The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1908-07-21

ward making him popular ana Keep
ing him at the front. His wife was
his classmate in college. In the can
vass of 1896 she accompanied him
wherever he went, and he reposed
much confidence in her judgment IN
the political movements, which to
most women would be maze and as
incomprehensible as a plan of battle.
Mr.. Bryan started life as poor
boy, and while in the public school
he worked on a farm. All through |
life he has been hard worker and |
conscientious man. During his law
studies he was connected with tn, |
office Of Senator Lyman Trumbull and |
on completing his studies returned to
Jacksonville to practice. Here his |
! struggles have been likened to those
/ of Lincoln, under the same conditions
! in the same state. At first his prac
! tice did not amount to much. Much
| of his time was given to speechmak
ing in the country districts. The man
ayers of every camp meeting and
country fair wanted young Bryan to
talk to the crowd. He was fond, too.
| of frequenting a certain village gro
Gerry store to exchange witticisms With
! the sages OF the town. Here the fate
of the nation was nightly settled, to
be decided again when the debater.
gathered next night around the crack
er box or Whitfield the benches out
side
1t was in 1887 that Mr.. Bryan decid
ed to go west. He arrived in Lincoln
Neb.. in October of that year and be
came member of the law firm of Tai
bot & Bryan. He had known Talbot
in Illinois. and it was he who Lad in
duced him to go to Nebraska. Bryan
at once attracted attention as an ora
tor but for a long time his fame did
not extend beyond the district. In
1889 Bryan wrote to ]. Sterling Nor
ton, the Democratic nominee for con-
gress, afterward President Cleveland's
secretary OF agriculture, asking per-
mission to take the stump for him.
Morton had heard Bryan, and he ac-
copied the offer. Morton was defeated
in the political revolution of that year
and O'Connell, the Republican, elected
by more than 1880 majority. But the
defeat of Morton caused the birth of
Bryan as political power. He had
interested the people in himself by
his oratory. and the politicians were
forced to take him up. He made a
fight for the Democratic nomination
the next year and captured it. That
was the year of the Republican slump
The district repudiated O'Connell and
=. III I'll e,.:E Drsxv.n
r its old time Democratic plurality OF
J 1000.
1t is said the "cross of gold and
: crown of thorns" speech made Bryan
! a national figure. 1t is an unusual
2 combination of luck and the intelli-
:, gent Selling of an opportunity. Mr..
!. Bryan had seen his chance when the
! Democrats began to tinker in the
i house with the tariff The wave of
y Populism then at its height had filed
e the house with men of mediocre abil-
z ity. Among the new members of
nfvrrr bryan stood DIe-eIuinvnt 10y rvSr-
son of his intellectually and power in
debate. He became leader, and, be-
ing precise in his words. graceful in
manner, master of sarcasm and irony,
he soon had a large following The
Chicago convention. full of men of
Populistic tendency, was as gunpow-
der to the fire of earnestness supplied
by Bryan in his famous speech He
carried them off their feet, and he
awoke TO find himself. famous.
His genial disposition and kindly ma
ture are as often spokenof by Bryan's
friends as his ability and uprightness
of character. His home life is declar-
ed ideal. The family lives at Fairview.
beautiful country home, which Mr.
Bryan insists every one shall regard
as farm. There is no pomp there
The family is astir at Z O'Clock every
morning and at half past sits down
to breakfast.
This breakfas is hearty one Aft
er that the farrler-editor plunges into
his work of the day by opening the
mail received by free rural delivery.
When Mrs. Bryan has finished her
household duties she becomes a ste
nographer and takes down the an
SwerS TO her husbands letters. He
then dictates to her most of his edi-
tOrialS.
The Bryans have three children
Ruth Bryan Leavitt. wife of an artist
now in Paris; William Jennings Bry-
an, Jr., and Miss Grace Bryan, who
attends school in Virginia. Mrs
Ieavitt has two little children, one
Ruth, named after her mother, who
is four, and Bryan, who is nearly
three years Old These two are the
two real rulers of the household So
cial life at Fairview is very demo-
cratic. The family has a great many
friends in Lincoln, and there is much
visiting to and fro. The farm
abounds with attractions both bucolic
and urban. There are plenty of horses
and dogs and barns and crops and
shady hooks. library filed with well
selected books and porch where all