lawyer, soldier, politician, judge, b. Baldwinsville, Mass. He attended Norwich Univ., Vt., a military school, studied law, and was admitted to the bar (1856). In 1856 he moved to Madison where he practiced law and in 1858 helped to organize the "Governor's Guard." During the Civil War he served as captain in the 1st Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (1861-1862), and as colonel of the 12th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (1862-1864), leading that regiment through the Missouri, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Atlanta campaigns. After the war he divided his time between politics and his cattle-breeding farm in Blooming Grove. A Republican, he was judge of Dane County (1865-1877), state senator (1875-1876), Wisconsin quartermaster general (1876-1882), and postmaster of Madison (1882-1886, 1890-1894). He was secretary of the state agricultural society (1878-1882) and state assemblyman (1899-1900). During his later years he supported the La Follette faction of the Republican party and was a member of the Republican state central committee (1896-1904). He was state superintendent of public property (1901- 1907). Columbian Biog. Dict. . . . Wis. (Chicago, 1895); Soldiers' and Citizens' . . . Biog. Record (2 vols., Chicago, 1888-1890); Madison Democrat, Feb. 18, 1907; WPA field notes; F. H. Bryant Papers.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the George Edwin Bryant Correspondence for details.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]