He also served four years in the Wisconsin Legislature, representing Dane County, and was appointed Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Property by Governor Robert M. La Follette, serving from 1901 until his death in 1907.

[1] Bryant was initially assigned to the 1st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War, having previously captained the Madison Guards.

He was a delegate to the 1880 Republican National Convention, and was appointed postmaster of Madison from 1882 through 1886 and again from 1890 to 1894.

After the Robert M. La Follette was elected governor later that year, however, Bryant was appointed Superintendent of Public Property.

[6] He died on February 16, 1907,[1] and was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery.