"An improvident Irish-American whaler and prospector, who left his family in Connecticut in his teens and prospected in Alaska, the Philippines, Borneo, and the western states, never with success." Married the widow, Kate Halberstadt. He became an alfalfa farmer in Artesia, California a year after after the birth of their daughter, Thelma Catherine "Patricia" Ryan. After the passing of his wife in 1926, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. His daughter, Thelma, nursed him until his passing in May of 1930.
("Richard M. Nixon: A Life in Full" by Conrad Black)