I am seeking additional information about the following forebears who lived in Florence Village/Northampton in Hampshire County, Massachusetts from ca 1860 to ca 1900:
º THOMAS GILLEN (born in Ireland ca 1841). On 19 Apr 1864, Thomas married ELLEN RYAN, whose father, JAMES RYAN, lived in Willliamsburg. On 4 Mar 1865, a daughter, MARY JANE GILLEN, was born to Thomas and Ellen in Florence. Oral history indicates Ellen left the family when Mary Jane was a very small child. Ellen does not appear with the family in the 1870 US census.
º In the late 1860s, Thomas GILLEN and his father, GEORGE GILLEN (born in Ireland ca 1796), had a cutlery shop in the area. George, Thomas, Mary Jane, and Thomas's mother BRIDGET (born in Ireland ca 1798) appear together in the 1870 US census in Northampton.
º In the 1880s US census, BRIDGET and Mary Jane were living with Bridget's son MICHAEL GILLEN (born in Ireland ca 1830) and his wife Jane, most likely on Prospect St. in Florence Village. Michael GILLEN was working at the Nonotuck Mill, most likely in the dye house. Mary Jane, then 15, was working at the mill, too. I am unable to identify Thomas and George GILLEN in the 1880 census, and I am unable to find relevant information at the Massachusetts Archive.
º Michael died in 1893 and his widow Jane in 1897. In Michael's obituary, reference was made to a "first wife" and a daughter from that union.
º In 1887, Mary Jane GILLEN married Anthony Solon of Indiana in Silver City, New Mexico. They had four daughters and spent the remainder of their days in Los Angeles, California.
Has anyone information about JAMES RYAN of Williamsburg before or after 1864?
ELLEN RYAN GILLEN after 1865?
THOMAS GILLEN after 1870?
GEORGE GILLEN after 1870?
BRIDGET GILLEN (whose maiden is thought to have been FOLEY) after 1880?
Has anyone information about the same individuals in Ireland and their arrival in the United States?
Any assistance or information will be most appreciated.

Here is what I found on NEHGS vitals for Williamburg.I did not search other towns there too many without specifics.
Dec.16, 1885 Northampton,Florence, Williamsburg
John Duffy 28 painter b. Holyoke parents Dennis and Ann 1 st marriage
Bridget Gillen (Carmody) 33 at home b. Greenfield parents John and Winnie Carmody 2nd marriage
Rev.John McMahen NOrthampton
Aug.17, 1893 death
Michael Gillen 63 yrs.8 mos. 6 days apoplexy silk dryer b. Ireland parents George snd Bridget Foley

Jan. 11, 1863 birth Twins
Martha Ann Gillen
Mary Jane Gillen parents Michael and Mary McGrath

Dec.29,1858 death
James Ryan 4 yrs. 8 mos. 27 days Haydenville cause of death scarletina parents Thomas and Mary Ryan

Jan. 1, 1860 birth
James Ryan Haydenville parents Michael and Elizabeth Ryan
father brass worker
Feb. 9, 1861 birth
James Ryan parents Thomas and Mary father brass finisher both b. Ireland

Oct.28, 1891 Sunderland marriage
James E. Ryan Williamsburg 28 hotel clerk b. Williamsburg parents Mary and Thomas 1st marriage
Dolly A.Hitchcock Sunderland 25 dressmaker b.Sunderland
parent Elizabeth Hitchcock 1 st marriage
E.P.Butler Clergyman, Sunderland father was not listed.
Tina

Hi, CarlislesDad. My wife, a reference librarian at Meekins Library in Williamsburg, just phoned me to ask whether she had forwarded to me a query you sent to the library a while back. She hadn't (one of the hazards of a very heavily used and severely underfunded library), but when she read it to me it reminded me of your post here, which I had seen some time ago but hadn't answered for lack of helpful information.

I'm the genealogist of the Williamsburg Historical Society, and I've compiled genealogical files on most of the 18th, 19th and early 20th century families of Williamsburg. There were a number of Ryan families here in the 19th century, and several James Ryans among them. None of those James Ryans is recorded as having had had a daughter Ellen born here in the 1830s or '40s. It's entirely possible that that's because Ellen was born in Ireland before her father came to America, but I have no other information in my files about any Ellen Ryan in Williamsburg who would fit your timeline.

Do you have any other information about James, Ellen, or her siblings that might help to identify the right Ryan family in my files (if indeed they are in my files at all)?

You may already have checked census records in Williamsburg for James Ryan. In case you haven't, I find no adult male Ryans at all in the census of 1850; no adult James Ryan in 1860; and only one adult James Ryan in 1870, he being a 75-year-old man with no occupation living in the household of Michael and Elizabeth Ryan, aged 37 and 35 respectively. It appears likely that James was Michael's father or uncle. He could also have been the father of your Ellen, perhaps, but I have no information at all that would tell us about that.

I've restricted my broad-but-shallow research to families who lived in Williamsburg during the time when they lived here. I haven't pursued descendants who later moved out of town. So I have no information for you about your Florence people, even though Florence is just a short distance from here.

Dear Mr. Weber, ¶Many thanks to you (and to your wife) for your response to my posting. ¶Unfortunately, I have no additional information on the Ryans in Williamsburg. Ellen Ryan Gillen remains a family mystery, and I only learned of her Williamsburg connection and her father's name, James, when I obtained a copy of the marriage license between her and Thomas Gillen. (I just finished reading IN THE SHADOW OF THE DAM and was hoping to find some Ryan--and Gillen--information in it. None was there; however, I certainly enjoyed the book.) ¶Thank you again very much your response. /s/ G. Redman/CarlislesDad

Dear Tina, ¶My apologies for being so long in acknowledging your response to my posting. ¶Some of the information you provided is information I already have, but I genuinely appreciate your taking the time to look up the data and compile it in a response. It was very generous of you. ¶The Gillen family and especially Ellen Ryan Gillen are an on-going challenge. ¶Thank you again for the information you shared. ¶Sincerely, /s/ G. Redman/CarlislesDad