Before I Was Yours

  When Maggie Ryan was 15 years old, she was taken from her parents’ home. It happened in May of 1894 in the middle of the night. Her family never heard a sound from their daughter or her kidnapper. 
 
The authorities searched for her several years until the police closed the case. Back then the police didn’t have the sophisticated crime tools to help with these cases. They did use many sniffer dogs in the search.
 
Her parents, Michael and Kate, were beside themselves with worry and stress, so much so that Maggie’s mother took to her bed for most of the search. She couldn’t deal with the police questioning and left it to her husband to deal with. It was a very tough time for him. Beside the worry over Maggie, he had to take care of his brood, go to work and help with the police inquiries. He was very stressed to say the least.

Maggie was the Ryan’s second oldest daughter of their nine children and a lovely girl that her family cared deeply for. Her siblings always looked out for each other, so they were devastated that they hadn’t been able to find Maggie after she was taken.
 
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Michael had met Kate Donovan were introduced by Kate’s cousin, Sadie, who was a friend of Michaels sister. When they met, they felt a spark between them and that spark never went away. Mike courted Kate for over a year then they married in April of 1864. 
 
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The Ryan’s first child was born a year later and was a fine healthy boy that they named Edward. They went on to have five more children in the next ten years. John, Mary, David, Timothy, and Pryor, called Perry. 
 
The couple had twins, Margaret Agatha and Catherine Agnes who they called Maggie and Katie. Then they had Francis, then Fredrick.
 
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In 1892 a tragedy hit the Ryan’s. One of their twin daughters, Katie, died of pneumonia. Katies twin, Maggie, was totally devastated at losing her dear sister. She sat on the porch not eating much but crying a lot. She never really got over this great loss.
 
Her mother, Kate, still prayed night and day for some relief from her pain. For her father it was the end of his going to church. He couldn’t understand a God that would allow his daughter to be taken from them. He had been praying the whole time she was ill, so he felt God had forgotten them.
 
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In May of 1894 Maggie was kidnapped from her home. She and her siblings had gone to bed that night as usual. In the spring of each year Maggie liked to sleep on their large front, porch. She didn’t like to spend much time in the room she had shared with her twin, Katie, who she missed desperately, so sleeping on the porch was a nice distraction.
 
She enjoyed the breeze that blew the smell of freshly blooming lilacs outside in their yard. She liked to go to bed early so she could read for a while before she went to sleep. Little did she know that someone was watching her from the vacant lot across the street.
 
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It was in mid-May that Maggie disappeared. In the morning when Kate called her kids to breakfast, Maggie wasn’t with them so the whole family looked for her. She was not found, and the police were called to report her kidnapping and extended family, neighbors and friends were asked to help in the search.
 
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The police did the best they could with the search for Maggie Ryan. They used hounds to follower her scent to a side road near her home then the trail went cold. Her family’s hopes had been dashed.
 
Maggie’s older brothers, Ed, Jack and Dave were out searching too. Ed had an old wagon he hitched the family horse to and roamed the county roads for any sign of his sister. They were out all day and night for weeks.
 
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The search for Maggie Ryan went on for three weeks and at that point the police called it off although the Ryan’s and their friends kept searching. They just couldn’t stop until some sign of her was found. But it wasn’t to be and when it was a month after the abduction, they also slowed their search. Her eldest brother Ed, who was 19, couldn’t give up. Wherever he went he kept a sharp eye out for any sign of his Maggie.
 
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Living in a small town in a friendly neighborhood the Ryan’s rarely locked their doors so the culprit came on the porch and went straight to Maggie. He covered her mouth with his large hand and took her out to his wagon that he had left down the road. At the wagon he stuffed a rag in her mouth so she couldn’t cry out and tied her wrists together and covered her eyes so she couldn’t see where he was taking her.
 
He drove through the woods, and they eventually stopped in the middle of nowhere. He slung her over his shoulder and walked quickly through the woods to a cabin deep in the forest. When they got there, he tied her to a bedpost while he started a fire in the grate. While he sat near the fire, she could see his face and she thought she had seen him somewhere before, maybe with one of her brothers.
 
Steve told her, “I fell in love with you the first time I saw you and I want you for my own. She told him, “I remember seeing you near our house. I think you were watching me.”
 
Over the many days that followed, Maggie played the game of the victim with her captor, letting him think she was being friendly. She felt that if she acted happy to be with him, she might survive longer, which was the case.
 
Her smile put him at ease. He said, “We will have a wonderful life together.” He then gave her something to eat and drink.
 
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Steve then threw Maggie on an old dirty mattress on the floor and climbed onto her. Maggie wasn’t sure what was going to happen. She just knew that he was crushing her with his weight, and he was hurting her. She didn’t understand why he was doing this when he said he loved her. It was then that her mind went to a different place, so she didn’t have to experience the attack. Her mind stayed away many days as her captor continued to assault her. 
 
