Daniel Bryan (1789 – December 22, 1866) was an American politician, abolitionist, lawyer, poet, and postmaster who served in the Senate of Virginia from 1818 to 1820 and as postmaster of Alexandria, Virginia for more than three decades.
Daniel Bryan | |
|---|---|
| Postmaster of Alexandria, Virginia | |
| In office April 8, 1821 – 1853 | |
| President | James Monroe John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren William Henry Harrison James K. Polk Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore |
| Preceded by | Josiah Watson[1] |
| Succeeded by | Turner W. Ashby[1][2][3] |
| Virginia State Senator | |
| In office 1818–1821 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1789 Rockingham County, Virginia |
| Died | December 22, 1866 Washington, D.C. |
| Resting place | Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C. |
| Spouse(s) |
Rebecca Davenport
(m. 1815; died 1816)Mary Thomas Barbour
(m. 1818; died 1852) |
| Children | 5 (including Thomas Barbour Bryan) |
| Relatives | James Barbour (brother-in-law) Philip P. Barbour (brother-in-law) Thomas Barbour (father-in-law) Charles Page Bryan (grandson) Barbour Lathrop (grandson) Bryan Lathrop (grandson) Florence Lathrop Field Page (granddaughter) Jennie Byrd Bryan Payne (granddaughter) Andrew Wylie (son-in-law} |
Bryan married into the prestigious Barbour family in his second marriage.
Early life
editBryan was born in 1789 in rural Rockingham County, Virginia.[4]
Sources disagree whether Bryan's maternal uncle was Daniel Boone.[4][5][6][7] (Daniel Boone had a nephew named Daniel Bryan, but there is evidence to indicate that this is a different person from the subject of this article. It is likely, however, that the politician/poet Daniel Bryan was more distantly related to Boone.[8]) If he was Boone's nephew, then Bryan's father would have been William Bryan, one of the founders of Bryan Station, and his mother Mary Boone Bryan, sister of Daniel Boone.[9][10]
Bryan attended Washington Academy (today's Washington and Lee University), but did not graduate.[4] He read law at home.[4]
Career
editBryan served in the War of 1812.[11]
In 1813, he published his first book, The Mountain Muse, which mainly consisted of the 5,600 line poem "The Adventures of Daniel Boone".[4] This book made him relatively well-known.[12]
Bryan practiced as a lawyer.[4] Bryan also worked as a teacher.[13]
In 1818, Bryan was elected to serve in the Senate of Virginia.[4] His seat sat in Rockingham County and Shenandoah County.[14][6] 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.[4] He delivered a passionate speech, denouncing the institution of slavery in the United States and calling for gradual emancipation.[4][15] This placed him in direct opposition to the pro-Missiouri stances held by his brothers-in-law.[4]
On April 8, 1821, Bryan was appointed postmaster of Alexandria, Virginia, and began what was a more than three-decade tenure in this job.[4][5] Postmasters were presidentially appointed at the time, and Bryan's tenure spanned the presidencies of James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore.[13] During his tenure as postmaster he issued postmasters provisional stamps,[16][17] including the Alexandria "Blue Boy" Postmaster's Provisional, which has become extremely rare (only one known example remains), holding the record for the highest priced cover of United States philately.[17][18][19][20]
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.[4]
Shortly after his service in the Senate of Virginia ended, he began publishing his poetry in periodicals, often anonymously using only his initials, and also began publishing them in short books.[4] The 1820s yielded the most poetry from him of any decade of his life.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4] His poetry was of the neoclassical genre.[21]
Bryan married Rebecca Davenport on October 15, 1815, but she died the following year, widowing Bryan.[4][5] On April 8, 1818, Bryan married Mary Thomas Barbour, who became Mary Thomas Bryan. She was a member of the esteemed Barbour family[4][5] Marrying into the esteemed Barbour family, Bryan's new brothers-in-law were James Barbour and Philip P. Barbour, and his new father-in-law was Thomas Barbour.[22][23][13][24][25]
In the 1820s, he also garnered a reputation as a talented orator.[4] He sometimes delivered speeches in verse.[4]
In approximately 1852, Bryan was widowed again when Mary Thomas Barbour died.[21]
In 1853, Bryan resigned as postmaster in order to take a job in the United States Department of the Treasury's library.[4]
During the American Civil War, he opposed secession, remained a strong unionist, but continued living in Virginia.[4] Two daughters (Mary Caroline Bryan Wylie and Mariana Bryan Lathrop) both moved to Pennsylvania for safety. Mariana's husband and family moved with, while Mary Caroline's husband took refuge in Washington, D.C..[21]
