Natalie Ryan (1923 - aft. 1943)

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Biography

According to my mother, Carol, Natalie was thrown out of the house at a young age for becoming pregnant. This information was given to her from Natalie's son, Ralph.

After quite a bit of research, I came across a Natalie Ryan listed as an inmate for The House of the Good Shepherd on the 1940 census - at the same time I found another Natalie Ryan (same age, same city) listed on the 1940 census at the family home address. After more digging, and many telephone calls, I am under the impression that they are the same person.

However, The House of the Good Shepherd did not take in expectant mothers. So, it's possible that Ralph was not her only child, as he was born in 1943. Now, this is all speculation, of course. As that family line is essentially a brick wall at this time, I'm not sure how much more information I will uncover along the way.

According to my mother, Natalie moved to New York at some point, and apparently, the state had taken custody of her son, Ralph, due to malnutrition. She was told that she would not be able to regain custody unless she was married. With this knowledge, she did get married. Whether it was strictly to regain custody, I can't say.

Unfortunately, the state of New York did not approve of her marriage, as it was to an African American man, and refused to giver her custody. I can speculate that the marriage took place after 1943, and sometime before 1953. The man she married, whom is unknown to me at this time, was apparently an affluent man, who owned multiple funeral homes within the state. Unfortunately, his wealth (although I'm sure if had more to do with the color of his skin) was not enough to convince the state that Natalie would be able to provide for her son.

Natalie, in turn, became depressed, and committed suicide. Her death date is unknown, but again, can be speculated. Her son, Ralph, was approximately 9 years old when this took place. This information was known to him personally.

Sources

1. Alphabetical index of the births, marriages and deaths, recorded in Providence
2. 1935 Rhode Island State Census