The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1896-07-11

1ltOntuS uSO Ills IlOnIilldLlOIl WOulQ nave
been q constitutional impossibillty,.so
he would have been under the Hre-
scrlbed limit of thirty-flve years OF age.
| He was born on March 10. 1850. in Sa-
| lem, Marion county, Ill, and therefore Is
but g few months past SO years of age.
His early education was not neglected,
for the facilities OF the public school sys-
TEN Of his native state were open to
him as 500 as he became of school age
He attended the public schools untIAsY1
years old. He then spent two years Yin
preparatory work at Whipple academy
at Jacksonville, and then began a regll-
lar collegiate course at the Illinois State
university. Four years he spent in coll
lege, entering in 1877 and graduating as
the valedictorian OF his class in 1881.
Two years more he pursued his studies
at Union Law college at ChicagAter
which he entered the Office of M
Trumbull.
Completing his reading Of the law,
Bryan returned to Jacksonville and bee
gan life as a lawyer. He did not, how.
ever, remain long at Jacksonville. He
came west, locating at Lincoln, Neb.. in
1887. where he again opened a Law Office.
His career as an attorney at Lincoln
had hardly begun when Mr.. Bryan en-
tered on a political career. In 1890 tho
Lincoln delegation to the First congress
sional district convention presented his
name as a candidate for congress. AZ
that time he was comparatively IN
known in democratic circles. The dis
trict was considered hopelessly repub-
llcan. and the young attorney was
given the nomination more for the rea-
son hat nc other democrat wanted it
than for any other.
The campaign was something of a sur
prise for the people of the district. He
wrote his own platform and went INTO
the W. with a demand for f4e
wool. free lumber. free salt. free sugar,
free iron ore and free coal. Silver cut
no figure in the campaign. Before cleo
ton day rolled aroun Bryan's reputa-
ton as an orator had been estab-
lished. On election night it was
known that he had defeated his
republican opponent in a dis
trict which two years before had elected
a republican over ]. Sterling Morton by
$500 votes. When the returns We've all
in it was known that Bryan had been
elected by a plurality of 6,7OO votes.
Entering upon his first term in cohs
gress Bryan was elevated still higher
in the ranks of democracy by being
named as a member OF the committee
on ways and means, to a new member
an honor almost beyond precedent.
On March IL, 1892, he delivered the first
speech in congress that gave him fame
as an orator in national circles. That
speech brought him first within the eye
of the entire country.
Returning home at the end of the con-
gressional session in 1892 Bryan was re-
nominated by his party. His second
campaign was not a repetition of HIN
former triumph. as 1t vas conducted I'M
der altered conditions. The census of
1890 had resulted in a reappointment
of Nebraska's congressional districts
and Bryan found himself confronted
by an almost certain majority of $500.
He also faced two opponents instead of
one. He made an energetic campaign
and was elected by a bare plurality of
144 votes.
During his second term in
he served on the ways and means COM
mittee; but it was during this session
that he became prominently identified
with the cause of free silver coinage.
His speech against the repeal of Tie,
silver purchasing claus Of the Sherufan
act. delivered on August is, 1893, added
idIBGlS " Ills dIlc as all OTdloF,
In 1894 he declined to stand a third
time for congressional honors and has
devoted his time almost continuously
since that ear in advancing the cause
of the free silver coinage propaganda.
MI. Bryan's private life has been of
a remarkably happy character. His
wife, formerly Miss Mary L. Baird of
jacksonville. was q graduate of the
| 81, M <Dllo., 1NLn,.
for four years and it was during their
collegiate days that the friendship be-
gan which ended in their becoming part1
ners for life. Mrs. Bryan's tastes are
essentially literary. She is. moreover,
a lawyer, having been regularly admit
ted to the bar of Nebraska. They have
three children, two girls and a boy. and
their home Is n Of the pleasantest in
Lincoln.