Personal life
editHe married Rebecca Davenport on October 15, 1815, but she died the following year, widowing Bryan.[4][5]
On April 8, 1818, Bryan married Mary Thomas Barbour, who became Mary Thomas Bryan.[4][5][22][23] His wife was a member of the esteemed Barbour family.[22][23][13] She died circa 1852.[21]
His children were:
- Mariana Bryan (b. 1820), who married Jedediah Hyde Lathrop in 1843 (with whom she had several children, including Barbour Lathrop, Bryan Lathrop, and Florence Lathrop Field Page).[23]
- Mary Caroline Bryan (1825–1896), who married Andrew Wylie in 1845 (with whom she had four children, with son Horace being the only of their children who survived into adulthood)[21]
- Sally Brown (née Bryan)[26]
- Thomas Barbour Bryan (1828–1906), who married Jennie Byrd Page in 1850 (with whom he had three children, including Charles Page Bryan and Jennie Byrd Bryan Payne).[23]
- William Bryan[26]
After the Civil War, he and his wife moved to Washington, D.C., where he died on December 22, 1866.[4] He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.[5][14]
References
edit- ^ a b "The Political Graveyard: Mayors and Postmasters of Alexandria, Virginia". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ "Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America". United States Senate. 1887. p. 66. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States. United States Senate. 1887. p. 387.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y "Bryan, Daniel (ca. 1789–1866)". www.encyclopediavirginia.org. Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - People - Daniel Bryan". www.eapoe.org. Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
- ^ a b "Daniel Boone: His Valley Connections". Massanutten Regional Library. 2012-07-06. Archived from the original on 2021-05-28. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ "Daniel Boone: His Valley Connections". Massanutten Regional Library. 6 July 2012. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ Studer, Wayne (1984). The Frustrated Muse: The Life and Works of Daniel Bryan, c. 1790-1866. University of Minnesota doctoral dissertation. p. 289, n.4.
- ^ "Daniel Bryan (1795-1866)". spenserians.cath.vt.edu. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Mary Boone Bryan". www.usgenwebsites.org. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
- ^ "Daniel Bryan (1795-1866)". spenserians.cath.vt.edu. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ Cash, Jean W. (1990). "Edgar Allan Poe and Daniel Bryan: A Brief Correspondence" (PDF). Studies in the American Renaissance: 107–118. ISSN 0149-015X. JSTOR 30227589. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d "The Alexandria Post Office: A history of more than stamps" (PDF). www.alexandriava.gov. Alexandria Times. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Bryan, Daniel (ca. 1789–1866) – Encyclopedia Virginia". encyclopediavirginia.org. Encyclopedia Virginia (Virginia Humanities).
- ^ Wolfe, Brendan (26 December 2012). "This Day ("I'm Not!" Edition)". evblog.virginiahumanities.org/. Encyclopedia Virginia, The Blog (Virginia Humanities). Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ "Postmasters' Provisional Stamps | National Postal Museum". postalmuseum.si.edu. Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Alexandria Blue Boy Stamp". Mintage World. 2019-08-08. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ Baadke, Michael (25 June 2019). "Alexandria 'Blue Boy' cover auctioned for $1.18 million". Auctions. Linn's Stamp News. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
- ^ Leclere, Estelle (11 June 2015). "The Alexandria Collection Archives". David Feldman SA. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ Baadke, Michael (30 May 2019). "Alexandria Blue Boy returns to auction in June 22 H.R. Harmer New York sale". www.linns.com. Linns Stamp News. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d e "Andrew Wylie, Jr. Family Collection, 1821–1945 - Archives Online at Indiana University". archives.iu.edu. Indiana University Bloomington Archives. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
- ^ a b c Biographical Sketches Of The Leading Men Of Chicago, written by the Best Talent of the Northwest. Chicago: Wilson & St. Clair, Publishers. 1868.
- ^ a b c d e "Bryan001". www.elmhursthistory.org. Elmhurst Historical Society. Archived from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ "The Political Graveyard: Barbour family of Virginia". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "Daniel Bryan marries his second wife, Mary Thomas Barbour. – Encyclopedia Virginia". encyclopediavirginia. Encyclopedia Virginia (Virginia Humanities). Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ a b Keys, Jane Griffith (21 January 1906). "Virginia Heraldry". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 11 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.