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Maggie watched every move he made hoping that at some point he wouldn’t be watching her, and she could somehow escape. Her chance finally came on the fifth day. He was out somewhere so Katie worked hard to free her hands from the rope and after she was free, she ran out of the cabin and into the woods hoping to hide from him, but Steve was smart, and he soon found her.
Maggie was fearful at what Steve might do next, but he just told her, “You are mine now so don’t even think about leaving me.”
 
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Steve was glad to finally have Maggie in his life so he started to pamper her, feeding her chocolates and having her drink some wine. He thought she might be more agreeable if she got a little drunk.
 
Maggie had never had alcohol, so she didn’t know what to expect. She got a headache and felt a bit dizzy but continued to charm her kidnapper.
 
She told him, “Before I was yours, I never slept away from my home, I never drank alcohol, and I never had a man lay on me. You have changed my life forever,” and she smiled, keeping up her pretense of the girlfriend.
 
This put him in a good mood and so once again he assaulted her thinking how great it was that she was now making love to him.
 
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It wasn’t long before he was suspicious of her and the positive things she was saying to him when the look on her face wasn’t positive. He realized that if he was caught, she would point him out to the police and he would go to prison forever. 
 
Steve decided that he needed to get rid of her, so he dragged her further into the woods and tied her to a tree and left. Maggie was sure she was going to die. She was sad to not be able to get back to her family but was glad to be away from him and his attacks.
 
Steve came back to check on her, but he thought she was dead. When she saw him coming, she played dead. He was beside himself with grief at losing the love of his life, but he knew that he didn’t want the cops to find him, so he ran off.
 
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The Ryan’s never gave up hope that their Maggie would one day be found but they had to eventually go on with life. Kate still had children at home to care for, so she forced herself to carry on but she mourned her huge loss in silence, often crying into her dishpan.
 
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Maggie was cold, tired and fearful that he would come back for her, so she worked very hard to free herself from the tree and after quite a while the ropes loosened and she ran the whole way back to town. She saw a neighbor lady who brought her to her home where she ran to her mother who hugged her for a long time, as did her dad.
 
Maggie told the story of how she lived through the ordeal and exclaimed how happy she was to be home. She rarely left the house for many months.
 
The police searched for the culprit, but they had no luck finding him. Her case was never solved but the family didn’t care being so relieved she was home.
 
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Maggie went on to have a happy life. She finished school and helped at the shop now and then. She met a young man at school who she fell in love with. Norman was a kind and very shy boy, but Maggie could easily talk with him. They felt comfortable together. They stayed a couple through school and the years afterward until they were both 24 and then married.
 
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Kate Ryan died at her home in 1908. Her death was a great shock to her family and friends as it was not generally known until the day of her death that she was seriously ill. She suffered an attack of Apoplexy, although she had been in good health, but she failed to rally from this stroke.
 
She had her family around her before she passed, and she hugged them all. She held on to Maggie longer than usual, happy to have her girl nearby. Then she was gone. Her children had a hard time believing she was dead, not wanting it to be so. Mike slumped into a chair trying not to cry in front of his kids.
 
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Michael Ryan carried on with his life after his wife’s death. He depended on the help of his children and friends for relief from the memory of losing his wife.
 
He delved into his work at the emporium to keep his mind busy. Mike was known as a man of integrity, of sturdy character and a good citizen and neighbor, but he was often seen with a stern look on his face, feeling sad at the loss he had suffered.
 
He did help his children deal with the death of their mother which in turn helped himself. He would talk of Kate and all the wonderful things she did for her family and his kids would chime in with memories of her helping around the house.  
 
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Michael Henry Ryan died at the home of his daughter, Mary, in Antigo, Michigan. Heart disease was the cause of his death. He had suffered with a bad heart for many years, so it wasn’t a surprise when he died. His community grieved his death remembering the kind proprietor of his shop.
 
His sons Ed, Jack and Dave took over the running of their father’s emporium after his death. Maggie helped at the shop at times. They felt a kinship working there and often told stories of their dad’s life to their customers and in return some of them would tell what they remembered of Mike.
 
Maggie and Norman had four children, so they had a very busy home life which she was very happy with. She would remember her kidnapping with anxiety but could, most times, put it out of her mind. She was a good wife and mother always taking time to listen to her family’s laments. She especially enjoyed her time working with her brothers at the emporium. They talked of their parents and their own families and encouraged each other in all matters of life.
 
The Ryan’s emporium was kept in business for many generations after Michael’s death. He would have been proud of his family for keeping it going. ​

Cathy LaForge Tonkin is an author who has written 3 books, "Leave 'er Lay," "Kids on the Porch," and "Upside Down and Backwards". She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BFA in art education and a BA in art history and had a 30-year career as a graphic designer. In retirement, and during the Covid lockdown, she has written many short stories based on her ancestors’ lives and her immediate family. 

Image by Andreas Eriksson

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