Daniel Bryan (Virginia politician)

Bryan was born in 1789 in rural Rockingham County, Virginia.[1]

Sources disagree whether Bryan's maternal uncle was Daniel Boone.[1][2][3] If he was Boone's nephew, then Bryan's father would have William Bryan, one of the founders of Bryan Station, and his mother Mary Boone Bryan, sister of Daniel Boone.[4][5]

Bryan attended Washington Academy (today's Washington and Lee University), but did not graduate.[1] He studied law at home.[1]

In 1813, he published his first book, The Mountain Muse, which mainly consisted of the 5,600 line poem "The Adventures of Daniel Boone".[1] This book made him relatively well-known.[6]

Bryan practiced as a lawyer.[1]

He married Rebecca Davenport on October 15, 1915, but she died the following year, widowing Bryan.[1][2]

On April 8, 1818, Bryan married Mary Thomas Barbour, who became Mary Thomas Bryan.[1][2][7][8] Marrying into the esteemed Barbour family, Bryan's new brothers-in-law were James Barbour and Philip Pendleton Barbour, and his new father-in-law was Thomas Barbour.[7][8][9]

In 1818, Bryan was elected to serve in the Senate of Virginia.[1] Being an abolitionist, on January 26, 1820, Bryan cast the lone vote in the Virginia Senate against advocating for the admission of Missouri as a slave state.[1] He delivered a passionate speech, denouncing the institution of slavery in the United States and calling for gradual emancipation.[1] This placed him in direct opposition to the pro-Missiouri stances held by his brothers-in-law.[1]

On April 8, 1821, Bryan was appointed postmaster of Alexandria, Virginia, and began what would be a more than three-decade tenure in this job.[1][2] With Bryan not being present at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond at the start of the new 1821 legislative session, the Senate declared his seat vacant, thus ending his tenure.[1]

Shortly after his service in the Senate of Virginia, he began publishing his poetry in periodicals, often anonymously using only his initials, and also began publishing them in short books.[1] The 1820s yielded the most poetry from him of any decade of his life.[1] Notable works included the 1826 works The Lay of Gratitude (1826), a tribute he wrote to the Marquis de Lafayette and The Appeal for Suffering Genius, which called for support to be given to suffering artists.[1] Throughout his career as a poet, his style remained consistent, and his works espoused strong nationalism, as well as vocalized support for reform causes such as temperance, the education of women, and the movement to end dueling.[1]

In the 1820s, he also garnered a reputation as a talented orator.[1] He would sometimes deliver speeches in verse.[1]

In 1820, Bryan's wife gave birth to their daughter Mariana. Mariana would marry Jedediah H. Lathrop in 1843 (with whom she had several children, including Barbour Lathrop and Bryan Lathrop).[8]

In 1828, Bryan's wife gave birth to their son Thomas Barbour Bryan, who would marry Jennie Byrd Page in 1850 (with whom he would have three children, including Charles Page Bryan).[8]

In 1853, Bryan resigned as postmaster in order to take a job in the United States Department of the Treasury's library.[1]

During the American Civil War, he opposed secession, remained a strong unionist, but remained living in Virginia.[1]

After the Civil War, he and his wife moved to Washington, D.C., where Bryan would die on December 22, 1866.[1] Bryan was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.[2]