Needham Bryan II
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Needham Bryan II (1726 - bef. 1777)

Colonel Needham Bryan II
Born in Snowfield, Bertie, Province of North Carolinamap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 5 Feb 1748 [location unknown]
Husband of — married about 1764 in Johnston, North Carolinamap
Descendants descendants
Died before before age 50 in Johnston, North Carolinamap
Profile last modified | Created 15 Feb 2013
This page has been accessed 5,173 times.

Contents

Biography

NEEDHAM BRYAN II, son of Needham Bryan I and Annie Rambeau, was born October 13, 1726,[1] at Snowfield, Bertie County, North Carolina.

While young, he moved with his brother William to Craven (Johnston) County, where he received grants to land on both sides of Neuse River. [See list below.]

On February 5, 1748, he married Nancy "Anne" Smith, daughter of John & Elizabeth (Whitfield) Smith of Johnston County, North Carolina.[1]

Nancy Anne died in 1760. [1]

Around 1764 Needham married next Sophia (Moore) Bryan (1725-), daughter of Col. Joe Moore of Sampson Co. NC,[2] and widow of William Hinton (1715-aft.1761) who had died in 1761. They married sometime after March 17, 1763, when she was still Sophia Hinton.[3] In 1769 Maj. Needham Bryan paid Joseph Hinton, son of William Hinton late of Johnston Co. 50£ his full portion of sd father's estate.[4]

Later, date unclear, Needham Sr. with wife Sophia, gave to son Needham Bryan Jr. two tracts of land.[5]

From 1762 to 1771 he served in the Colonial Assembly.[1]

During the struggle with the Regulators, he took side of the King and Governor Tyron and joined the King's troops.[1]September 22/23 1768 he attended the Council of War held at Hillsborough Camp [6]

On the 24th of April, 1771, Governor Tryon marched from Newbern with a small force, on his way, according to the recommendation of the council, to check a rebellion in the upper country, which had received the name of the Regulators, or the Regulation; the militia of the several counties, in answer to the governor's demand upon the constituted authorities, joined him on his march; and on the 4th of May he encamped at Hunter's lodge in Wake county. Here being joined by a detachment of militia under Col. John Hinton,... He left the palace in Newbern accompanied by about three hundred men...on the way he had been joined by the detachment of militia from New Hanover county, under Col. John Ashe; of the county of Craven, under Col. Joseph Leech; of the county of Dobbs (now called Lenoir), under Col. Richard Caswell; of the county of Onslow, under Col. Craig; of the county of Cartaret, under Col. William Thompson; of the county of Johnson, under Col. Needham Bryan; of the county of Beaufort, a company of artillery, under Capt. Moore, and a company of Rangers under Capt. Neale; and a company of light horsemen from Duplin, under Capt. Bullock.[7]

Later he joined the patriots.

On September 9, 1775, he was elected by Provincial Congress to serve as Col. of Minute Men of Johnston Co.: Needham Bryan, Colonel; William Bryan, Lieut. Colonel; John Smith, first Major; Samuel Smith, Junr, second Major. [8]

Needham died probably in April of 1776; he did not leave a will. At the May Court 1776, Needham Jr. was appointed administrator of father's estate.[9] The referenced Whitfield book, incorrectly says he died in 1784.[1]

The court minutes of the November term 1780 give an account of the trial, conviction and execution of a party accused of the poisoning a Needham Bryan and members of his family.[9]

Son Kedar Bryan, esquire, of Sampson Co NC, only surviving heir of Anne, wife of Needham Bryan late of Johnson Co. NC now deceased, gave deposition, in grandfather John Smith’s estate settlement, saying:[10] [A PDF copy of the estate papers is attached.]

Aug 13, 1794 Sampson County NC heard father say that 25 lbs was all he received from John Smith Sr.
Feb 15 1802 Sampson County NC heard father Needham Bryan say JS never gave my mother but 25 pounds currency, He did give me and my wife she also being his grandchild Negro girl 10 in 1776 and I understand he gave one of my sisters a Negro 10-11 a small time previous to the removal of the said JS to the state of TN she living at a considerable distance from me.

