HomeMy WebLinkAbout0230 The Ryals family paved t e way as pioneer stock in the area before it was named
Zephyrhills! A family history written in 1987 provided by Kenneth Ryals details their history
and contributions to the area. The patriarch is Daniel C. Ryals who brought his family to
Pasco County in 1849. After Daniel's death in 1890, his son Henry Ryals became executor
to his estate, and Daniel was buried a mile from Henry's house in Zephyrhills. In 1963; how-
ever, his tombstone was dug up by workmen and place in the Geiger cemetey next to
Henry's. ' '
A heirloom family trunk was kept by the family and passed
down through descendents, and the artifacts V
in the trunk document the Ryals family ser-
vice in the Indians Wars, Civil War and par- - '•
ticipation in the naming of Pasco County.
family homesteaded 160 acres, which now
encompasses much of the northern
Zephyrhills City limits. Descen-
dent Kenneth has documented
the family as official Pasco
County Pioneers with the - %
genealogy society and offi- •
cial Florida Pioneers (sigh
nifying the family arrived ' '
before the naming of the ; - - • '
state of Florida).
The first ZHS graduate, �� � ; '4s , �,
Stanley Ryals, Sr., is the son �� -4. •
of Sherrod and Margery Ryals. ''- '•',� ;" �"
Stanley was a farmer, logger, ;. i
sawmill operator, and a lumber/ - ' • ,
construction company owner in - , , '.
addition to having many acres of land • _, ,
for cattle and citrus. Stanley and his wife a ti�
Bernice had two children Loretta and Eunice.
This started the second generation of ZHS gradu-
ates.
7 i h
22( NOTE Family members listed a 9 uated frgnf ZHS