community continued to grow in
the City. Although Father Ryan’s stay was short at Immaculate
Conception, his sermons were so popular with East Tennesseans
of all faiths that the church was often "standing room only".
People traveled from rural communities throughout the region to
attend his sermons even though most of them would be forced to
gather outside the building on Sunday to hear him. A point that
was not lost on the charismatic priest, who would preach in loud
enough voice for those outside to hear. His no nonsense style
of preaching earned him many critics, in addition to Parson Brownlow.
For many of the city’s Reconstruction leaders, Father Ryan’s
sermons illustrated that he was an unreconstructed rebel that
still "dangerously" believed in the Southern Cause and
supported those who had served the defeated nation.
While it was a cause for concern to them, the little poem he had
written, however, had began taking hold of the South and was growing
in popularity. The poem was soon known in every Southern household
and spoken on every street corner. The sentiments expressed by
Father Ryan captured the emotions of both sides of the war and
became one of the most popular poems in American literary history.
It worked itself overseas where it also became popular and earned
a response from Englishman Sir Henry Houghton who published "A
Reply to ‘The Conquered Banner’" and called on
Southerners to rise above their grief and once again proudly unfurl
the banner to honor those who died in its service and scolded
England for not taking part in the war. The international response
further cemented Father Ryan’s rise to fame.
In a nation where popular poets were very few and unheard of in
most corners, Father Abram Ryan found himself catapulted to the
status of being an international celebrity. During this time,
the priest never slacked on his responsibilities to the Church
and continued to be of great service to it. After leaving Knoxville,
he moved on to New Orleans where he took over a Parish and edited
"The Star" – a Catholic weekly paper and later
relocated to Augusta, GA. where he founded "The Banner of
the South", which was a religious and political weekly paper.
Throughout the years following the phenomenal success of "The
Conquered Banner", America’s first post-war celebrity
never avoided the line of fire or feared addressing controversial
issues that affected the South.
When the "Yellow Fever Epidemic" struck the region in
the late 1870s, thousands began dying and states, still recovering
from the war, did not have the necessary resources to deal with
it and the federal government had no response to the plague.
Memphis, Tenn., who had survived similar epidemics in 1855 and
1873, found themselves in the heart of the outbreak and it was
literally destroying the Tennessee city.
Upon seeing what he felt were his fellow countrymen dying because
of Northern apathy to the epidemic, Father Abram Ryan began one
of his greatest crusades to pressure the federal government into
helping the South deal with the disease.
While he may have wrote his greatest pieces in middle and west
Tennessee, his greatest work in the South was his efforts in Memphis
and other southern cities tending to the sick and dying. No other
city in American history suffered the effects of Yellow Fever
as fiercely as did Memphis in the late 1870s. The disease so crippled
the city’s industries that it had no income and could not
pay its debts. It was in unofficial quarantine and no one conducted
business there without fear of the disease.
In 1878, the Tennessee Legislature was forced to revoke Memphis’
charter as a city. The legislature created a board form of government
for what was called "the taxing district of Shelby County".
Although many claim it was a day of rampant corruption, the board
appointed wasn’t without merit. It did one principal and
miraculous thing in Memphis that saved the city. They established
a simple sewage system that virtually wiped out Yellow Fever in
the City and allowed Memphis to reorganize itself. It wasn’t
rechartered until 1891. The federal government did eventually
get involved with the southern epidemic and help due to the pressure
brought by Father Ryan and other Southern leaders. Their efforts
earned Father Ryan’s respect and, finally, his forgiveness
for the War Between the States.
In 1880 Father Ryan retired to the St. Mary’s Parish in Mobile,
Al. where he continued publishing the weekly literary magazine
"The Banner of the South". He published most of his
poetry and printed out a couple of books, which again elevated
his popularity in American culture. As the nation’s most
popular poet and Catholic Priest, he toured the North and became
one of the nation’s leading public speakers. He never conceded
defeat or offered any apologies for the South during the War Between
the States. On April 22, 1886 while visiting a Franciscan monastery
in Louisville, KY, the 48-year-old priest suddenly and surprisingly
passed away. Father Ryan’s body was returned to his final
Parish in Mobile where he was laid to rest with full honors.
His death shocked the South and he was mourned in churches of
all faiths across America and especially in the region where he
had touched so many lives. In his honor, the Confederate Memorial
Hall in New Orleans placed a stained glass window inscribed with
the poem the "Conquered Banner". His homes in Virginia,
Missouri, and other southern states were marked. In Gulf Port,
Miss. his home became a state historical landmark. His final parish
in Mobile, Ala. where he was buried erected a life-sized statue
of him to quote: "honor his service as a priest, a citizen,
and a patriot."
