Bryan was born in Martin County, North Carolina and attended grammar and high school there.
After he moved to Tennessee, he held several local offices.
[3] Although he had been re-elected to the Seventeenth Congress, he did not take the seat because he did not qualify.
He died in Montgomery County, Tennessee, on May 7, 1835 (age 49 years, 73 days).
[4] His brother, Joseph Hunter Bryan, was also a U.S. Representative from the state of North Carolina.