Bryan Joseph Castle was born in Ireland in 1848 and came to the United States while a small child. After living in New York long enough to attend school on “the site on which was erected St Patrick's Cathedral,” and to be “oppressed” by the “captains of industry,” he followed his parents to Wisconsin where he spent most of the rest of his long life. After driving mules in the Union Army and dabbling in education and newspaper work, he obtained a degree from the University of Wisconsin and turned to law and politics. Castle was a life-long Republican and while he was a good speaker he seldom ran for public office. Instead he was content to serve his party and state long and loyally in various appointive positions. Besides holding the post of Chief Clerk of the Senate, he held numerous special appointments, served for nineteen years in the Department of Public Lands (1882 to 1890[?] and 1899 to 1918), two years in the Adjutant General's office during the First World War, and twelve years on the Civil Service Commission (1919 to 1931).
