James Ryan
Alcatraz register no. 189. The warden's notebook page records receipt from Leavenworth on 4 September 1934 under a 20-year sentence and $10,000 fine for post-office robbery, and a transfer back on 28 April 1942.
- Born
- 1892-02-13
- Aliases
- Silent Jim (catalog title), James Vincent Ryan (catalog title)
- Rights
- Biography on this page is limited to what the cited federal records state. The identification photograph is a Bureau of Prisons record, public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105.
On the record
- 1934-09-04 — The warden's notebook page (NAID 236734919) records him received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth, age 42, date of birth 2/13/92, offense "P.O. Robbery," dated March 28, 1934, sentence "20 years & $10,000 fine," district "D- Minn."
- 1934-09-04 — A staff note on the page says the prisoner "has been associated with what was known as the Toughy gang for a number of years" (spelled so on the page). That is a staff statement, not a finding.
- 1942-04-28 — The page is stamped "TRANSFERRED APR 28 1942"; the catalog gives a transfer on 04/28/1942 to US Penitentiary, Leavenworth.
The catalog’s remark for this register number prints “MEMBER OF TOUHY GANG; ASSAULTED BY CAPONE.” This archive has not matched the second part of that remark to any dated record and does not repeat it as fact; the National Park Service names a different inmate as the man who attacked Capone in 1936. The catalog gives a birth date of 02/13/1892 and no death date. The role and family fields are left empty because no record cited here states either. Offenses are given as the notebook form prints them; the “Reason for Transfer” boxes are staff opinion and are not used.
Records
itemAlcatraz warden's notebook page for James Ryan, No. 189Bureau of Prisons notebook page with the identification photograph of James Ryan, No. 189, received at Alcatraz from Leavenworth on 4 September 1934 under a 20-year sentence and $10,000 fine for post-office (mail) robbery (District of Minnesota); stamped transferred to Leavenworth on 28 April 1942. A copy is stored here.item"The Man Who Tried to Kill Al Capone" (National Park Service, Alcatraz Island)National Park Service article on Alcatraz inmate James "Tex" Lucas. It states that on June 23, 1936 Lucas attacked Capone in the shower room and that Capone suffered a minor chest wound and superficial cuts to his hands.itemAlcatraz (Federal Bureau of Prisons history page)The Bureau of Prisons' history page on Alcatraz names Al Capone among the well-known criminals who did time there, and says most of its prisoners were not well-known gangsters.