by George J. Dance
Daniel Bryan (?1795- December 22, 1866) was an American poet, lawyer, and politican.
Daniel Bryan (1795-1866). Courtesy Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.
Life[]
Youth and education[]
Bryan was born in Rockingham, Virginia, the son of Major William Bryan.[1]
He attended Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) in 1807,[1] but did not graduate.[2] He was a Colonel during the War of 1812.[1]
Career[]
In 1813 he published by subscription his debut collection of poetry, The Mountain Muse, which included a 5,600-line epic of frontiersman Daniel Boone.[2] The Mountain Muse had a wide circulation, with over 1,300 subscribers, and being sold in at least 10 states.[1]
In 1815 Bryan was practicing law in Harrisburg, Virginia, and married Rebecca Davenport. She died in 1816, and he married Mary Thomas Barbour, sister of two Virginia Congressman. Bryan was elected to the Virginia Senate in 1818. In 1820 he cast the only vote against a resolution on admitting Missouri into the Union as a slave state, delivering an impassioned speech against slavery.[2]
In 1821 Bryan became postmaster of Alexandria, Virginia, and his Senate seat was declared vacant. Shortly thereafter he began publishing poetry regularly, in periodicals and several more books. He also won a reputation as an orator.[2]
He remained postmaster until 1853, when he accepted a position in the library of the U.S. Treasury. He continued to live in Alexandria through the Civil War (which he opposed), moving to Washington only in 1866, shortly before his death.[2]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- The Mountain Muse; comprising: The Adventures of Daniel Boone; and The Power of Virtuous and Refined Beauty. Harrisonburg, VA: privately publishe, printed by Davidson & Bourne, 1813.
- Oration on Female Education. Harrisonburg, VA: Lawrence Wartmann, 186.
- The Lay of Gratitude: Consisting of poems occasioned by the recent visit of Lafayette to the United States Philadelphia: H.C. Carey & I. Lea, 1826.
- The Appeal for Suffering Genius: A poetical address for the benefit of the Boston Bard: and The triumph of truth: A poem. Washington, DC: Way & Gideon, 1826.
- Thoughts on Education in its connexion with morals a poem. Richmond, VA: T.W. White, 1830.
- A Tribute to the Memory of the Rev. George G. Cookman consisting of a brief discourse and, The Lost Ship: a poem on the Fate of the steamer President. Alexandria, VA: Bell & Entwisle, 1841.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[3]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Daniel Bryan (1795-1866), Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and poetry, College of Law, West Virginia University. Web, May 4, 2016.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Daniel Bryan (cx.1789-1866), Encylopedia of Virginia, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Web, May 4, 2016.
- ↑ Search results = au:Daniel Bryan, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 4, 2016.
External links[]
- Poems
- Daniel Bryan (1795-1866) info & 8 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830
- About
- Daniel Bryan (cx.1789-1866) at the Encylopedia of Virginia
- Daniel Bryan (1795-1866) at Strangers to Us All: Lawyers and poetry
- Daniel Bryan at the Edgar Allan Poe Society
| Original Penny's Poetry Pages article, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0. |
- This is a signed article by User:George Dance. It may be edited for spelling errors or typos, but not for substantive content except by its author. If you have created a user name and verified your identity, provided you have set forth your credentials on your user page, you can add comments to the bottom of this article as peer review.
|