Daniel Bryan
(1795-1866)
Virginia
Merchant, lawyer, poet
Daniel Bryan was born in Rockingham, Virginia about
1795, son of Maj. William Bryan. He graduated from Washington College
(now Washington & Lee Univeristy) in 1807. Bryan was a colonel in
the War of 1812 and served as postmaster at Alexandria for many
years.
"The Mountain Muse," dealing in heroic verse with
the adventures of Daniel Boone, was sold in no less than nine or
ten States outside of Virginia. Considering the difficulties of
travel, transportation, and communication in those days, we cannot
help wondering how Mr. Bryan secured such a wide circulation for
his little book. The matter may be explained in some measure, no
doubt, by the fact that the number of books put upon the market
then was small in comparison with the number that are bidding now
in sharp competition for the reader's notice. In one copy of "The
Mountain Muse" that the writer has seen, and in only one, is printed
the list of the subscribers' names. They total about 1350, and belonged
for the most part, to the people of Virginia: eastern Virginia as
well as the Valley. About 150 belonged to residents of Tennessee;
about100 to residents of Ohio; while the remainder were distributed
among Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, South Carolina, North Carolina,
Connecticut, Louisiana, and Mississippi Territory. [Source:
John W. Wayland, A History of Rockingham County Virginia as
reproduced at Rockingham
County, Virginia VaGenWeb Project]
Poetry
Daniel Bryan, The Mountain Muse comprising the
Adventures of Daniel Boone; and the Power of Virtuous and Refined
Beauty (Harrisonburg, [Virginia]: Printed for the author by
Davidson & Bourne, 1813)
["Boone's Fort. This sketch is from a drawing by Colonel Henderson, and published in Collin's Historical Collections of Kentucky , page 417. It was composed of a number of long-houses disposed in the form of an oblong square. Those at each corner, intended particularly for block-houses, were larger and stronger than the others. The length of the fort was about two hundred and fifty feet, and the width about one hundred and fifty feet." Benson J. Lossing, The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851)]
[Used with permission of the Florida Center for Instructional Technology]
__________, The Lay of Gratitude consisting of
poems occasioned by the recent visit of Lafayette to the United
States (Philadelphia: H.C. Carey & I. Lea, 1826) [online
text]
__________, The Appeal for Suffering Genius a poetical
address for the benefit of the Boston Bard: and The triumph of truth,
a poem (Washington: Way & Gideon, 1826) [online
text]
__________, Thoughts on Education in its connexion
with morals a poem recited before the literary and philosophical
society of Hampden Sidney college, Va., at the fifth anniversary
meeting of the institution, held in September, 1828 (Richmond:
T.W. White, 1830)
__________, A Tribute to the Memory of the Rev.
George G. Cookman consisting of a brief discourse and, The Lost
Ship: a poem on the Fate of the steamer President, delivered in
the Alexandria Lyceum, June 15, 1841 (Alexandria, [Virginia]:
Bell & Entwisle, 1841)
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