John Ryle (October 22, 1817 – November 6, 1887) was an English-born silk manufacturer, best known for being the "father of the United States silk industry". He was the Mayor of Paterson, New Jersey from 1869 to 1870.
Born in Bollington, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, Ryle started working in the silk mills of his native town at the age of five, where he a "bobbin boy". His family had been involved in the silk industry for generations, and his two eldest brothers, Reuben and William Ryle, were England's largest manufacturers of silk.
Early life
John Ryle was one of seventeen children born to Peter and Sarah (Brunt) Ryle. Only five of the children lived to maturity: Reuben, William, Sarah, John, and Peter Jr.
John Ryle's father died in 1820, when John was three years old, and his mother's death four years later left him and his siblings orphans. Until he came of age, he worked in various silk mills in and about Macclesfield. Ryle sailed to the United States from Liverpool on 1 March 1839, with the intention of staking out business for his two brothers and seeing how the silk industry was progressing in America. He did not intend at first to remain in the country.
When Ryle arrived in 1839, silk was not manufactured to any great extent in the United States. The multicaulis fever was then at its height, and America promised to be the silk-producing country of the world. One of those most largely interested in this multicaulis speculation was Samuel Whitmarsh of Northampton, Massachusetts. This gentleman had a small silk mill, and Ryle went there and obtained employment. His work here, however, was short-lived, for in that same year the multicaulis speculation collapsed, and his employer, Mr. Whitmarsh, was ruined in the crash that followed.
John Ryle then returned to New York and for a short time imported the products of the looms of his brothers in England and carried on the business of importing and selling in a small way at the corner of Maiden Lane and William Streets.
Silk manufacturing in Paterson
During his first year in the United States, Ryle met George W. Murray, who at that time wanted to work in the silk-manufacturing business.
Murray and Ryle went to Christopher Colt, in Hartford, Connecticut, who had a small plant of silk machinery and had made an unsuccessful attempt at manufacturing in what became known as the Old Gun Mill in Paterson. In 1840, Murray bought the plant and placed it in charge of John Ryle, who three years later was admitted to partnership. The business was then carried out under the name of Murray & Ryle. In 1846, Ryle, with the assistance of his two brothers who remained in Macclesfield, bought out Murray's interest and continued the business alone. The following year he bought the building in which his machinery stood and continued to increase his facilities. In 1850, having thoroughly established his business here and wanting to increase his knowledge of manufacturing methods elsewhere, he went to Europe and visited the principal manufactories of France, Italy, and Switzerland. A fair specimen of Ryle's establishment was the manufacture of a large flag that waved over the Crystal Palace during the World's Fair in New York City in 1855. About that time, he bought the romantic valley and heights surrounding the Passaic Falls and the following year expended large sums of money enhancing their already magnificent beauty. At that time Paterson had no public park, so Ryle purchased a grand park and opened it to the people of Paterson.
The city of Paterson at this time had no water service, so John Ryle, after procuring the necessary legislative authority through a charter granted to the Passaic Water Company, built the reservoir now known as the lower reservoir in the Falls Park grounds. He proceeded to lay the necessary mains through the principal streets of the city. The water for the reservoir which supplied these mains was taken from the Passaic River, behind the Old Gun Mill, and pumped to the reservoir by the means of an old plunger pump. Ryle was the founder of and first president of the Passaic Water Company.
In 1855, Ryle formed a partnership with his nephew, William Ryle of England. After about two years, his nephew withdrew, and John Ryle continued the business alone for a number of years. About 1866, the firm of John Ryle & Co., was formed - John C. Ryle, son of his brother Reuben in England, became a partner, and a large and successful business was carried on by them in the Murray Mill until 1869.