Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1896 — BRYAN’SLIFESTORY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

BRYAN’SLIFESTORY

Path He Has Trodden from Obscurity to Fame. MAN OF THE PEOPLE. Early Days and Public Services of Our Candidate. Democracy’s Nominee a Man of Won* derful Brilliancy and Magnetic Personality—Hie Home Life and Family Mrs. Bryan His Mascot—She Is a Lawyer Because Her Hnaband Is One, and Studies Politics Because He Does—Wept for Joy in the Convention. William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic standard bearer, was born in Salem. Marion County, Illinois, March 19, 1860. The name Salem is noted in the history of Illinois, for it was in the village of New Salem that Abraham Lincoln passed the years of his young manhood. It is no less curious to note that Bryan was born in the same year that Lincoln was elected to the presidency of the United States. He sprang from Virginia ancestry. His father, Silas L. Bryan, jvas born at Culpeper Court House, but removed to and was long a resident of Illinois. He was a judge of the Circuit Court when William was born. He served as judge for twelve years, when he resigned. In 1872 the elder Bryan ran for Congress on the Greeley ticket, but was defeated by the narrow plurality of 240 votes. He died in 1880. Mr. Bryan's mother was Maria Elizabeth Jennings. She was born in Marion County, Illinois, where she lived all her life. She died very recently, after a protracted illness. Young Bryan received his education in the public schools of Salem and at Illinois College in Jacksonville, where he was graduated in 1881. Here he was prominent in every phase of college life during his course. He was a good debater, but was even more famous as an all-round athlete. He was

one of the best baseball players the college ever had, and It was said that he pitched as good ball as any man ever at the college. Then he was a good batter, who could be depended upon to get at least a base hit nearly every time he came to the bat. In field sports he was also active, and he holds to this day the record for the hop, skip and jump. Several years after he left the college he attended its games, and, although not in training, outskipped the younger men in several field events. To this day the college takes pride in his literary and athletic achievements alike, and when the Sigma Phi Literary Society thereof held its triennial reunion last June during commencement week, he was chosen to be the orator of the occasion. His speech was a masterly effort, and delivered with that same splendid eloquence whieh captivated the Chicago convention. While at- the Illinois college, Mr. Bryan met Miss Mary E. Baird, the daughter of a merchant in Perry, 111. She was a student in the Annex, and graduated the same year with Mr. Bryan, and, like him, carried off the highest honors of her class. His eloquence stampeded her love. At a country school house, in those days she listened to his recitation one Friday afternoon when the “Soldier of the Legion” was enjoying the early stages of its popularity in provincial oratory. The foundation of a pretty romance w aslaid. The young people met frequently. In the course of time young Bryan proposed. That was the sweetest speech' he ever made, according to the girl who was made happy by its delivery.

Bryan moved from Salem to Jacksonville. He was poor. She said that she would wait. And she did. The struggling young lawyer finally saved enough money to pave the way for a marriage certificate and a humble home. He had meantime pursued a study of law in Chicago, where he was a student in the office of Judge Trumbull, afterward being graduated at the Union College of Law. Admitted to

the bar in 1884, after a brief experience in the office of Brown, Kirby & Russell, at Jacksonville, he commenced the independent practice of his chosen profession, following the same with good success for three years. His “first case” is yet a reminiscent detail with his old associates. He was sent to the local justice court to look after a suit involving S2O or so which had arisen between two farmers. He was as careful in preparing his argument as if he had been arguing before the United States Supreme Court. He won the case, and Mr. Brown, solicitor of the Alton Railroad Company, recalls with enthusiasm the young lawyer’s beaming face, as he reported at the office, all smiles, and shouted, “I have won my first case!” “I remember him as a thoroughly upright, frank, straightforward young man,” says one of his associates of those days. “He was eminent in debate, eloquent and forceful. We used to think that he was somewhat apt to rush to conclusions, but he was a deep thinker, and, as I see it now, he was generally right in his views and always some years ahead of his time. Even at that time he was talking low tariff; just as he began to talk free silver more than three years ahead of the crowd. Among other arguments he used were these: When Alexander was the ruler of the world he kept all ports open and freed the slaves. The last fifty years of England’s success have been largely due to free trade. Those views were

