Obituaries: Hardy Lee Brian, 1949, Winn Parish, LA
Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483
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From: September 29, 1949 Winn Parish Enterprise

Hardy L. Brian Rites Wednesday At Jerusalem

Hardy Lee Brian, 84, for many years widely known in newspaper, agricultural,
and political circles in all of which he was active as writer, teacher, and
campaigner, passed away Monday, September 26, in a Shreveport hospital,
following an extended period of failing health.

Funeral services were conducted Tuesday at Shreveport, and burial was made
Wednesday morning in old Jerusalem Cemetery near Winnfield.

Mr. Brian, whose home was in Shreveport, is survived by two sons, W. T. Brian
of Shreveport, and B. F. Brian of Eunice; two daughters, Mrs. Celeste Brian
Carpenter of Morehead, Miss., and Miss Clara Alma Brian of Shreveport, a
retired teacher of the Hope Street School, with whom he made his home
following the death of his wife, the former Ella Eugenia Dickerson; one
sister, Mrs. Emmaline Hanks, of Houston, Texas; two brothers, Harvey Brian of
Nebo, La., and F. N. Brian of Dallas, Texas.

Native of Grant

He was a native of Grant Parish, born near Pollock, and after residing in
several other north Louisiana parishes, including Winn and Natchitoches, in
both of which he operated weekly newspapers, he moved to Shreveport in 1924,
residing there the balance of his life.  

Edited Winnfield Paper

In 1916 he purchased the Winnfield Times, and edited the weekly two years.  He
resided in Winn Parish a number of years before engaging in the newspaper
business, and in the early 1890s was elected by the Winn electorate as member
of the state house of representatives.  While he was serving in the house, his
father, B. F. Brian, of Grant Parish, was serving in the state senate.

His second venture as a weekly newspaper publisher and editor was in
Natchitoches Parish, where he owned and operated a Populist Party paper which
was established in 1892.

He was a good roads enthusiast and in 1920 organized the Lone Star Trail, a
project to trace the Old Spanish Trail from Florida to California.  He had
done extensive work in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, when
circumstances prompted him to abandon the enterprise.  The trail then was near
the Texas border.

In the later years of his life, Mr. Brian was a religious leader.  He wrote a
number of religious articles and books, an conducted a class, known as the
Kingdom Bible Class.  He was a deep Bible student.