John Bryant Sr. (bef. 1756 - abt. 1812)

Descendants

Died about 1812 after about age 56 in Knox County, Kentucky

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Biography

John's wife was named Charity as documents below show. Her surname is said to have been Copeland but there is no original documentary proof of this. The oldest source found for the claim that Charity’s maiden name was Copeland comes from a 1986 publication titled “Index of 1850 Whitley County, Kentucky federal census : annotated version” by Kathleen Stanfield Cook, based on extensive research by her father John Stanfield, who compiled the info from letters, correspondence and from “Early marriages, Whitley County, Kentucky” by Charley Maynard Cornelius (1981). (The reference to Charity Copeland is not found in the Cornelius book.)

John and Charity had four surviving children (William, John, Mary, and Rebecca) as shown by a lawsuit in 1820 described below.

Research on the Bryant family has shown that the Fairfield County, S.C., Bryants moved to Knox County, Kentucky, in the early 1800's. This was not a common type of migration route but it is supported by the facts.

• the children named above give South Carolina as their birthplace.
• the Bryants disappeared from Fairfield prior to 1810
• the Bryants appeared in Knox County shortly after 1800
• John's wife Charity is mentioned in documents in both locations

John's birth year is not known with any precision. The 1800 Fairfield County, South Carolina, census indicates he was born in or before 1755.

Examination of Fairfield County records shows that John lived on Thorntree Creek of the Wateree River. William Bryant (abt.1740-abt.1808) lived relatively close by on Dutchmans Creek. It is tempting to try make a connection between them, perhaps as brothers, but there is no evidence in favor of this idea. Still, we note that John moved to Knox County, Kentucky, at about the same time as some of William's sons.^[1]

1785 - (Exact date not given) For £40 sterling John Yarborough Senr. sells 200 acres of land on Thorntree Creek to John Bryant. The land adjoins Thomas Robertson and is part of a 400 acre tract originally granted to John Fulgham 13 Jun 1772. Camden District of Fairfield County, S.C. ^[2]

1786 - John and William Bryan (sic) begin appearing in Fairfield County, S.C., court minutes.^[3]

1790 - There are two census entries for John Briant in Fairfield County, S.C., one we imagine for a young man newly married (household of three) and one for an older man (household of six, two boys and two girls).^[4]

Name: John Briant
Home in 1790 (City, County, State): Fairfield, South Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 16: 2
Free White Persons - Males - 16 and over: 1
Free White Persons - Females: 3
Number of Household Members: 6

1800 - John Bryant is listed in the federal census of Fairfield County, S.C. He and his wife are both over 45 years of age, thus born before 1755. There are four children, two boys and two girls, under the age of 16.^[5] We might take from this that John and his wife were about fifty years old.

Name: John Bryant
Home in 1800 (City, County, State): Fairfield, South Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10: 1
Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15: 1
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over: 1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over: 1
Number of Household Members Under 16: 4
Number of Household Members Over 25: 2
Number of Household Members: 6

1803 - A number of Bryants start to make their appearance in the tax lists of Knox County, Kentucky. A John Bryant first appears in 1805 but this is apparently a young man.^[6]

2 Oct 1809 - John Bryant sells two parcels totaling 300 acres on Thorn Tree Branch of the Wateree River to Reuben Harrison for $1200. Fairfield District, S.C. Charity Bryant releases her dower right on the property. One hundred acres originally granted to Thomas Robinson in 1768 and two hundred acres bounding on Robinson originally granted John Fulgham.^[7] We see from this that John has disposed of his Fairfield County land.

1810 - John Briant is in the federal census of Knox County, Kentucky. He and his wife are over 45 years of age and they have a teenage son and a daughter at home. As well, he owns three slaves.^[8]

Name: John Briant
Home in 1810 (City, County, State): Barbourville, Knox, Kentucky
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15: 1
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25: 1
Free White Persons - Females - 45 and over : 1
Numbers of Slaves: 3
Number of Household Members Under 16: 1
Number of Household Members Over 25: 2
Number of Household Members: 7

1811, 1812 - In 1811 and 1812 there are two John Bryants in the Knox County tax lists, one of whom owns three horses and has 3 slaves.^[6]

1812 - Death. A Whitley Circuit Court in Chancery document (a transcription is included in the "Heirs of John Bryant" document), dated August 19, 1820, says that John Bryant died "about 8 years ago."

19 Aug 1820 - In a court case that went on for years, Ayres Witt and wife Rebecca bring suit in Wayne County (Kentucky) Circuit court against the other heirs of John Bryant who died c. 1812.^[9] The case is also found as a chancery case in the Whitley County Circuit Court records beginning in April of 1820. In July of 1823 the Whitley court remanded the case to Wayne County.

In the suit Ayres alleges that he and his wife are entitled to a share of the estate of John Bryant which included land, 3 slaves and cash. They further allege that two of the heirs (William and John Bryant) intend on dividing the estate and leaving the area. When John Bryant Sr. died he had four children: William, John, Mary, and Rebecca. "said Mary has since intermarried with a certain John Polly". In one of the court documents John Bryant's wife Charity is named. Household goods have been equitably divided among the heirs but the land, slaves, and cash have not. John Bryant is said to have made a will but it was never recorded and is lost.

John was born before 1766. He passed away after 1812.

John Bryant Sr. has Irish ancestors.

Sources

1. ↑ Sons Tarlton, Edward, and Elijah are found intermittently in early Knox County tax lists. They did not settle there.
2. ↑ Source needed
3. ↑ Source needed
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-25150-7007-71?cc=1803959 : accessed 9 January 2016), South Carolina > Fairfield > Not Stated > image 15 of 56; citing NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1800", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRH-TSB : accessed 9 January 2016), John Bryant, 1800.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Kentucky State Archives, Knox County Tax Books, 1810-1840, microfilm 08099
7. ↑ Fairfield County Deed Book T, p114a
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-25141-17993-71?cc=1803765 : accessed 9 January 2016), Kentucky > Knox > Barbourville > image 9 of 10; citing NARA microfilm publication M252, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
9. ↑ Member submission, Transcription of law suit, Ancestry.com

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