Everything about John Neely Bryan totally explained
John Neely Bryan (
December 24,
1810 –
September 8,
1877) was a
Presbyterian farmer, lawyer, and tradesman in the
United States and founder of the city of
Dallas,
Texas.
Early life
Bryan was born to James and Elizabeth (Neely) Bryan in
Fayetteville,
Tennessee. There, he attended the
Fayetteville Military Academy and after studying law was admitted to the Tennessee Bar. Around the year
1833 he left Tennessee and moved to
Arkansas, where he was an Indian trader. According to some sources, he and a business partner laid out
Van Buren, Arkansas.
Exploring Dallas
Bryan visited the
Dallas area in
1839 looking for a place to create a trading post. After finding a good spot, he returned to
Arkansas to settle affairs. In November of
1841 he returned to Texas, where he learned that a treaty had forced half of his prospective customers,
Native Americans, out of
North Texas. Bryan decided that a trading post was no longer feasible, so instead he established a permanent settlement, which eventually became the burgeoning city of Dallas.
Establishment of Dallas
Bryan was very important to early Dallas — he served as the postmaster, a storeowner, a
ferry operator (he operated a ferry where Commerce Street crosses the
Trinity River today) and his home served as the courthouse. In 1844 he persuaded J. P. Dumas to survey and plat the site of Dallas and possibly helped him with the work. Bryan was instrumental in the organizing of
Dallas County in 1846 and in the choosing of Dallas as its
county seat in August 1850. When Dallas became the county seat, Bryan donated the land for the
courthouse. In 1843 he married
Margaret Beeman, a daughter of the Beeman family who settled in Dallas from
Bird's Fort
. The couple had five children.
Another Beeman,
John, arrived in Dallas in April of 1842 and planted the first
corn).
Gold rush
In 1849, Bryan went to
California during the
gold rush but returned within a year. In January 1853 he was a delegate to the Texas state Democratic convention. In 1855, Bryan shot a man who had insulted his wife and fled to the
Creek Nation. The man he shot made a full recovery, and Bryan certainly would've been informed, but still Bryan didn't return to Dallas for about six years. During that time he travelled to
Colorado and California, probably looking for gold. He returned to Dallas in 1860 or 1861.
Late life
Bryan joined Col.
Nicholas H. Darnell's Eighteenth
Texas Cavalry regiment in the winter of 1861 and served with the unit until late 1862 when he was discharged due to his old age and poor health. He returned to Dallas in 1862 and again became actively involved in community affairs. In 1863 he was a trustee for the
Dallas Male and Female Academy. In 1866, during a Dallas flood, he was very prominent in aiding those affected. He also chaired a citizens' meeting that pushed the
Houston and Texas Central Railway to complete the railway through the city, and presided at a rally that sought to get full political rights for all ex-
Confederates. In 1871 and 1872 Bryan became one of the directors of the Dallas Bridge Company, which built the first iron bridge across the Trinity River. He also stood on the platform at the welcoming ceremonies for the Houston and Texas Central Railway when the first train pulled into town in mid-July 1872.
By 1874 Bryan's mind was clearly impaired, though it isn't known exactly how. He was admitted to the
Texas State Lunatic Asylum in February of 1877 and died there on
8 September 1877.
He is believed to be buried in a now-unmarked grave in the southeast quadrant of the Austin State Hospital Cemetery, although some believe he's buried in Riverside Cemetery in
Wichita Falls, Texas.
Cultural references
The concrete
pergola upon which
Abraham Zapruder was standing during the
John F. Kennedy assassination as he made the
Zapruder film, was originally placed in
Dealey Plaza in honor of Bryan, and is named for him.
Further Information
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