William Shepard Bryan (November 20, 1827 – December 9, 1906) was a Maryland lawyer who served as a justice of the

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland is the state supreme court, highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. Its name was changed on December 14, 2022, from the Maryland Court of Appeals, after a voter-approved change to the state constitution. The cou ...

from 1883 to 1898.

Early life, education, and career

Born in

New Bern, North Carolina New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 as of 2019. It is the county seat of Craven County and t ...

, he was the son of Congressman John Heritage Bryan. Bryan "received his early general and education in the South". He graduated from the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

and

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

under the supervision of his father. He moved to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

in 1850, and read law to gain

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in Maryland in 1851, thereafter entering the practice of law. He was a southern sympathizer during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, and was a presidential elector in the

1876 United States presidential election The 1876 United States presidential election was the 23rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1876, in which Republican nominee Rutherford B. Hayes faced Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. It was one of the most contentious ...

Judicial service

In 1883, Bryan was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Baltimore seat on the

Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...

vacated by the resignation of Judge

James Lawrence Bartol James Lawrence Bartol (June 4, 1813 – June 23, 1887) was an American jurist who served as chief judge of the supreme court of the U.S. state of Maryland, the Court of Appeals. Early life James Lawrence Bartol was born on June 4, 1813, in Hav ...

. 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". He retired from the court in 1898.

Personal life and death

On October 1, 1857, Bryan married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Edmondson Hayward of

Talbot County, Maryland Talbot County is located in the heart of the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 37,526. Its county seat is Easton, Maryland, Easton. The county was named ...

, with whom he had a daughter and three sons. Bryan's wife died in 1898. Bryan himself died of liver cancer eight years later, at the age of 79, at the home of his son, William Shepard Jr., who was then attorney general of the state. He was interred in Baltimore's

Green Mount Cemetery Green Mount Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established on March 15, 1838, and dedicated on July 13, 1839, it is noted for the large number of historical figures interred in its grounds as well as many ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, William Shepard 1827 births 1906 deaths People from New Bern, North Carolina University of North Carolina alumni U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Judges of the Supreme Court of Maryland Maryland Democrats Burials at Green Mount Cemetery