Past and Present of Hardin County, Iowa
ed. by William J. Moir. Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen, 1911.

Boyd R. Bryson, pp. 437-439

The character of a community is determined in a large measure by the lives of a comparatively few of its members.  If its moral and intellectual status be good, if in a social way it is a pleasant place in which to reside, if its reputation for the integrity of its citizens has extended into other localities, it will be found that the standard set by the leading men have been high and their influence such as to mould their characters and shape the lives of those with whom they mingle.  In placing Boyd R. Bryson, the present popular and efficient mayor of Iowa Falls, Hardin county, in the front rank of such men, justice is rendered a biographical fact recognized throughout this locality by those at all familiar with his history.

Mr. Bryson has preferred to spend his life in his home community rather than seek uncertain fortune elsewhere, having had the wisdom in his youth to foresee the future greatness of this favored locality.  He was born in Ackley, in the extreme northeast corner of the county, on September 29, 1877, the son of Alexander M. and Cartha H. (Allen) Bryson, the father born in Connecticut, the son of James Bryson and wife, who emigrated from Scotland about 1840 and settled in that state, becoming engaged extensively in the manufacture of woolen goods.  The family came west about 1848 and located in Allamakee county, Iowa, where they took up government land.  There were over seventy Indian tepees on the farm when they came; this was along Paint creek, so named because of the paintings made upon the rocks by the Indians.  There the old folks spent the rest of their lives and there the father of the subject grew to manhood.  He received an excellent education in the public schools and Upper Iowa University and while in school there he met Cartha H. Allen, whom he afterwards married.  Her parents were missionaries to the Indians in the Indian territory and her father, Samuel Allen, died in that country.  Ethan Allen, the noted patriot, was descended from the same family tree.

The father of the subject attended a business college in the East and also the Iowa State University, in addition to the schooling mentioned above, and finally studied law, located at Ackley, Hardin county, and became one of the leading lawyers of this section of the state.  He had started in life as a merchant, but did not follow that line of endeavor long.  He was in school when the Civil war began and he enlisted with a number of classmates in the Twenty-seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry and was wounded during the service.  After he returned home he resumed his studies.  He continued practice at Ackley until 1892, when he moved to Iowa Falls, where he remained until his death, in November, 1899.

Boyd R. Bryson lived in Ackley until he was sixteen years of age, then moved with his family to Iowa Falls.  He attended the high school at Ackley and was in his senior year when he came to Iowa Falls.  Here he attended Ellsworth College, from which he was graduated in the science department in June, 1896.  Deciding upon the law as his life work, he attended the law department of Drake University at Des Moines in 1897 and 1898 and was admitted to the bar in January, 1899.  Returning to Iowa Falls, he began practicing with his father, with whom he continued until the latter's death.  A month later he was joined in the practice with his brother, Cassius A. Bryson, who has just finished school at Des Moines, and they have remained in practice here ever since under the firm name of Bryson & Bryson, which firm has figured very prominently in all the important legal work of this locality and is enjoying a large and ever increasing clientele.

Boyd R. Bryson is a close student of all that pertains to the legal profession and he is painstaking and ever vigilant of the interests of his client.  For three terms he filled the office of justice of the peace in a most able and satisfactory manner.  In 1906 he became a candidate for nomination for mayor of Iowa Falls against J. H. Funk, ex-speaker of the house in the Legislature.  Mr. Bryson was not active himself in seeking election, but his friends insisted on his making the race, and he was nominated by an overwhelming majority and elected almost unanimously on a citizens' ticket.  He has discharged the duties of the office in a manner that reflects much credit upon himself and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned, having done much to improve the city along all lines and handling its affairs in a straightforward, business-like manner.

The domestic life of Mr. Bryson began in September, 1897, when he married Alma C. Collins, who was then residing in Iowa Falls.  She is a lady of refinement and is the representative of an excellent old family of this county, being the daughter of Eugene C. and Alice E. Collins.  This union has been graced by the birth of a daughter, Muriel A. Bryson.

Fraternally, Mr. Bryson belongs to the Knights of Pythias at Iowa Falls, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 302, at Webster City, Iowa, having filled all the chairs of the former and he was a member of the grand lodge.  His every-day life among his fellow men has been such as to gain their confidence, good will and respect and he is one of the leading citizens of his city and county.  The Bryson family has been one of the most influential in the affairs of Hardin county since its earliest history.