{{Short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = | image = Daniel Ryan Sr. CE (1).jpg | birth_date = {{Birth based on age at death|61|1923|06|13}} | birth_place = [[County Tipperary]], Ireland | death_date = {{Death date and given age|1923|06|13|61}} | death_place = [[Chicago]], Illinois | office = [[President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Cook County, Illinois - Secretary of the Board |url=https://legacy.cookcountyil.gov/secretary/past_presidents.htm |website=legacy.cookcountyil.gov |publisher=Office of the Secretary to the Board of the Cook County Board of Commissioners |accessdate=28 October 2020 |archive-date=October 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031152635/https://legacy.cookcountyil.gov/secretary/past_presidents.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> | order = | term_start = February 26, 1921 | term_end = December 1922 | predecessor = [[Peter Reinberg]] | successor = [[Anton Cermak]] | office1 = Member of the [[Cook County Board of Commissioners]] | term_start1 = December 1918 | term_end1 = June 13, 1923 | successor1 = [[Dan Ryan Jr.]] | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | occupation = | spouse = | children = }} '''Daniel Ryan Sr.''' (1861/1862–1923) was an Irish-American politician who served as a member and president of the [[Cook County Board of Commissioners]].
==Biography== Ryan was born in [[County Tipperary]], [[Ireland]].<ref name="Burial1"/> In his early twenties, he moved to [[Chicago]],<ref name="Burial1"/> settling in the [[Englewood, Chicago|Englewood]] neighborhood.<ref name="obit1"/>
In his early career in Chicago, he worked at the [[Union Stock Yards]].<ref name="Burial1"/><ref name="obit1"/> At the Union Stock Yards, he would quickly become a successful buyer.<ref name="Burial1"/> He would later become a [[cement]] contractor.<ref name="obit1"/>
He would become a prominent [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] politician, becoming the party's leader in Chicago's 32nd ward.<ref name="Burial1"/><ref name="obit1"/>
Ryan was a charter member of the Englewood Council of the [[Knights of Columbus]].<ref name="obit1"/> He also was a 4th degree member of the LaSalle Assembly, a member of the St. Bernard's Holy Name Society, and a member of the [[Catholic Order of Foresters]].<ref name="obit1"/>
In 1912, there was a split in the local Democratic Party, with those allied with [[Roger C. Sullivan]] and [[Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne]] being divided against those who were allied with [[Carter Harrison IV]] and [[William Randolph Hearst]]. Ryan allied himself with Harrison and Hearst.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sullivan Hosts Sing About Foes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102925812/sullivan-hosts-sing-about-foes/ |via=Newspapers.com |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=7 |access-date=2022-05-31 |language=en |date=16 Apr 1912}}</ref>
===Cook County Board of Commissioners=== Ryan served on the [[Cook County Board of Commissioners]] for nine years.<ref name="Burial1">{{cite news |title=Burial Service for Daniel Ryan to be Saturday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94563091/chicago-tribune/ |via=Newspapers.com |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=10 |access-date=2022-05-31 |language=en |date=14 Jun 1923}}</ref> He was elected to the board as a member from the city of Chicago in 1914.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cook County and Chicago Election Results. (Incomplete Returns.) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102924775/cook-county-and-chicago-election/ |via=Newspapers.com |newspaper=[[The Day Book]] |page=26 |access-date=2022-05-31 |language=en |date=4 Nov 1914}}</ref> He would be reelected as a commissioner in 1918<ref>{{cite news |title=Probable Winners As Indicated by the Latest Returns |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102925042/probable-winners/ |via=Newspapers.com |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=3 |access-date=2022-05-31 |language=en |date=6 Nov 1918}}</ref> and 1922.<ref>{{cite news |title=Result of Tuesday's Election |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102925187/result-of-tuesdays-election/ |via=Newspapers.com |newspaper=Suburbanite Economist |page=8 |access-date=2022-05-31 |language=en |date=10 Nov 1922}}</ref>
Ryan was a leading figure in the early development of the [[Forest Preserve District of Cook County]].<ref name="obit1"/>
After the 1921 death in office of board president [[Peter Reinberg]], Ryan was selected to finish his term as board president.<ref name="obit1"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Eaglets |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102925307/eaglets/ |via=Newspapers.com |newspaper=[[Chicago Eagle]] |page=4 |access-date=2022-05-31 |language=en |date=25 Mar 1922}}</ref> He formally assumed the office on February 26, 1921.<ref name="Burial1"/> He had been selected unanimously by the members of the board.<ref name="Stroke">{{cite news |title=Daniel Ryan of County Board Suffers Stroke |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102925415/daniel-ryan-of-county-board-suffers/ |via=Newspapers.com |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=3 |access-date=2022-05-31 |language=en |date=27 May 1923}}</ref> He served until the end of Reinberg's term in December 1922. During his tenure of board president, the county led United States counties in road paving, and the county built a new juvenile home.<ref name="Burial1"/>
[[Anton J. Cermak]] was chosen for the 1922 Democratic nomination for county board president over Ryan when the [[Democratic Party of Cook County]] organization selected their [[Slate (elections)|slate]], a move that Parke Brown of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' attributed to Ryan's "alliance with [[William Hale Thompson|Thompsonism]]".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Parke |title=Democrats Pick County Slate; Discord Fades |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102925537/democrats-pick-county-slate-discord/ |via=Newspapers.com |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=5 |access-date=2022-05-31 |language=en |date=3 Feb 1922}}</ref>
===Death=== On May 26, 1923, Ryan was hospitalized after suffering a "stroke of apoplexy".<ref name="obit1"/><ref name="Stroke"/> Ryan died June 12, 1923, at the [[University of Chicago Medical Center]].<ref name="obit1"/> He was 61 years old.<ref name="Burial1"/> Ryan was survived by his wife, Alice, five sons, and a daughter.<ref name="obit1">{{cite news |title=County Commissioner Dan Ryan Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4472131/suburbanite-economist/ |via=Newspapers.com |newspaper=Suburbanite Economist |page=16 |access-date=2022-05-31 |language=en |date=15 Jun 1923}}</ref> He was buried at Chicago's [[Mount Olivet Cemetery (Chicago)|Mount Olivet Cemetery]].<ref name="obit1"/>
[[Dan Ryan Jr.]], Ryan's own son, was elected to fill his seat on the Cook County Board of Commissioners.<ref>{{cite news |title=Daniel Ryan Dies; Leader in Illinois; President of Cook County Board of Commissioners -- In Politics 37 Years |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/04/09/archives/daniel-ryan-dies-leader-in-illinois-president-of-cook-county-board.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=86 |access-date=7 August 2021 |language=en |date=9 April 1961 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
In 1924, the Beverly Hills preserve of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County was renamed "Daniel Ryan Woods" after him.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dan Ryan Woods |url=https://fpdcc.com/places/locations/dan-ryan-woods/ |website=Forest Preserves of Cook County |access-date=9 August 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Daniel Sr.}} [[Category:1860s births]] [[Category:1923 deaths]] [[Category:Illinois Democrats]] [[Category:Presidents of the Cook County Board of Commissioners]] [[Category:Irish emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:Politicians from County Tipperary]] [[Category:Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Chicago)]]