VOLNEY O'BRYAN
Volney O'Bryan may be classed among the early settlers of Atlantic, as he came here in the early part of 1869. He is a native of Vermont, having been born in Middlebury, Addison county, on the 1st day of February, 1827. Here he was reared and received his education in the common schools. When quite young he commenced the acquirement of the carpenter's trade, and having learned it, started to travel in the south. He went to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1860, and was engaged in contracting and building when the war broke out. He lost by it everything he had accumulated, selling even his tools. In the spring of 1869, he came to Atlantic, and was soon afterward appointed postmaster, under Grant's administration. He held the position for eight years. After leaving the postoffice, he went six miles northeast of Atlantic, and laid out the town of Lorah. There he built a store, and embarked in the mercantile business. Returning to Atlantic, he purchased a lumber yard, in January, 1882, which he sold to Lamson and Dierkson. In 1884, he commenced his present business, in the planing mill. He was married in Canada, in 1857, to Amelia C. Hall. They have had three children, none of which are now living. Mr. and Mrs. O'Bryan are members of the Methodist church.
Contributed by Lisa Varnes-Rex from "History of Cass County, Iowa. Together With Sketches of its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens." Springfield, Ill.: Continental Historical Company, 1884, pg. 879.