fixed in Bryan’s head, and I have never heard of his going back upon any one of them. Any business Intrusted to his care always met with prompt attention, and his efficiency and reliability were often the subject of comment.” His most noticeable personal characteristic was his loving disposition. He had a winning smile and a kind word for all. This, with his pleasant manner and his personal magentism, made him a universal favorite in Jacksonville. Everybody in the city was his friend. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and a leader in the movements of the young people in the congregation. He used to walk to church every Sunday with his wife and her blind father. His devotion to his afflicted father-in-law was touching. He was assiduous in his attentions to him, and both were happy, the one in the companionship and kindness of the other and the other beaming with affection for his wife’s parent. While in Jacksonville Mr. Bryan was very active in politics. His labors were always in behalf of some one else, however, and he was never a candidate for office. Then as now he was a Democrat. • | Finally, Mr. Bryan thought of going West and picked out Nebraska as his destination. He felt that a wider field would open before him, and in this he found his convictions correct. In 1887 the young couple moved to Lincoln, Neb., and there Mr. Bryan entered upon his profession and also engaged in politics. At a bound he sprang into prominence, and his silver tongue was an incaluculable re-enforcement to the Democratic party, long accustomed to defeat. He gave life antj force to the tenets of Democracy and he was recognized as a leader of men. Possessed of a magentic personality

and a tongue of velvet he soon made a hit in county politics. Then his fame spread to State politics, and finally he secured the Congressional nomination through the efforts of Edgar Howard and others. His wife was ever at his side whispering words of encourage-

ment and fanning his ambition. She was the angel of his campaign. He was elected, and when his famous speech on the tariff in 1891 won him the sobriquet of “the boy orator of the Platte,” the same modest woman sat in the gallery. Mrs. Bryan has always

witnessed his greatest triumphs. It was Bryan’s good fortune to be nominated for Congress in the year of tidal wave Democracy, and after a contest of unparalleled brilliancy he was elected over his Republican opponent in a district normally and heavily Republican by a majority of 6,700. In Congress his reputation as a debater preceded him, and he was appointed by Speaker Crisp to a place on

the Ways and Means Committee. This gave him a splendid opportunity to be heard on the tariff question, and he soon gained the ear as well as the applause of the House as an orator and debater. In 1892 he was again elected and in the Fifty-third Congress made his reputation national as an orator, thinker and statesman. In 1894 he refused the nomination for the lower house, but' aspired to the Senate, and was nominated at the Democratic State convention in Nebraska for that office. He canvassed the State and had two joint debates—one at Omaha and one at? Lincoln—with John M. Thurston, the Republican candidate, which attracted attention beyond the limits of the State. But 1894 was not a propitious year for the Democrats. The Republicans carried the Legislature, and Mr. Thurston was elected Senator. Since that time Mr. Bryan has been lecturing on his favorite themes of the tariff and the free coinage of silver in almost every State of the Union, and he has thus added to his reputation as an' orator. For a time he was the editor of the Omaha World-Herald, but the editorial tripod was not as congenial to him as the stump and the platform, and he did not long remain in the sanctum. The events of his life are not numerous. and consequently there is not much to relate of him of things performed. Whatever he has been called upon to do he has done with all the earnestness of his nature. As Chief Justice Fuller once said: “The republic is opportunity,” for It affords an opening to every man who has It in him to make his mark. Mr. Bryan has profited by all his chances, and by none better than that of the second day of the convention, when he made the speech that swept his audience like a torrent and gave him the Presidential nomination. It was one of the few Instances of matchless and unconquerable speech that the world has known. James Otis' in Boston, Patrick Henry in Richmond, and Fisher Ames on Jay’s treaty are like parallels in American history. Mr. Bryan during his service in Congress introduced over a half dozen petitions against the opening of the World’s Fair on Sunday, or the sale of intoxicants on the ground. He attempted to aid his State by introducing bills for the erection of public buildings at Lincoln, Plattsmouth and South Omaha; he also attempted to have a branch mint established at Omaha. Bills were also introduced to place salt, lumber, barb wiro, and binding twine on the free list. Another measure which attracted attention was a bill for the election of United States Senators by direct vote of the people. His personal appearance is attractive' and impressive. He is tall, with a great depth of chest, a back as flat as a board and admirable proportions. His complexion is swarthy, his eyes are dark and what Is called “piercing,” his

