Isaiah Appollos Ryan was born on July 4, 1847 in Fowler, St. Lawrence County, New York. When he was 17 years old, his parents were paid $100.00 for him to take the place in the United States Army of a man who had been drafted, as was the acceptable custom at that time.

His military record showed he was mustered into service on March 10, 1865. He stood 5' 8" tall and had blue eyes, brown hair, and a fair complexion. Ryan served as a private in Co. F of the 193rd Infantry, New York Volunteers. He was a dispatch rider through the Cumberland Gap during the Civil War, carrying messages between the Union Armies. He was mustered out on Jan. 18, 1866 at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

After the war, Isaiah became a farmer and mason contractor in southern Wisconsin. He owned a succession of farms in Walworth County, including a dairy farm in 1930 in Lyons, Wis.

He married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Wilson (1860-1937) in 1880, and they had three children: Louis James Ryan of Lake Geneva, Joseph of Elkhorn, and Bessie (Mrs. Sam) Dunbar of Rockford, Illinois.

By 1940 he had retired from farming and was living in the home of his youngest son, Joseph, in Elkhorn, along with Joseph's wife Lillie, and their daughter Shirley. Lizzie had predeceased him by three years.

Despite being in his 90s, he was in good enough shape to attend the National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1938, which commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

In 1941, at the age of 93, he suffered a fractured hip, and died at his home on April 10. By that time, Isaiah was the last surviving member of the Grand Army of the Republic in Walworth County. His funeral took place at the Elkhorn Methodist Church with burial next to his wife in Oak Hill Cemetery, Elkhorn.

His grave marker has "Ryan" on one side and "Wilson" on the other. It is listed in the records as owned by the Wilsons.

In 2018, members of Col. Hans Heg Camp 15 marked Ryan's grave with a medallion and held a ceremony to honor him as the last Union Veteran of Walworth County.

Sources:
1880 United States Federal Census, Hebron, McHenry County, Illinois
1940 United States Federal Census, Elkhorn, Walworth, Wisconsin
New York, Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861-1900, New York State Archives
Wisconsin, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1801-1928
Belvidere Daily Republican, Belvidere, Illinois, 11 April 1941, Page 3
The Capital Times, Madison, Wis., 11 Apr 1941, Page 9
"Walworth County's Last Link to the Civil War." Lake Geneva Regional News, May 16, 2018
Find-s-Grave Memorial #18622769

Researched and submitted by Kent Peterson, PDC, Department Signals Officer