Silas Lillard Bryan (November 4, 1822 – March 30, 1880) was a judge and member of the Illinois Senate.

Born in Culpeper, Virginia, Silas Lillard Bryan, of Scots-Irish and English descent,[1] was an avid Jacksonian Democrat and supporter of states' rights.

[2] Silas won election to the Illinois State Senate in 1852 on a platform on preventing the immigration of Free Negroes into Illinois.

[4] During the American Civil War, he was a Copperhead Democrat.

He did win election as a state circuit judge for the 2nd Judicial Circuit, and moved to a 520-acre (210.4 ha) farm north of Salem in 1866,[5] living in a ten-room house that was the envy of Marion County.