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James Wesley Bryan (son of John Bryan and Nancy A. Lyons)19 was born December 28, 1834 in Chopique, Calcasieu Parish, LA19, and died June 16, 1897 in Lake Charles, LA20. He married Delia Keller Singleton on September 09, 1869 in Lake Charles, LA21, daughter of Robert Singleton and Margarel C. Keller.

Notes for James Wesley Bryan: Captain James Wesley Bryan was born in Lake Charles, La on December 28, 1834. He attended country schools whenever possible but he had little formal education. He studied for a literary career alternately teaching and studying until he was 25 years old In 1854 his mother died In 1861 he organized the Calcasieu Militia for home protection and in 1862 he was called on to organize four companies of men. Within 20 days from receiving the requisition, he had four volunteer companies and was on the march to Opelousas with his soldiers. They first went to New Orleans and then to Camp Moore. His group joined the 28th Louisiana infantry that distinguished itself at the battle of Chickasaw under Colonel Allen Thomas. Later they were at the siege of Vicksburg where food was so scarce they ate rats. Late in the battle the Colonel was killed. Captain Bryan was the ranking officer at the time and served as Colonel for the rest of the battle. He kept the title of Col. Bryan until his death. in 1867, a group of citizens received a Charter and Articles of Incorporation and named the town Charlestown -- later to be called Lake Charles. In 1868, James Wesley Bryan was elected the first Mayor of Lake Charles. Bryan bought a building in town and remodeled it to use it as a private school. He taught in the Lake Charles Academy himself but later remodeled it to allow for more children and a teacher he had hired, Delia Singleton (who later became his wife). In 1869, he remodeled the building to make it into a mercantile business with a home for his new family above the store. He kept this store until 1884. He became the proprietor and editor of the Lake Charles Echo the newspaper in the small town. He kept this until he March 14, 1890 when he sold and the newspaper was consolidate with the American a weekly newspaper. He had a number of interests including: serving in the General Assembly of the State of Louisiana where he was instrumental in setting up the Lake Charles School System; being the Treasurer of the Hook and ladder Company; representing the Parish in the Board of Police Jurors; he served as elder of the First Baptist Church. He died June 18, 1897 after a sudden sickness. His funeral was held at the Baptist church with Rev. A.P. Schofield conducting the services. he was berried June 18, 1987 in the Orange Grove Cemetery.

Source: Southwest Louisiana and Biographical and Historical by William Henry Perrin published in 1891; page 138.

Contributed by Margaret Moore

J. W. Bryan is descended from good old Irish ancestry, but the family has been so long in this country, and become so thoroughly Americanized, that few of the Irish traits now appear upon the surface. One characteristic that remains, however, is that of sterling honesty. His great-grandfather (O'Brien, emigrated to America when a boy and settled in Virginia; married and raised a family there. Luke Bryan, one of his sons, and the grandfather of the subject of our sketch came to Louisiana early in life and married Miss Rebecca W. Berwick, in 1802 from her family Berwick's Bay derives its name. One of the sons born to them was John Bryan, the father of Capt. Bryan, who was reared and educated there. In early manhood he married Miss Nancy A. Lyons, and, about 1832, settled in Calcasieu. In 1839 he removed to Texas, and resided there until his death, in 1844, when the family returned to Calcasieu parish. Here Mrs. Bryan was married a second time, to Mr. Jacob E. Harmon, by whom she had three children. Capt. Bryan, whose name stands at the head of this sketch, was born in this parish, December 28, 1834. His early educational facilities were limited, and he belongs to that very numerous class of prominent men who owe their education to their own aspirations and unaided exertions to rise above the station in which they were born to one of greater exertions and more extensive and higher usefulness. Up to the time of his mother's death, young Bryan spent his time farming and attending the country schools, when here were any to attend, which in his early days were few and far between. Not content with an occupation in which his chances for development and usefulness were so restricted, he determined to obtain a mental discipline which would fit him for literary pursuits.

In this good republican country of ours, where organic laws denounce hereditary patents to mobility, most men indulge the vanity of pride at achievements so marked and great as those which lead and direct a Clay or a Lincoln from the humblest walks of life to the highest position in the councils of the nation. The great ambition of young Bryan was to fit himself for literary work. To this end he attended school and pursued a literary course, teaching and studying alternately, until he attained the age of twenty-five years. His course had not yet been completed when the civil war came on and caused such confusion and derangement in all the affairs of life. Laying aside all selfish claims and personal desires, that he might serve his country unfettered, he quit school and in 1861 organized the militia of Calcasieu parish, for the purpose of home protection. Early in 1862, being called on for four companies, he organized the four volunteer companies, and within twenty days from the time of receiving the requisition, he was on the march to Opelousas with these companies to report for duty, from whence the command proceeded to New Orleans, and thence to Camp Moore, and it was there that the Twenty-eighth Louisiana Infantry, under Col. Allen Thomas, which distinguished itself in the battle of Chickasaw, and the memorable siege of Vicksburg, which began on the 21st of May and was raised on the 4th of July, was organized. During the siege Capt. Bryan, being the ranking officer of his regiment, commanded it, Col. Thomas having been promoted to brigadier general.

Capt Bryan sheathed his sword when the cause was lost, returned home and cast about him for `` ways and means " to repair the ravages of the war. He resumed teaching, which he continued for about four years, the last three in the town of Lake Charles, studying and improving his mind in the meantime. In 1869 he opened a mercantile business in the town, which he followed up to 1884. In 1871 he became editor and proprietor of the Lake Charles Echo, which he conducted with great ability until the 14th of March, 1890, when he sold the paper and retired from its editorship. Under his management the Echo became one of the ablest and most popular country weeklies in Louisiana and contributed greatly to the building up and development of Lake Charles and Calcasieu parish. For some time Capt. Bryan has been engaged in the real estate business. He has always taken an active interest in the local affairs of the town and parish, and he is especially noted for the interest he has manifested in school work. To him, perhaps, more than any one man is due the credit of the efficient school system of Lake Charles. At different times Capt. Bryan has served as mayor and councilman of the town, and several times has represented his parish in the board of police jurors, as well as General Assembly of the State.

Capt. Bryan was married to Miss Delia K. Singleton, September 9, 1869. They have three promising sons and five bright and lovely daughters. The eldest of the latter is the wife of J. C. F. Kyger, President of the Commercial College, of the Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

More About James Wesley Bryan: Burial: June 17, 1897, Orange Grove Cemetary, Lake Charles, LA.

More About James Wesley Bryan and Delia Keller Singleton: Marriage: September 09, 1869, Lake Charles, LA.21