John Martin Ryan Earned His Place In Hillsboro's History By Delivering The Mail

Hillsboro grew up around the land claim of David Hill, a farmer who arrived in the East Tualatin Plains in the early 1840s and is often given top credit for establishing the Pacific NW Territory through his early work in politics. Hill established the area’s first post office in his cabin in 1843, naming it “Columbus.” Columbus became the county seat when Oregon’s territorial government formed Washington County in 1849. Following Hill’s death in May 1850, the new settlement was renamed Hillsborough in his honor, using the English spelling. Later, the town folk would change it to Hillsboro as it is now spelled.

After that first humble postal outpost, the City would build much larger buildings to house some of the biggest postal offices in the region. Below are some Hillsboro post offices from 1880, 1900, and 1930—all are gone now.

Hillsboro Post Office 1930 – Torn Down to make way for the 4th and Main Apartments – Dirk Knudsen Collection

As the homes around the old downtown area grew, modern conveniences like wooden boardwalks and wood plan roads came along. At that point came the need for walking carriers. Moreover, the folks living on the farms around Hillsboro needed the mail as it was not easy to get into the big city to get the mail! Enter John Martin Ryan, the 1st Postal Carrier out of the Hillsboro, Oregon post office. Read the story below, written by Michael Christensen and submitted by historian Ginny Mapes to the Herald!

John Martin Ryan

Hillsboro’s First City Postal Carrier . . .by Michael Christensen

I don’t have many famous relatives in my family tree, but having said that, I do have a family member who holds a certain distinction, that maybe he should be a little famous for. What is this distinction, you may ask? Well, allow me to introduce you to my great uncle, John Martin Ryan, first city mail carrier of Hillsboro, Oregon.

John Ryan was a familiar sight in Hillsboro, in his blue uniform and mail carrier cap, not to mention that good-humored Irish twinkle in his eyes. He was a popular guy, grew up a few miles away from Hillsboro, in what was considered Helvetia, but the family always referred to the family farm’s location as Mason Hill. He was always interested in what the folks on his route were up to, and made friends wherever he went.

This interest in the fine, hard working folks of his mail route, made John the perfect mail carrier.

That he held a distinction from other postal carriers was secondary to John, he was modest about it, because he knew the distinction was just luck, procedural, not a bestowed honor, someone had to be Hillsboro’s first city carrier. Which in no way meant the story was not worth telling, and John would tell it, at least until the day he retired. He would point out the badge on his city carrier cap, with the number one, proving that he was in fact, the first city carrier of Hillsboro, Oregon. Of course, he would point out, “Bill Goether, promoted the same day, with the number two on his cap, was the Hillsboro’s second city carrier,” this followed by his familiar, jovial laugh.

Before John became a postal carrier, he had written in his diary on March 28, 1910 “started to work on road again fine day feel better in open air.” John was a man of the outdoors, he was happiest with his rifle or fishing pole, hunting and fishing the abundant local game. So becoming a rural postal carrier must have appealed to him.

It wasn’t long after that journal entry he decided to take the civil service examination in hopes of becoming a mail carrier. He passed the exam and was appointed rural mail carrier on Route 3, Hillsboro, on April 16, 1910. It appears that he took over the route from a man named Edward B. Poole. We know this because, on the day he started on Route 3, April 18, 1910, he wrote in his journal, “Fine day carried mail all day bought out Poole …” What he probably meant by “bought out Poole,” was to purchase some part of the horse, buggy, and tack that Poole used in his job as a rural carrier and would no longer need.

Hillsboro, Oregon’s 1st Postal Carrier, John Martin Ryan

According to a journal entry made on October 30, 1911 by his sister Margaret, “John had started to carrying mail for P.O. at North Plains.”

John would spend his first three and a half years as a rural carrier on Hillsboro Route 3. When John was hired to the post office, deliveries were only made to the rural customers, farmers, ranchers, and the other folks living outside the city limits. To these folks, coming to town for their mail would be considered a hardship, so the rural postal carriers were created.

To demonstrate the relationship John had with the folks on his rural and city route, he would tell how they, when away from home, worded their postcard salutations “It was always ‘Dear Folks and John,’ because they knew I’d read them,” he’d say, followed by that familiar laugh.

Things were much different in Hillsboro when John started with the postal service, in fact it’s safe to say, things were still pretty wild. There is a journal entry John made that talks about him being held up while delivering the mail. On June 16, 1910 he wrote how two men were hiding in the woods waiting for him to pass, they tried to jump out and get a hold of him but John was able to draw his pistol and hold them off. I’m unsure if a sidearm was standard issue with rural carriers, or whether he regularly kept a sidearm on the route. Was he expecting trouble that day? One can imagine that being out in those lonely woods with wild animals and wilder men, one would feel safer with it. It certainly paid off this time. . . . .

In 1954, John retired after 44 years at the age of 64. Over John’s career he worked under at least eight postmasters, starting in 1910 with Ben Cornelius. Then came—if memory served him—Herman Schulmerich, James Lamkin, H. A. Ball, Fred Holznagel, L. T. McPheeters, Robert Melquist and C. R. Merrill.

When John retired, he was quoted saying: “The time has gone quickly, and I’ve made a lot of friends. I’ve enjoyed it. Many of my old friends on Route 3 and in Hillsboro have died, but there are still a few old timers left. There’s Mrs. Emma McKinney, Bill Hare, Cal Jack, Tom Tongue, and Joe Klineman. But there aren’t many others among my early associates.”

John also said he had several offers “to sell insurance, cars and real estate,” but he planned to “just take it easy for the time being,” and “live the life of Riley.” So indeed it would be, that 44 years later, the first city carrier for Hillsboro had retired. He would be followed by many others in his position, who served their community honorably, just as John Martin Ryan, the first city carrier of Hillsboro, Oregon, had accomplished.

We thank you, Michael, for the great story, and Ginny for always having an eye for a great history connection.

What is your story? Submit anything you think we should cover or you want to share by emailing us at hillsboroherald@gmail.com.

Tags: History

Comments 1

Larry Capelis says:
2 years ago
There oughta be a column celebrating folks like Mr. Ryan.
Folks who just do their job, in a way that enriches their own lives, but like a rising tide, lifts the rest of us up as well.
My nominee is our mail carrier, Duane, out of Cornelius, who efficiently does his job, whose twinkle in his eye and smile, and as he hands us our mail, invariably brings a smile, to our faces.
He’s a proud father of 4 girls, and caretaker of a well loved vintage volkswagon beetle . . You can see them both at the Forest Grove car show.
Those days when we are lucky enough to be around when he delivers, are somehow, just a little nicer . . Not quite so fraught with niggling irritation, a little more worthy of a good attitude . .
Thank you Duane, and to everyone else who shows up, does their job, greasing the skids of everyday life for all the rest if us.