Children

Children by Nancy "Anne" Smith[1]:

1. Needham Bryan III (1748-1787) m. 1768 Sarah Hinton. Lived in Johston Co. NC.
2. Kedar Bryan, Judge (1750/52-1807) m. c1775 cousin Elizabeth Smith; m.2 1782 cousin Mary Whitfield; m.3 1784 Betsey James; m.4 1787 Nancy Dickson. Moved to Sampson Co. NC.
3. Winifred Bryan (abt.1754-1783) (May 5 1754 [or 55]-Apr 5 1783 [or 85]) m. c.1773 Nathan Bryan, Col., son of Col. Hardy & Sara (Bonner) Bryan.
4. Nancy (Bryan) Whitfield (1756-bef.1800) (c1755-by1794) m. 1780 cousin Bryan Whitfield, son of William & Rachel (Bryan) Whitfield of Wayne Co. NC


Children by Sophia (Moore) Hinton:[11]

5. CHARLOTTE MOORE BRYAN (1765-1798) m. 1798 Lewis Whitfield, Rev. (1765-1849), son of William & Rachel ( Bryan) Whitfield
6. RIGDON BRYAN ( -1793) Sampson Co. NC.
7. ESTER BRYAN m. Christopher Curtis. [This is a wrong. She was Ester Hinton, Sophia's daughter by William Hinton.]


LAND PATENTS [12]

1745 70a S.side of S.prong Swifts Crk [Middle Crk.], below Samuel Smith.
1745 74a N.side Neuse, betw his own land and John Smith’s.
1754 50a S.side Neuse.
1752 250a S.side Black River, joining near Reedy branch, abt a mile above Greens patent. [later given to son Needham Jr.]
1756 338a N.side Swift Crk, joining Busbys Branch, John Carrell, Needham Bryan, fork of Swift Creek and White Oak Swamp.
1762 700a in Orange Co. on Beaver Creek waters of New Hope, joining bo. side of Bents of sd Creek.
1763 558a N.side Swift Creek, bo.side of White Oak Swamp.
1763 150a in Johnston on s.side Black Crk, joining his old survey, the low grounds of the Creek, both sides of a large Branch and John Lawhorns [later given to son Needham Jr.]

Needham Bryan's date of death is given as 1784 by Notable Southern Families. and the Whitfield Book. However, when his father's estate was settled in May 1777, Needham had already died (the estate paid the "administrator of Needham" and, although he had been named as an executor along with his brother William in his father's will, written in September 1767, William was the sole executor named in the 1777 court papers).

Daughters of the American Revolution Record

BRYAN, NEEDHAM SR
Ancestor #: A016273
Service: NORTH CAROLINA Rank(s): CIVIL SERVICE, PATRIOTIC SERVICE, COLONEL
Birth: 10-31-1726 BERTIE PCT NORTH CAROLINA
Death: ANTE 5-28-1776 JOHNSTON CO NORTH CAROLINA
Service Source: NCDAR, ROSTER OF SOLS FROM NC IN THE AM REV, PP 498-500, 502, 503; HAUN, JOHNSTON CO NC CO CT MINUTES,1767-1777, BOOK 2, PP 103, 104
Service Description: 1) COL IN JOHNSTON CO MILITIA, JUSTICEOF THE PEACE, MEMBER OF PROVINCIAL CONGRESS IN AUGUST 1775
Residence: 1) County: JOHNSTON CO - State: NORTH CAROLINA
Spouse: 1) NANCY SMITH 2) CHARLOTTE MOORE


