The impelling cause which is responsible for this article needs no elaboration. During the last few months, so many conflicting statements have been made by writers, friendly and unfriendly, concerning Mr. Bryan's ancestry, habits, education, etc., that a short biography based upon the fact seems a necessary part of this book.
Writing from the standpoint of a wife, eulogy and criticism are equally out of place. My only purpose, therefore, is to present in a simple story those incidents which may be of interest to the general reader.
Mary Baird Bryan
About the author
Mary Baird Bryan, only child of John and Lovina Baird, the father a prosperous merchant of Perry, Illinois, was born June 17, 1861. After a course in the public schools she attended Monticello Seminary, at Godfrey, Illinois, for one year, and the Presbyterian Academy at Jacksonville, Illinois, for two years, graduating from the latter institution with first honors in June, 1881. She has continued her studies since graduation, giving special attention to German. After her marriage, in 1884, she read law, with her husband as instructor, taking the course prescribed in the Union College of Law (Chicago). She was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Nebraska in November, 1888. This course of study was taken up, not with a view to entering the practice, but in order to put herself in closer touch with her husband, to whom she has been a real helpmeet in every sense of the term. He acknowledges his indebtedness to her for constant and valuable assistance in his work. She is devoted to her home, and to her children has been both mother and companion.
