James J. Ryan came to Morse in 1906 and filed on a homestead south of Morse. In 1908 he decided to start up a dray business. For his business all he had to start was his wheelbarrow. Eventually he got a horse and a light wagon, then finally a team and a sturdy wagon. His business boomed with them having enough work for two teams. As his side gig he decided to start the “Morse Monitor” which later became the “Morse News”. His involvement in the paper didn’t last long as he sold the paper to Andrew King who sent W.A. Nicholson to take charge. Mr. Ryan accepted the appointment of Secretary-Treasurer of the Local Improvement District 165 in 1910 and he was also one of the early members of the Independent Order of Oddfellows. In April 1910 James opened a real estate business and insurance agency. It was called the J.J. Ryan Agency. In July 1910 a fire broke out in the Stevens Brothers Livery which destroyed it, the Elkhorn Hotel, Mr. Ryan’s Real Estate Agency, The Canadian Bank of Commerce, and the Imperial Lumber Yards. In January 1912 he formed a partnership with C.M. Long and the name changed to The Morse Realty Company. A year later they added Frank M. as another partner. With this firm Miss Martha Jones (Later Parker), was the first stenographer in Morse. The business operated until 1932 when they closed. Throughout the years Mr. James J. Ryan helped in the building of the town in a multitude of ways. You can see all our latest updates and posts by following us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MorseMuseumAndCulturalCentre/and Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/morsemuseumsk/.
Blogs are written by museum staff and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Morse Museum & Cultural Centre, its Board of Directors or sponsors.
0 Comments
|