The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1908-07-08
By RODERTUs LOVE.
Copyright. 1908. by Robertus Low

copyright. 1908. by Robertus Lowell
e has spoken face to face be-
yond all question to more
hearers than has any other
man in the worlds history"
says one who Travelled with William
Jennings Bryan during the presiden-
tial campaigns of 1896 and 1900, and
there is no doubt as to the truth Of the
statement.
The purpose of this article is briefly
to sketch the life of Mr.. Bryan up to
the age of thirty-six, when he was
nominated by the Democratic party for
the presidency of the United States. 1t
is a life possible only to American pol
tiles, and. whether or not Mr.. Bryan
shall reach the presidency, it is an in
teresting chapter in United States po-
litical history
The town of Salem, ILL.,, is the birth
place of Bryan. Judge Silas L. Bryan.
a substantial. intellectual settler from
Virginia. was his father Maria Eliza
beth Jennings was his mothers maiden
name. The child was born March 10
1860. Judge Bryan lived on Il farm
near the edge of town He had nine
children, of whom William Jennings
is the fourth. The boy grew up out
doors, drinking the daily medicine of
sunshine ana the open air. His phys
icai constitution. marvel of robust
ness and energy, came by inheritance
and was nurtured by wholesome and
healthfu environment in boyhood.
Bryan attended the public schools III
Salem until he was fifteen, when he
entered Whipple academy at Jackson
vile, ILL., Two years later he matricI-
lated in Illinois college. in the same
city, from which institution he was
graduated with honors at the age or
twenty-one During his college course
his oratorical abilities made him prom
inent in middle western collegiate life.
He won the honor of representing his
school in the state contest of college
orators. He won that contest and req
resented Illinois in 1881 at the inter
state oratorical contest, held at Gales
burg, Ill, where he achieved SECOND
honors He was class orator at gradu
alton.
Jacksonville has female seminary
In that school Miss Mary +. Baird wa
student while young Bryan was Il
Illinois college. She was from Ferry
ILL.,, and was of excellent family an
an ambitious student \ bright youn
man and bright young woman a
tending college in the same town some
times emphasize the aphorism that lik
attracts like Perhaps that explain
why Bryan, after attending the Unto
Law college in Chicago and readin
law at the same time in the office Q
Judge Lyman .Trumbull, the celebrate
associate of Abraham Lincoln, re
turned to Jacksonville to begin tn
practice of his profession Bryan an
Miss Baird we married shortly afte
.Efs rstarn Mrs. Bryan studied law i
order to assist her husband in his pre-
fessional work. After the organs n
moved to Lincoln, Neb., in 1887 Mr.
BRYAN was admitted to the bar. NJ
Bryan became junior partner in tt
law firm of Talbot & Bryan. He b.
iieved there was more opportunity fC
a rising young lawyer in a new state
a belief assuredly well grounded in b
Hown case.
Bryan plunged into politics in Il
spring of 1888, and that became his III
vocation instead of the law. He ws
elected a delegate to the Democrat
state convention at Omaha, where
made speech strongly advocatir
free trade; also he made reputatic
as q speaker He was only twent
eight years old yet the very next ye;