This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import.[13] It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Whitfield, Emma Morehead. Whitfield, Bryan, Smith and Related Families, Vol.2, Pages 10 -11.
  2. "His Smith wife died, and Needham then married a daughter of old Col. Joe Moore of Sampson County, N.C,- Charlotte Moore, and had a daughter Charlotte, and a son Rigdon.” [Deeds refer to her as Sophia Bryan.] Tillman, James David, Tillman & Hamilton Family Records, 1963. p.2. http://wvancestry.com/ReferenceMaterial/Files/Tillman_&_Hamilton_Family_Records_with_their_many_ancestral_lineages_-_Vol._3.pdf
  3. Haun, Weynette Parks, "Johnston County, North Carolina. Abstracts” Vol.1, p.49, #288; Deed Book Transcript-1, p.66.
  4. Haun, Weynette Parks, "Johnston County, North Carolina Abstracts" Vol. 2 #312; Deed Book Transcripts 2. p.1.
  5. Haun, Weynette Parks, "Johnston County, North Carolina, Abstracts" Vol.2, p.7, #41-A; Deed Book E-1, p.43.
  6. Report on the proceedings of a council of war, information from Colonial and State Records of North Carolina database.
  7. Foote, William Henry. Sketches of North Carolina, Historical and Biographical, Illustrative of the Principles of a Portion of Her Early Settlers. New York: 1846. Digitized version.
  8. Minutes of the Provincial Congress of North Carolina, information from Colonial and State Records of North Carolina database.
  9. 9.0 9.1 "The Heritage of Johnston County, North Carolina 1985," published by The Heritage of Johnston County Book Committee, 1985: #158.
  10. Knox Sup Crt Rec Bk.B 1797-1804, part 2, p288-291. attached
  11. Whitfield Vol.2 p.11: Incorrectly says that mother's name was Charlotte Moore.
  12. David McCorkle’s NORTH CAROLINA LAND GRANT IMAGES AND DATA website.
  13. Bryan-2449 was created by Brock Riggs through the import of Jennifer Riggs Family Tree.ged on Jan 18, 2015. This comment and citation can be deleted after the biography has been edited and primary sources are included.

See also:

  • North Carolina Hist. Gen. Reg., Vol 1 (1900), quarterly issues 1-4 bound: issue 4 (October), page 577. link
  • From Ancestry.com message boards is this note: Early settlers at the mouth of Mill Creek came through Craven Co. of Duplin Co. NC or up this river. The greater part of Johnston Co. NC first settled from the north. Consequently, we read in deeds of Alexander Avery of Nanesmond Co. VA or of John Vinson of the county of Brunswick, Parish of Meherrin in VA. John and Samuel Smith, early settlers, entered their first patents along this trail, between Swift Creek and The River, as did the brothers Needham and William Bryan from Bertie Co. NC
  • Find A Grave: Memorial #80798452 accessed 12 September 2020), memorial page for Col Needham Bryan Jr. (31 Oct 1726–1777). BURIAL UNKNOWN.

Acknowledgements

Penny F created the WikiTree profiles for Bryan-1403 and Bryan-1409 through the import of Staton Family Tree .ged on Feb 3, 2013. Brock Riggs created the WikiTree profile for Bryan-2441 through the import of Jennifer Riggs Family Tree.ged on Jan 18, 2015. Bryan-2441 was merged with this profile.

See the Changes page for the details of edits by contributors.

Profiles Removed

Smith-137461 as spouse, b 1896

  • Research by Edna Wood: New Hanover Co. NC---May 5, 1733, I George Burrington Governor of NC for love and affection I bear unto Mrs. Mary Burrington alias Lands. 2 tracts of land cont. 640 A each lying on Cape Fear River.. 1st tract orig. granted to Col. Maurice Moore by patent dated 25 July 1724 & the other tract originally granted to John Porter by patent June 14, 1725. Wit: Needham Bryan, A Williams pg. 182 ---Note if this Needham Bryan was b. in 1717 he would have only been age 16 in 1733.




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Comments: 7

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Bryan-3327 and Bryan-1403 do not represent the same person because: These two are not a match
posted by Debra (Downs) Allison
Bryan-2449 and Bryan-1403 appear to represent the same person because: likely duplicates. One profile has no sources. The other shows an earlier death date, but if you read the information on the senior Needham Bryan's profile, the wrong interpretation of Needham Sr's administrators has caused people to think his son Needham was dead. Please review. I highly doubt there were two Needham Bryans of similar ages in Bertie, NC at the same time.
Bryan-2489 and Bryan-1403 appear to represent the same person because: Bryan-2489 was detached as Annie's husband... perhaps he is a duplicate of their son? Although death dates are way off, I think merging them is better than leaving Needham Bryan-2489 completely detached from any family members.
posted by Liz (Noland) Shifflett
Bryan-3068 and Bryan-1403 appear to represent the same person because: DNA evidence suggests that these profiles should be merged.

Thank you

posted by Loretta (Leger) Corbin
Bryan-1403 and Bryan-2441 appear to represent the same person because: these profiles appear to be for the same man. However, I believe that Col. Needham Bryan probably died between 1771 and 1777 (despite most online trees having 1770 as death year).... see text in profile for Bryan-1403. Do you have a source for death date?
posted by Liz (Noland) Shifflett

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Categories: North Carolina, American Revolution