Charles Henry Bryan

Charles Henry Bryan (October 20, 1822 – May 14, 1877) was a politician and jurist in California, who served as an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court.

Charles Henry Bryan
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
In office November 24, 1854 – November 15, 1855
Appointed by	Governor John Bigler
Preceded by	Alexander Wells
Succeeded by	David S. Terry
Senator from the 15th Senatorial district of the California State Senate
In office January 1854 – March 1854
Appointed by	Direct election
Personal details
Born	October 20, 1822 Ellicottville, New York, U.S.
Died	May 14, 1877 (aged 54) Carson, Nevada, U.S.
Relations	John A. Bryan, father; John B. Weller, brother-in-law

Biography

Bryan was born on October 20, 1822, in Ellicottville, New York.[1] By 1833, the family moved to Ohio.[2] He was well educated and read law. His father, John A. Bryan, was a United States diplomat, and his brother-in-law, John B. Weller, was a United States Senator and Governor of California.

In September 1851, Bryan ran for District Attorney of Yuba County against incumbent Jesse O. Goodwin.[3][4][5] In June 1852, he was elected a delegate to the state Democratic convention held in Benecia, California, on July 20, 1852.[6][7] In 1854, Bryan was elected as a Democratic member of the California State Senate from the 15th Senatorial district.[8]

Afterwards, Governor John Bigler appointed Bryan as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California to finish the unexpired term of Alexander Wells, which position Bryan held from November 24, 1854, to November 15, 1855.[9][10][11] In September 1855, the Democratic Party nominated Bryan for Supreme Court, and the Know Nothing branch of the party nominated David S. Terry, who won the election.[12]

Both during and after Bryan's court service, he remained active in Democratic Party politics.[13] In June 1855 and September 1856, he was a delegate from Yuba County to the Democratic Party state convention.[14][15] By August 1858, he had joined the Anti-Lecompton Democrat branch of the party.[16] In June 1859, near the outbreak of the American Civil War, he attended the Anti-Lecompton Democrat convention, whose factions culminated in the California gubernatorial election, 1859.[17][18]

In 1862, Bryan moved to Nevada, and won a franchise to operate a toll road.[19] In 1863, he was a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention.[20][21] In November 1864, although a life-long Democrat, he campaigned for the re-election of Republican President Abraham Lincoln.[22]

In May 1864, Bryan's prize thoroughbred, Lodi, won a race at San Jose that established her as the fastest horse in the state.[23] On May 23, 1865, at Ocean Race Course outside San Francisco, he raced Lodi against a challenger, Norfolk, and lost.[24] The race was the subject of Mark Twain's short story, "How I Went to the Great Race Between Lodi and Norfolk".[25]

Suffering from severe drinking and gambling problems, Bryan left California to live in Utah.[2] In 1871, he lived in Polk County, Oregon, and raised thoroughbred horses, after having won a large contingency fee case there.[26]

In 1875, he returned to Virginia City, Nevada.[2] He died May 14, 1877, in Carson, Nevada, with no wife or children but survived by a brother, Marshall Bryan, of New York.[2][27]

See also

• List of justices of the Supreme Court of California
• Hugh Murray
• Solomon Heydenfeldt

References

1. "Charles Henry Bryan". Political Graveyard. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
2. "The Death of Hon. Charles H. Bryan". The Morning Appeal (Carson City, NV). Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. May 15, 1877. p. 3. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
3. "District Court". Marysville Daily Herald (111). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 28 June 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
4. "Yuba County". Daily Alta California. 2 (269). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 7 September 1851. p. 2. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
5. Field, Stephen Johnson (1893). Personal Reminiscences of Early Days in California, with Other Sketches. San Francisco, CA: Privately published. p. 96. charles h. bryan district attorney.
6. "Sacramento News". Daily Alta California. 3 (173). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 22 June 1852. p. 2. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
7. "Proceedings of the Democratic State Convention". Daily Alta California. 3 (204). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 24 July 1852. p. 5. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
8. "Members of the Legislature-1854". Sacramento Daily Union. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 2 January 1854. p. 3. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
9. "Affairs on the Pacific Side". Sacramento Daily Union. 8 (1151). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 November 1854. p. 4. Retrieved August 5, 2017. the Governor, has appointed Hon. C. H. Bryan, of Yuba, to the seat on the Supreme Court Bench rendered vacant by the decase of Alexander Wells.
10. "The Judgship". Sacramento Daily Union. 8 (1158). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 8 December 1854. p. 3. Retrieved August 5, 2017. Hon. C. H. Bryan, the newly appointed Judge of the Supreme Court
11. "Marysville-Its Business and Prospects". Marysville Daily Herald (144). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 14 November 1855. p. 2. Retrieved August 5, 2017. on Monday Judge Terry takes the place of Hon. C. H. Bryan, of this city, whose term of office has expired.
12. Hittell, Theodore Henry (1898). History of California, Volume 4. N. J. Stone. pp. 174–175. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
13. "The Daily Appeal, A Campaign Story". Marysville Daily Appeal (32). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 7 August 1868. p. 3. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
14. "Democratic State Convention". Daily Alta California. 6 (163). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 30 June 1855. p. 2. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
15. "Democratic State Convention, Fourth Day". Sacramento Daily Union. 11 (1706). 13 September 1856. p. 2. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
16. "Political Speeches at Marysville". Sacramento Daily Union. 15 (2310). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 23 August 1858. p. 2. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
17. "Anti-Le Compton State Convention". Sacramento Daily Union. 17 (2565). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 16 June 1859. p. 1. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
18. "Thirty Years Ago, The Anti-Lecompton Convention". Sacramento Daily Union. 1 (5). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 23 June 1889. p. 3. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
19. "Letter from Nevada Territory". Sacramento Daily Union. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 11 December 1862. p. 1. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
20. "Judge Field on the Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus". Marysville Daily Appeal (39). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 16 August 1863. p. 2. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
21. Join California
22. "On the Stump". Marysville Daily Appeal (107). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 2 November 1864. p. 3. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
23. "The Great Race at San Jose Yesterday". Daily Alta California. 16 (5178). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 6 May 1864. p. 1. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
24. "The Great Two-Mile Race Between Norfolk and Lodi, Norfolk the Winner". Sacramento Daily Union. 29 (4422). California Digital Newspaper Collection. 24 May 1865. p. 3. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
25. Twain, Mark (1981). Early Tales & Sketches, Vol. 2: 1864 -1865. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. p. 163. ISBN 0520906772. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
26. "Struck it Rich". The Daily State Register. Library of Congress Historical Newspaper. December 5, 1871. Retrieved August 5, 2017. Judge C. H. Bryan, well known throughout this coast as one of the ablest lawyers in the country, but whose habits of late years had rendered him unfit to be entrusted with any legal business.
27. "Notes and Queries". Morning Appeal (Carson City, NV). Library of Congress Historic Newspapers. May 17, 1877. p. 3. Retrieved May 5, 2017. Our late distinguished fellow citizen, Hon. Charles H. Bryan, was buried yesterday from the Ormsby County Courthouse.

External links

• Dolan, Maura (February 2, 1997). "150-Year-Old Mystery : Law Clerk Tracks Down Portrait of Early California Justice". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 25, 2017. the elder (Charles H.) Bryan had three sons, including the justice, and that the sons had descendants
• Charles H. Bryan. California Supreme Court Historical Society.
• Past & Present Justices. California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017.