Hugh Blair Bryan was born on March 18, 1822, in North Carolina. He married Mary P. Jenkins on September 4, 1848, and they had at least three children: William, born around 1851; Ida, born around 1852; and Mary, born around 1855. He worked as a farmer in Tarboro, North Carolina, and by 1860, he owned $8,000 of real estate and $92,800 of personal property. He enslaved at least 26 people. By 1870, he was serving as town constable. He later operated a boarding house. He developed pneumonia in the early 1890s, and his health never fully recovered. He died in Tarboro on January 19, 1896.