Background
Thomas Barbour Bryan was born on December 22, 1828 in Alexandria, Virginia, and died in Washington, D. C. His parents, Daniel and Mary Barbour Bryan were both representatives of Virginia families accustomed to public leadership.
Thomas Barbour Bryan was born on December 22, 1828 in Alexandria, Virginia, and died in Washington, D. C. His parents, Daniel and Mary Barbour Bryan were both representatives of Virginia families accustomed to public leadership.
Thomas attended a Southern school, and in 1849 was graduated in law at Harvard.
At the age of twelve Thomas Bryan delivered a sermon before a large congregation; at seventeen he did his part toward the war in Mexico by giving of his oratory as an aid to recruiting; at twenty-one he published a grammar for the use of Germans desiring to learn English.
He practised law in Cincinnati from 1849 till 1853, when he removed to Chicago, partly to find a more lucrative practise and partly to avail himself of financial opportunities in real estate. Both of these objectives were realized.
During the 1860's he was ardently pro-Union. He devoted his resources liberally to the Northern cause, and, indorsing the view that the Southern leaders were "arch traitors, alone responsible for the war", made frequent speeches to enhearten troops.
At the conclusion of hostilities he went with his family for an extended residence in Europe, in order to rest himself, but before leaving, as newly elected president of the Old Soldiers' Home, he purchased and gave to his wounded veterans the original copy of the Emancipation Proclamation.
In 1875-78 Bryan was a commissioner of the District of Columbia, but it was in the years 1889-93 that he was most generally known.
He was among the first to suggest bringing the World's Fair to Chicago, and in January 1890, he presented before a committee of the Senate in Washington the claims of his city as the fittest place for the projected celebration. His speech is generally regarded as having governed the committee in its decision. As vice-president of the great Fair, he was tireless and effective, going twice to Europe as its advocate and interpreter.
In his religious affiliation Bryan was a Christian.
He became a leading "office-counsellor, " and in business his enterprises ranged from the promotion of auditoriums to cemeteries.
Being a well-versed lawyer, familiar with all the legal forms and technicalities, as well as the routine of the real estate business, being thoroughly acquainted with the value and character of all the lands in and around the city and his fidelity to trusts being proverbial, clients have always felt that whatever proceeded from Mr. Bryan's office, whether a title deed, an abstract of title, or words of advice, was not to be questioned. Mr. Bryan, it is safe to say, has more warm personal friends than any other prominent citizen of Chicago. None know him but to love him. Never, in respect to any man, has this been more true than it is in his case.
He also wrote poems and epigrams, adapted fables, translated sermons to read aloud in his private chapel, entertained sumptuously, and spoke brightly at many banquets. Chicago twice refused to elect him mayor, but otherwise accepted him without reservation, overlooking the "old-Virginian haughtiness" which, cropping out at times, it was complained, made him not altogether agreeable.
Bryan was a member of the Chicago Young Men's Library Association.
A brisk, energetic little man, capable in affairs, he had the reputation of being widely erudite in languages and literature.
He had rather generous soul and genuine patriotism was an inseparable element of his nature.
While in the University he gave especial attention to the study of the German language, for which he had a great admiration and in which he became a ready speaker and writer; indeed, whilst prosecuting his college studies, he wrote a book in the German language, the aim of which was to facilitate the acquisition of our own tongue by the Germans. The book was a marked success. In the dead languages and in French and Italian he is also proficient.
At the age of twenty-two, Bryan married Jane Byrd Page, the daughter of an army chaplain. He had two children, several palatial residences, and countless close friends.