His poetry continued to grow in popularity after his death as
America moved towards the literary Victorian age. A collection
of his works was published in 1897. The introduction of the book
was able to finally show the impact Father Abram Ryan had on the
South and America during his lifetime. It stated: "So distinguished
a character and so brilliant a man cannot be passed over lightly,
or dealt with sparingly... for Abram Ryan’s fame is the inheritance
of a great and enlightened Nation, and his writings have passed
into time to emblazon its pages and enrich its history."
It is hard to really put into words just how popular Father Ryan
was in America during his day or how much he was respected even
by his enemies. While no definitive documentary of his life exists,
The Catholic Encyclopedia in their biography of Father Ryan described
him in a way reserved for few individuals. They wrote:
"As a man he had a subtle, fascinating nature, full of magnetism
when he saw fit to exert it. As a priest, he was full of tenderness,
gentleness, and courage. In the midst of pestilence he had no
fear of death or disease, even when he was young his feeble body
gave him the appearance of age, and with all this there was the
dreamy mysticism of the poet so manifest in the flesh as to impart
to his personality something which marked him off from all other
men."
Father Abram Ryan’s original books and articles have become
noted collector’s items through the years. Antique bookshop
mangers say an original work by Father Ryan is extremely rare,
but some are still available.
"Father Ryan was a remarkable man in any era, but especially
in the days following the Civil War, when northern newspapers
finally started writing positive articles about the South,"
said collector Daryl Henderson. "While many would say their
attitudes were no big deal to Southerners, they were still the
only source of news available for many in the region and had an
impact on how people perceived post-war America – not to
mention lifting the spirits of a defeated people. Today most of
Father Ryan’s works are sought by Civil War and Victorian
era book collectors. There are only a few copies in circulation
that we know about and those continue to grow in value as people
rediscover his writings and life. An autographed version would
almost be priceless. There are some of Father Ryan’s works
available and one in fair condition can range in price from $100
to $700. "
While copies of Father Ryan’s poems and works can be found
in local libraries, information on his life and times is hard
to find.
Special thanks for this story has to go to the Father Ryan School
in middle Tennessee for providing information on his life and
The Father Ryan Home in Gulf Port, Miss. The Museum of the Confederacy
also helped with numerous details as did the Immaculate Conception
Church in Knoxville.
Father Ryan’s work in Tennessee as a priest, writer, and
American celebrity is also recognized in numerous ways by the
state and cities where he lived. Both Clarksville and Knoxville
claim to be the city where Father Ryan wrote his famous poem "The
Unconquered Banner". The truth is no one really knows where
it was first written but all agree it was somewhere in Tennessee.
In Knoxville, a historical marker commemorates his service to
the parish and the state of Tennessee. During his stay in Knoxville,
Father Ryan was just achieving celebrity status and quickly became
a popular figure in East Tennessee. In fact, his sermons and speeches
had the ability to shape local political thought and often did
on the issues of the day. He is mentioned in many historical texts
on the city and the McClung Historical Collection in Knoxville
has a rare original copy of Father Ryan’s poem in their archives.
In Middle Tennessee, historical markers were also erected and
the Father Abram Ryan School was established to commemorate his
service in that region of Tennessee. The Catholic High School
is considered one of the region’s best and attracts students
from across the state.
There are a lot of myths and legends that have grown up around
Father Ryan through the years and historians still argue over
the finer details of his life. Only recently were historians able
to prove Clogheen was his parents’ hometown in Northern Ireland
and some have even suggested Abram Ryan could have been born there
before his parents immigrated to America. Birth records in those
days were rare and few have survived, especially those of immigrant
families. In Tennessee, Father Ryan left an impression on the
region and the Catholic community that is still felt to this day.
"Abram Ryan was a man who inspired a generation and was with
them every step of the way," said Sevier County teacher Dean
Schneitman. "As Poet Priest of the Confederacy, he gave many
Southern soldiers hope and inspiration with his words. After the
war, he lifted them up again during one of the most trying times
in their history and continued to fight for Southern people during
the Yellow Fever epidemics. Reconstruction politics had created
an air of apathy in the North towards the epidemic’s victims,
but his ability to ‘stay in the face’of the nation’s
leaders and get their attention saved a lot of lives in the South
and made him a hero to untold thousands. It is phenomenal to think
that a Catholic Priest could gain so much respect and attention
in Tennessee, where most of the population is dominantly Protestant,
but you have to remember he was regarded as a home-grown national
celebrity who Tennessee had adopted as one of their own. Father
Ryan was always known for putting other people’s needs ahead
of his own, which says something about his character as a priest
and his ability as an individual to command their respect."