Guy Morrison Bryan

Full Name: Guy Morrison Bryan
Date of birth: January 12, 1821
Date of death: June 4, 1901

Terms of Service
Biographical Notes
Committee Information

Terms of Service top

Chamber	District	Dates of Service	Legislatures	Party	City/County	Note	Counties in District
H	64	Jan 8, 1889 - Jan 13, 1891	21st ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾	Democrat	Galveston / Galveston		Brazoria, Galveston
H	64	May 2, 1888 - Jan 8, 1889	20th ⁽³⁾	Democrat	Galveston / Galveston		Brazoria, Galveston
H	35	Jan 14, 1879 - Jan 11, 1881	16th ⁽⁴⁾	Democrat	Galveston / Galveston		Galveston
H	12	Jan 13, 1874 - Apr 18, 1876	14th ⁽⁵⁾ ⁽⁶⁾	Democrat	Galveston / Galveston	Speaker	Brazoria, Galveston, Matagorda
S	24	Nov 7, 1853 - Nov 2, 1857	5th ⁽⁹⁾ ⁽¹⁰⁾ ⁽¹¹⁾ ⁽¹²⁾ 6th ⁽⁷⁾ ⁽⁸⁾		Gulf Prairie / Brazoria	Senate President Pro Tempore (5th)	Brazoria, Fort Bend, Matagorda, Wharton
H	35	Nov 3, 1851 - Nov 7, 1853	4th		Gulf Prairie / Brazoria		Brazoria
H	27	Nov 5, 1849 - Nov 3, 1851	3rd ⁽¹³⁾		Gulf Prairie / Brazoria		Brazoria, Fort Bend
H	Brazoria	Dec 13, 1847 - Nov 5, 1849	2nd ⁽¹⁴⁾		Gulf Prairie / Brazoria		Brazoria

(1) Democrat. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives.
(2) Roster of Representatives of the 21st Legislature, "Twenty-First Legislature: Members of the House, Address, Occupation and Politics," Galveston Daily News, 1/5/1889, p. 2, crediting Abilene Library Consortium. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
(3) Guy M. Bryan, sworn 5/2/1888, succeeded Benjamin R. Plumley, died 12/9/1887. Members of the Texas Congress 1836-1845; Members of the Texas Legislature 1846-2004, 2005.
(4) Democrat, 1/14/1879, p. 1. Galveston Daily News.
(5) Home post office - Galveston; home county - Galveston; Democrat. Directory of the Members and Officers of the Fourteenth Legislature of the State of Texas . . ., 1874.
(6) "News' telegrams, from Austin: organization of both houses..." Wednesday, 1/14/1874, p. 1. Description of opening day of 14th Legislature, Regular Session, and election of Guy M. Bryan as Speaker. Galveston Daily News.
(7) 6th Legislature, Regular Session - Roll of Senators (holdover Senator), 11/5/1855, p. 4. Senate Journal.
(8) 6th Legislature - Listed in the "19 members of the Senate [who] retained their seats from the 5th Legislature," p. 258. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861, 1990.
(9) 5th Legislature - Senate President Pro Tempore, elected in the absence of the President Pro Tem 2/9/1854, Regular Session. Senate Journal.
(10) Democrat - Listed as delegate to Democratic State Convention in Austin, 1/9/1854. Tri-Weekly State Times (Austin, Texas), 1/17/1854, p. 1, crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
(11) Roster of members elect of the 5th Legislature, state elections, 1853. Texas State Gazette (Austin, Texas), 8/20/1853, p. 3, crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
(12) 5th Legislature - Roll of Senators elected since the last adjournment presented their credentials, and being qualified, took their seats, 11/7/1853, p. 2. Senate Journal.
(13) Roster of members elect of the 3rd Legislature, Matthewson, R.C., Texas State Gazette (Austin, Texas), 9/29/1849, p. 6, crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).
(14) Roster of members of the 2nd Legislature, The Texas Democrat (Austin, Texas), 12/15/1847, p. 2, crediting Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Portal to Texas History (University of North Texas Libraries).

