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William Shepard Bryan

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William Shepard Bryan
Justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals
In office
1883–1898
Personal details
Born(1827-11-20)November 20, 1827
New Bern, North Carolina
DiedDecember 9, 1906(1906-12-09) (aged 79)
Baltimore, Maryland
Resting placeGreen Mount Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Elizabeth Edmondson Hayward
(m. 1857; died 1898)
Children4, including William Shepard Jr.
EducationUniversity of North Carolina
Signature

William Shepard Bryan (November 20, 1827 – December 9, 1906)[1][2] was a Maryland lawyer who served as a justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals from 1883 to 1898.[3]

Early life, education, and career

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Born in New Bern, North Carolina, he was the son of Congressman John Heritage Bryan.[4] Bryan "received his early general and education in the South".[2] He graduated from the University of North Carolina and read law under the supervision of his father.[4] He moved to Baltimore in 1850, and read law to gain admission to the bar in Maryland in 1851, thereafter entering the practice of law.[4][2] He was a southern sympathizer during the American Civil War,[2] and was a presidential elector in the 1876 United States presidential election.[2]

Judicial service

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In 1883, Bryan was elected as a Democrat to the Baltimore seat on the Court of Appeals vacated by the resignation of Judge James Lawrence Bartol.[4] As the only judge with no circuit duties to perform, he "delivered the opinion of the court in a large number of cases, many of them being of great importance and public interest".[4] He retired from the court in 1898.[1]

Personal life and death

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On October 1, 1857, Bryan married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Edmondson Hayward of Talbot County, Maryland, with whom he had a daughter and three sons.[1][2] Bryan's wife died in 1898.[1][2] Bryan himself died of liver cancer eight years later, at the age of 79,[2] at the home of his son, William Shepard Jr., who was then attorney general of the state.[1] He was interred in Baltimore's Green Mount Cemetery.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Ex-Judge Bryan Dead". The Baltimore Sun. December 10, 1906. p. 14. Retrieved June 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "William Shepard Bryan, Sr. (1827-1906)". Maryland Courts. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  3. ^ "Maryland Court of Appeals Judges, 1778–". Archives of Maryland. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e "The Court of Appeals: A Historical Review of Maryland's Highest Tribunal". The Baltimore Sun. February 19, 1892. p. 3. Retrieved June 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
Political offices
Preceded by Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals
1883–1898
Succeeded by