hair is jet black and slightly worn away In front, accentuating the scope of his forehead; his nose Is aquiline, very; his mouth extraordinarily large, but handsome, strong and sensitive; chin, broad, square and Immense; the whole head poised like that of a Grecian statue. He looks you squarely in ■ the face and never averts his gaze. Yet he does not by any means convey the impression that he is aggressive. He rather tells you that no man In all the world has more self-reliance. He leaves you the notion he could stand alone when all was falling about him. He ft an oak. An indefatigable worker, his labor goes on twelve, fourteen, eighteen hours, if necessary, and he never tires. His stock of vitality is inexhaustible. He is the youngest candidate that was ever named for the Presidency by any party in all United States history, being little more than one year past the constitutional age. His reputation is spotless, and the American people will have a Presidential campaign void of all distracting personalities, in which they may consider the tremendous Issues involved seriously and dispassionately, as becomes a great and a free people. The Bryan home in Lincoln is not a sumptuous one, but comfort and happiness are always within its walls. There are three children—Ruth, aged 11; William, 5 years old; and Grace, the baby, 3 years of age. Mrs. Bryan Is a goodlooking woman, 33 years of age, medium build and height, and quiet in her mannerisms. A wealth of dark brown hair frames a face of Intellectual attractiveness. Her dress is simplicity personified. She ft a woman of literary accomplishments, well posted on the issues of the day. Her home life ft an ideal one. She can's comparatively little for society. Devotion to husltand, children and home are her prime characteristics. Her confidence in Mr. Bryan’s future has always Ireen his guiding star. No one ever heard o? her appearing in evening dress during their Washington life. It is not thought she ever possessed a low-cut gown nor a dress with silk linings, and Bryan surely never has owned a full dress suit. When the Bryan boom for President was launched In Nebraska, Mrs. Bryan at once decided to accompany her husband. With just a bit of feminine superstition she reminded him that in every Instance where she had attended assemblages in which he was interested he had won. When she remained away he always lost, and upon such occasions she invariably comforted him in the hour of defeat In the recent national committee meeting, when the Nebraska delegation contest was pending, she was not

in the hotel where the case was decided. Bryan’s enemies won. The next day she was a silent spectator at the Coliseum. The committee reimrt was reversed and she waved her handkerchief with a greeting of joy to the Bryan silver delegates when the convention gave them the seats which her husband’s political foes occupied the preceding day. With a loyalty made eternal by a love that has nevi: - faltered, she saw the dream of her life shaping Itself into a reality. Her husband now had an opportunity to address a convention. She knew that in that array of orators he would rise like a giant and that the standards would soon be at his feet. She knew that if he would open his mouth the convention would do the rest, and it did, ‘‘l will be in the crowd to-day, William,” she said, cheerlngly, at their hotel on the morning of that eventful Thursday in Chicago. “Remember I am your mascot. Do your l>est. I have prayed for your nomination and it will come if you speak to-day.” Bryan made the effort of his life. He caught the eye of his wife once during the delivery of his great speech. It was just before the climax. He read his political destiny in that one short glance. He knew that the speech was the passport to the nomination. The mascot nodded approvingly, and the next instant the convention w - as on its

feet to verify the telegraphy of love which flashed the message of cheer from wife to husband and kindled the spark which electrified 20,000 people under one roof. ' , The muscles of the mocking bird’s larynx are larger in proportion to the size of the bird than those of any other creature.

MRS. WILLIAM J. BRYAN.

GRACE BRYAN.

RUTH AND WILLIAM BRYAN.

W. J. BRYAN’S RESIDENCE, LINCOLN, NEB.

WILLIAM J. BRYAN, OF NEBRASKA, Next President of the United States.

ARTHUR SEWALL, OF MAINE.

JUDGE SILAS L. BRYAN AND WIFE. Father and Mother of Wm. J. Bryan.