Terms of Service top

House District 64
Jan 8, 1889 - Jan 13, 1891
Legislatures: 21st ⁽¹⁾ ⁽²⁾
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Galveston / Galveston
Counties in district: Brazoria, Galveston

House District 64
May 2, 1888 - Jan 8, 1889
Legislatures: 20th ⁽³⁾
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Galveston / Galveston
Counties in district: Brazoria, Galveston

House District 35
Jan 14, 1879 - Jan 11, 1881
Legislatures: 16th ⁽⁴⁾
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Galveston / Galveston
Counties in district: Galveston

House District 12
Jan 13, 1874 - Apr 18, 1876
Legislatures: 14th ⁽⁵⁾ ⁽⁶⁾
Speaker
Party: Democrat
Home City/County: Galveston / Galveston
Counties in district: Brazoria, Galveston, Matagorda

Senate District 24
Nov 7, 1853 - Nov 2, 1857
Legislatures: 5th ⁽⁹⁾ ⁽¹⁰⁾ ⁽¹¹⁾ ⁽¹²⁾ 6th ⁽⁷⁾ ⁽⁸⁾
Senate President Pro Tempore (5th)
(5th)
Home City/County: Gulf Prairie / Brazoria
Counties in district: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Matagorda, Wharton

House District 35
Nov 3, 1851 - Nov 7, 1853
Legislatures: 4th
Home City/County: Gulf Prairie / Brazoria
Counties in district: Brazoria

House District 27
Nov 5, 1849 - Nov 3, 1851
Legislatures: 3rd ⁽¹³⁾
Home City/County: Gulf Prairie / Brazoria
Counties in district: Brazoria, Fort Bend

House District Brazoria
Dec 13, 1847 - Nov 5, 1849
Legislatures: 2nd ⁽¹⁴⁾
Home City/County: Gulf Prairie / Brazoria
Counties in district: Brazoria

Biographical Information top

Resolutions and Journal entries

5th Legislature - Roll of Members, Guy M. Bryan, age 31, native state Missouri, emigrated from Missouri in 1831, planter, postoffice Gulf Prairie, Brazoria County. House Journal.
27th Legislature, 1st C.S., 8/16/1901, p. 72. Resolutions - Memorial.

Biographical Sketches

Biographical sketch. American Legislative Leaders, 1850-1910, 1989.
BRYAN, Guy Morrison (1821-1901). Representative, TX. Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress.
Guy M. Bryan, mentioned as a candidate for U.S. Congress, Volume II, pp. 47-48: "He had for ten years been a member of the legislature, first in the House of Representatives and then in the Senate, and had canvassed the western congressional district as Presidential elector when Franklin Pierce was a candidate for President. . .he was known to be the nephew of Stephen F. Austin, whose memory was dear to all old Texans. Mr. Bryan was a ready and eloquent speaker and made a number of speeches in this canvass. . .He had no regular opponent, and was elected with only a few scattering votes against him." A Comprehensive History of Texas, 1685 to 1897.
Biographical sketch, Colonel Guy M. Bryan, pp. 87-89. The Encyclopedia of the New West, 1881.
BRYAN, GUY MORRISON (1821-1901). "Bryan moved to Galveston in 1860 and operated ranches in Galveston and Brazoria counties." Handbook of Texas Online.
Portrait and biographical sketch. Lone Star Junction, 1995.
Biographical sketch, Guy Morrison Bryan, pp. 225-226. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 21st Legislature, 1889.
Portrait and biographical sketch, Guy M. Bryan, pp. 539-545. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Representative Men of Texas, 22nd Legislature, 1892.
23rd Speaker of the House of Representatives: Guy Morrison Bryan. Photo and biographical sketch. Nephew of Stephen F. Austin. Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature, 1846-2016, 2016.
Biographical sketch, pp. 261-262. Texas Legislative Manual, 1879-80, 1879.
Biographical sketch, p. 243. The Texas Senate: Volume I, Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861, 1990.
Bryan, Guy Morrison. Texas State Cemetery.
Biographical sketch and portrait, Guy M. Bryan, pp. 542-550. Includes text of The Child of the Alamo speech before the Texas Legislature in 1852. Texas, the Country and Its Men: Historical, Biographical, Descriptive, 1918.
Biographical sketch, pp. 36-40. Year Book for Texas, 1901, 1902.

