William John Bryan

Full Name: William John Bryan
Date of birth: September 28, 1859
Date of death: August 26, 1948

Terms of Service
Biographical Notes
Committee Information
Legislation

Terms of Service top

Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Counties in District
S	28	Jan 12, 1909 - Jan 14, 1913	31st ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ 32nd ⁽¹⁾	Democrat	Abilene / Taylor	Andrews, Borden, Callahan, Crane, Dawson, Eastland, Ector, Fisher, Gaines, Garza, Glasscock, Haskell, Howard, Jones, Kent, Loving, Lynn, Martin, Midland, Mitchell, Nolan, Palo Pinto, Scurry, Shackelford, Stephens, Stonewall, Taylor, Terry, Upton, Ward, Winkler, Yoakum
H	103	Jan 8, 1907 - Jan 12, 1909	30th	Democrat	Abilene / Taylor	Callahan, Jones, Taylor
H	103	Jan 10, 1905 - Jan 8, 1907	29th ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ ⁽⁶⁾ ⁽⁷⁾	Democrat	Abilene / Taylor	Callahan, Jones, Taylor
H	103	Jan 13, 1903 - Jan 10, 1905	28th	Democrat	Abilene / Taylor	Callahan, Jones, Taylor
H	107	Jan 8, 1901 - Jan 13, 1903	27th	Democrat	Abilene / Taylor	Callahan, Jones, Shackelford, Taylor

(1) 32nd Legislature - Roll Call of holdover Senators, 1/10/1911, p. 1. Senate Journal.
(2) Democrat; roster of members of the 31st Legislature with biographical and party information. "Year Book 1909," Number 13, May-June 1910, pp. 408-415. Bulletin (Texas Department of Agriculture), 1910.
(3) 31st Legislature - Roll Call of Senators-elect, oath of office administered, 1/12/1909, pp. 1-2. Senate Journal.
(4) District 42 comprised of Limestone county; District 101 comprised of Loving, Winkler, Ward, Crane, Upton, Ector, Midland, Glasscock, Andrews, Howard, Mitchell, Nolan, Fisher, Scurry, Borden, Dawson, Gaines, Yoakum, Terry, Lynn, Garza, Kent, Crosby, Lubbock, Hockley, and Cochran counties; District 103 comprised of Jones, Taylor, and Callahan counties, pp. 34, 37, Acts of 1901, 27th Legislature, 1st C.S., ch. 8, Apportionment Laws of Texas, 1836-1950, 1950.
(5) District 42 represented by W.J. Bryan, p. 2. House Journal.
(6) District 103 represented by W. John Bryan, p. 298. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004, 2005.
(7) District 101 represented by W. J., p. 64. Texas Legislative Manual.

Terms of Service top

Senate District 28
Jan 12, 1909 - Jan 14, 1913
Legislatures: 31st ⁽²⁾ ⁽³⁾ 32nd ⁽¹⁾
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Abilene / Taylor
Counties in district: Andrews, Borden, Callahan, Crane, Dawson, Eastland, Ector, Fisher, Gaines, Garza, Glasscock, Haskell, Howard, Jones, Kent, Loving, Lynn, Martin, Midland, Mitchell, Nolan, Palo Pinto, Scurry, Shackelford, Stephens, Stonewall, Taylor, Terry, Upton, Ward, Winkler, Yoakum

House District 103
Jan 8, 1907 - Jan 12, 1909
Legislatures: 30th
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Abilene / Taylor
Counties in district: Callahan, Jones, Taylor

House District 103
Jan 10, 1905 - Jan 8, 1907
Legislatures: 29th ⁽⁴⁾ ⁽⁵⁾ ⁽⁶⁾ ⁽⁷⁾
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Abilene / Taylor
Counties in district: Callahan, Jones, Taylor

House District 103
Jan 13, 1903 - Jan 10, 1905
Legislatures: 28th
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Abilene / Taylor
Counties in district: Callahan, Jones, Taylor

House District 107
Jan 8, 1901 - Jan 13, 1903
Legislatures: 27th
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Abilene / Taylor
Counties in district: Callahan, Jones, Shackelford, Taylor

