John Ryan was born in 1740, in Belfast, Maine. John's family moved to Edgecomb, Maine, during his childhood but the records indicate he spent almost all of his adult life in Belfast. He was a yeoman (farmer) and constable. He married Lucy Stevens (1748-1829) in 1771. They had eight children: James (born 1773); Dennison (born 1775); John (born 1776); Catherine (1778-1856); Ezra (born 1781); Charles (born 1783); Lewis (1785-1872); and William (born 1788). He died on October 22, 1818. Ephraim McKeen, along with Samuel B. Hansen, were appointed commissioners of his estate.

Lewis Ryan was born on November 1, 1785, in Edgecomb, Maine, the son of John and Lucy Ryan. He was a yeoman. He died on October 25, 1872, in Waldo, Maine.

William Ryan was born 1795, in Belfast, Maine. He was a yeoman. He married Nancy McKean (1801-1883) in 1820 and they had eight children: Anna Marie (1820-1822), Charles F. (1822-1824), William Henry (1824-1881), Lucy E. (1825-1828), Benjamin Franklin (1828-1857), Lewis H. (1829-1895), George Flowers (1832-1907), and Thomas E. (1833-1863). He died in 1875.

William Henry Ryan was born on June 21, 1824, in Belfast, Maine, the son of William and Nancy Ryan. He married Sarah A. Cunningham (born circa 1832) in 1850. He was listed as a sailor in the 1850 census but by 1860 was a miner in California where he died on May 1, 1881, in Columbia.

Benjamin Franklin Ryan was born on January 5, 1828, the son of William and Nancy Ryan. He was a seaman and married Sylvia Ames (born 1830) in 1852. He was lost at sea in 1857.

Lewis H. Ryan was born on November 29, 1829, in Belfast, Maine, the son of William and Nancy Ryan. He was a mariner who mastered the schooner Frances Ellen. He married Martha E. Hopkins (1833-1876) in 1853. He died on August 29, 1895 in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

George Flowers Ryan was born on February 11, 1832, in Belfast, Maine, the son of William and Nancy Ryan. He was a ship captain and mastered the schooners Polly and Thomas as well as owning shares of other ships such as the schooners Malabar and Mason. He married Ellen P. Maddocks (1842-1922) in 1862 and they had three children together: Lillian V. (1862-1942), Lucie E. (1864-1926), and Franklin George (1866-1898). Captain Franklin G. Ryan died at sea while in charge of the schooner James Holmes, a ship his father had captained. George F. died on August 25, 1907.

Thomas E. Ryan was born on January 13, 1833, in Belfast, Maine, the son of William and Nancy Ryan. He married Lydia S. Wyman (born circa 1835) in 1857 and they had one son, Thomas E. (born 1863). He died on February 3, 1863 in Belfast.