Military Service Notes

Texas Army, Texas Revolution; Texas Volunteers; Confederate States Army, Major. " . . . joined the Texas Army at San Jacinto in 1836; . . . served as a private in the Brazoria company, under the command of Captain Ballowe, during the Mexican War with the Texas Volunteers on the eastern bank of the Rio Grande; . . . during the Civil War served as volunteer aide-de-camp on the staff of General Herbert and afterwards as assistant adjutant general, with the rank of major, of the trans-Mississippi Department . . . " Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress.
Texas Army, Texas Revolution. "Bryan accompanied his mother on the Runaway Scrape and after her return home visited the battlefield at San Jacinto and enlisted in the Texas army as orderly for Alexander Somervell."
Confederate States Army, "During the Civil War, early in 1862, Jefferson Davis sent Bryan to visit the governors of the Trans-Mississippi Department to reconcile the clash between civil and military authorities. When Bryan requested active field duty in May 1863, General Edmund Kirby Smith made him confidential adjutant general." Handbook of Texas Online.
Texas Revolution. "At the time of his death he was president of the Texas Veteran Association, the remnant of that band of heroes that freed Texas from Mexican domination and planted a young republic in the West." 27th Legislature, 1st C.S., 8/16/1901, p. 72. Resolutions - Memorial.
Private, Brazoria company under General Zachary Taylor (1846). Confederate States Army, Major on staff of Gen. Holmes, and later Colonel on staff of Gen. E. Kirby Smith. Biographical sketch, p. 84. Texans Who Wore the Gray, 1907.
Guy Morrison Bryan. Texas Burial Sites of Civil War Notables: A Biographical and Pictorial Field Guide, 2002.

Other Resources

Guy Morrison Bryan was a Democrat. Legislative Reference Library Card File.

Photographs

Photograph. Guy M. Bryan, 21st Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. Guy M. Bryan, 14th Legislature, State Preservation Board
Photograph. Guy Morrison Bryan, Presiding Officers of the Texas Legislature, 1846-2006

Composite Photographs on Display in the Capitol

14th session composite photo of Senate and House members (Ground floor elevator vestibule, east wall. GW.V3). State Preservation Board.
20th session composite photo of House members (Ground floor elevator vestibule, north wall. GW.V3). State Preservation Board.
21st session composite photo of House members (House chamber vestibule, west wall. 2W.V1). State Preservation Board.

Committee Information top

21st R.S. - 1889 Acoustics (Chair) Commerce and Manufacture Constitutional Amendments Insurance, Statistics and History (Chair) Public Health and Vital Statistics Roads, Bridges and Ferries Water Supply
20th R.S. - 1887 Capitol Dedication Arrangements
16th R.S. - 1879 Commerce and Manufactures (Chair) Federal Relations Finance Private Land Claims Public Buildings and Grounds Public Health, Vital Statistics and History of Texas Revised Civil Code, Select Rules Sale of University Lands, Select Towns and City Corporations
6th R.S. - 1855 Claims and Accounts Education (Chair) Internal Improvements Public Buildings (Chair) State Affairs
5th R.S. - 1853 Education Engrossed Bills (Chair) Finance Printing and Contingent Expenses Private Land Claims Public Buildings (Chair) Rules Treasury Building
4th R.S. - 1851 Enrolled Bills Finance (Chair) Land Titles West of the Nueces, Select Land Titles, Investigation Report of Commissioners William H. Bourland and James B. Miller, Select Rules, Select
3rd R.S. - 1849 Apportionment, Special Archives of Martin De Leon's Colony (Chair) Education (Chair) Enrolled Bills Federal Relations Governor's Message, Select House Rules and Joint Rules, Select (Chair) Judicial Districts, Select Land Office Post Routes, Select Public Debt, Select Quieting Land Titles of the State, Governor's Message
2nd R.S. - 1847 Education Engrossed Bills (Chair) Jury Fund Penitentiary

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