JOHN H. BRYANT, contractor and builder, having his office at the intersection
of Northeast and Douglas streets, Bloomington, may be properly numbered among
the pioneer settlers of Illinois, as he came
here in 1837 with his parents, being then a young child. He was born in East Cambridge, Mass., Dec. 3, 1833, his parents being Eben and Martha
(Brown) Bryant, natives of Wakefield and Charlestown, Mass. Eben Bryant was a farmer by occupation, and emigrated from the Bay State to Illinois in 1837,
settling in Pike County, upon 160 acres of wild land, which he improved and cultivated and occupied until his death, which
occurred in 1866. The mother survived him twelve years, dying at the old homestead in 1878. They were the parents
of five children, four now living, as follows: Eben F., of Pike
County; John H., our subject; Harriet and Joseph B., of
Kansas City. The father of our subject was a strong Abolitionist, and both parents were members of the
Baptist Church.
John H. Bryant was reared on his father's farm. and received a practical
education. He remained at home until nineteen years old, and then served three years at the carpenter's trade,
in Griggsville.
He soon afterward commenced as a contractor, which he followed in that locality until 1859, and then came to
Bloomington. Here he first established himself on
West Mulberry street, removing to his present quarters in 1884. He now gives employment
to from five to twenty men, and among the important structures which he has had in charge are the City Hall, Turner
Hall, the German Methodist
Episcopal Church and the Eagle Block, besides some of the finest residences in the
city.
Our subject was married in 1855, to Miss Nancy English, a native of New Salem, Ill., and the
daughter of Robert and Martha (Hooper) English, of
Ohio.
Mr. English was a farmer who, after coming to Illinois, settled first at New Salem,
whence he removed to McLean County
in 1863. His declining years were spent in Normal
Township, where his death occurred in about 1865.
Mr. and Mrs. Bryant became the parents of five children, as follows: George
A. is in California; Alice, now Mrs.
Gilbert Eldridge, is the mother of two children -- Clare and Pansy; Frank married Miss
Mary Ellen Ingersol, and they have one daughter, a babe, Ethel Frances; Arthur is doing business with his father;
Charles, the youngest, is at home. The family residence is located at
No. 806 West Oliver street, and is the resort of the best people of Bloomington.
Mrs. Bryant is a member in good standing of the Baptist
Church. Mr. Bryant is one of the largest contractors in the
city of Bloomington, and both as a business man
and a citizen, is one of the important factors in its business and industrial interests.
Portrait and biographical album of McLean County,
Ill. : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens
of the county, together with portraits and biographies of all the governors of Illinois,
and of the presidents of the United States.
(Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1887), 260.
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