[2] Ryan entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia at age 15 to begin his studies for the priesthood.

Upon meeting Ryan, Cardinal Alessandro Barnabò of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith supposedly exclaimed, "What young men they make Visitors in America!

[5] In one of his final acts as Visitor, he transferred the provincial headquarters from St. Louis to the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia in 1867.

Ryan's fellow Vincentian, Bishop John Timon of the Diocese of Buffalo, New York, died in April 1867.

[4] He initially refused to accept the position and returned his letter of appointment to Rome, but he eventually conceded.

[7] He also engaged in a public controversy with Arthur Coxe, the Episcopal Bishop of Western New York, over the issue of apostolic succession.