Biographical Information top

Biographical Sketches

"Mrs. Bryan, Pioneer of Abilene, Dies," 7/22/1948, p. 1; "Funeral Set for Mrs. Bryan," 7/22/1948, p. 43. Martha Chaplain Dashielle (Mrs. W.J. Bryan), born 6/17/1881, married 5/31/1892. Legislative service of husband, "colorful and early-day legislator." Abilene Reporter-News.
Obituaries/editorial - "Senator W.J. Bryan, Pioneer Cattleman of T-Diamond Ranch Fame, Dies at Home," 8/27/1948, pp. 1, 3; "W.J. Bryan Dies; Rites Set Saturday," 8/27/1948, p. 1, 13; "Goodbye, Oldtimer," 8/29/1948, Society, Editorial, Features, p. 18. Abilene Reporter-News.
"John Bryan of Abilene Tallest State Senator," 1/27/1911, p. 4. "The tallest man in the senate, as well as the narrowest and of the smallest circumference, diameter, is W. John Bryan, senator from the 28th district . . . " Abilene Semi-Weekly Reporter, .
Biography in LRL collection, 328.764 B84R 1973. Provided by Hardin-Simmons University Richardson Library, Abilene, Texas. Confirms birth date 9/28/1859, death date 8/26/1948, and includes copies of obituary. The Life Story of William John Bryan 1859-1948, 1973.
Obituary, "Early-Day Rancher Claimed at Abilene," 8/27/1948, p. 7. Lubbock Evening Journal.
Brief biographical sketch, W.J. Bryan, p. 200. The Twenty-Seventh Legislature and State Administration of Texas, 1901.

Other Resources

Discusses State Senate campaign of 1908 between Royston Campbell Crane and W. John Bryan (Abilene, Taylor County), pp. 41-44. R.C. Crane and the Promotion of West Texas, 1996.
32nd Legislature (1911) - W.J. Bryan, Abilene, Taylor County, nativity Texas, Stockman, Democrat, age 48. Texas Legislative Manual.

Photographs

Photograph. W.J. Bryan, 32nd Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. W.J. Bryan, 31st Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. W.J. Bryan, 30th Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. W.J. Bryan, 29th Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. W.J. Bryan, 28th Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. W.S. Brayan, 27th Legislature, State Preservation Board

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

31st session composite photo of Senate members (Senate chamber gallery, east wall. 3E.5). State Preservation Board.
32nd session composite photo of Senate members (Senate chamber gallery, east wall. 3E.5). State Preservation Board.
27th session composite photo of House members (House chamber gallery, east wall. 3W.2). State Preservation Board.
28th session composite photo of House members (House chamber gallery, east wall. 3W.2). State Preservation Board.
29th session composite photo of House members (House chamber gallery, east wall. 3W.2). State Preservation Board.
30th session composite photo of House members (House chamber gallery, east wall. 3W.2). State Preservation Board.

Committee Information top

32nd R.S. - 1911 Agricultural Affairs Constitutional Amendments Contingent Expenses Counties and County Boundaries Federal Relations Finance Insurance, Statistics and History Internal Improvements Labor Military Affairs Mining and Irrigation Picture of Senate of the 32nd Legislature, Special Senatorial Districts State Asylums (Chair) Stock and Stock Raising
31st R.S. - 1909 Contingent Expenses Counties and County Boundaries Educational Affairs Internal Improvements Public Debt, Claims and Accounts Public Health (Vice Chair) Public Lands and Land Office Public Printing State Affairs State Asylums (Chair) Stock and Stock Raising Treasurer's and Comptroller's Departments
30th R.S. - 1907 Appropriations Counties David Crockett Painting Public Lands and Land Office Rules State Affairs (Chair) Stock and Stock Raising
29th R.S. - 1905 Appropriations Subcommitttee on the Epileptic Colony at Abilene Beef Trust, Investigate (Chair) Counties Election Law Enrollment, Investigate, Special Public Lands and Land Office (Chair) Revenue and Taxation State Affairs State Asylums
28th R.S. - 1903 Counties and County Boundaries Public Lands and Land Office State Asylums Stock and Stock Raising
27th R.S. - 1901 Agricultural and Mechanical College and Prairie View Normal and Industrial College Asylums Blind Asylum Congressional Districts Irrigation Private Land Claims Public Lands and Land Office Sam Houston Normal Institute Waters-Pierce Oil Company, Investigate

This website is a work in progress. Information on this website is provided as a public service by the Legislative Reference Library. The Legislative Reference Library makes no representation as to its completeness or accuracy and makes no warranty in regard to its use. Users assume all risk of reliance on the information included on this site.

Party information is not available for the 1st-11th Legislatures.

Have a question, comment or contribution? Email the Library or call 512-463-1252.

Many photos in Texas Legislators: Past and Present are used with permission of the Texas State Preservation Board. For permission to reproduce these photos, please contact the Texas State Preservation Board graphics coordinator at 512-475-3060.