Born in Lewiston, Bertie County, Province of North Carolina
Ancestors 
Daughter of William Bryan
and Elizabeth (Smith) Bryan
Sister of
Smith Bryan, Lewis Bryan I, William Bryan Jr., Arthur Bryan Esq., Elizabeth (Bryan) Blackman, Hardy Bryan, Blake Bryan, Ester (Bryan) Smith, Susannah (Bryan) Alexander, John Bryan and Sarah (Bryant) Arrowood
Wife of
Thomas Lee Sr
— married
about 15 Mar 1761 in Johnston County, Province of North Carolina [uncertain]
[uncertain] Died about
at about age 75
in Lee Valley, Hawkins, Tennessee, United States [uncertain]
[uncertain]Profile last modified
| Created 2 Oct 2012
This page has been accessed 3,441 times.
Contents |
Biography
Mary Bryan and her twin brother, Lewis Bryan, were born on 4 Nov 1745 in Lewiston, Bertie, North Carolina. Their parents were possibly William Bryan and Elizabeth Smith.
If so, her maternal grandfather was John Smith. One of his land investments would have a significant bearing upon the founding of Smithfield, Johnston County, North Carolina.[1] He lived and died in Hawkins County, Tennessee, as did Thomas Lee. Yet, Mary and Lewis are not mentioned as John Smith's grandchildren in his eastate settlement. [2]
She may have married Thomas Lee as his 2nd wife on 15 Mar 1761.[3] Together they possibly had children :
- James Bryan Lee 1768 – 1837 born in Prince Edward, Virginia.
- Mary Lee Griffin, Wife of Jones Griffin, Born 1794 Tenn - Died 1876 Ala. (needs to be verified)
- Thomas Lee b. 1760-1761 (not listed in the suit in Chancery Court of Hawkins County, Tennessee)[4]
- Samuel Lee born about 1770[5]
Daughters of the American Revolution
Thomas Lee m 1st Mary Griffin[6]
Thomas Lee m 2nd Mary Bryan[7][8]
- Samuel[9]
- Thomas m Polly Rains
- James m Martha Lewis
- William
- Mikajah m Elizabeth Galwith
- Edward
- Needham
- John b 1772 m Frances Lane
- Mary m James Griffin
- Winifred m Brittain Bailey
- Zilpha m John Bailey
Mary Bryan Lee died in Lee Valley, Hawkins, Tennessee. [10] Headstone of her daughter reads:
- Mary Lee Griffin, Wife of Jones Griffin, Born 1794 Tenn - Died 1876 Ala.
- Daughter of, Capt. Thomas and Mary Bryan Lee,
- ~ ~1729 VA - 1816 Tenn ~ ~ ~ 1745 NC - 1821 Tenn
Chancery Court Litigation
On 23 May 1823, Thomas Bailey filed a suit in Chancery Court of Hawkins County, Tennessee challenging the administration of Mary's estate.[5] In this lawsuit, the orator's bill identifies the "children nine in number" who were to receive equal shares of Mary's estate as the "lawful heirs of her body" pursuant to her will as follows:[6]
In 1823 situ
- Henry Rains (Henry is his paternal grandfather's 1st name)
- Needham Lee (Needham is his maternal ggrandfather's 1st name: Needham Bryan)
- John Lee (his paternal grandfather's 1st name)
- Winifred Bailey
- Zilpha Bailey
- William Lee (William is his maternal grandfather's 1st name: William Bryan)
- Edward Lee
- James Lee
- Mary Griffin, wife of James Griffin
These nine children listed in 1823 all belong to just one mother.
Research Notes
DNA Information
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Mary: Richard Arwood has a GedMatch on 2 chromosomes with Kieth Bryant and estimated number of generations to MRCA = 4.1 comparing Kit PD8312844 (*Chief Arwood) [FTDNA] and Kit PY1842148 (Keith Bryant) [Ancestry]
Sheila Renee Curtis and Karen Brubaker have shared DNA: 13cM across 2 segments which makes them 5th to 8th cousins through their maternal parent on Ancestry.com. They both have trees with ancestors up to Henry Rains (1767 Johnston County, North Carolina - 1838 Yellow Creek, Knox, Kentucky, United States).
Sources
- ↑ https://www.carolana.com/NC/Towns/Smithfield_NC.html
- ↑ https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Smith-6957#Summary_of_Estate_Papers
- ↑ "U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900"
Source number: 146.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: BSF
Ancestry Record 7836 #170620 (accessed 28 February 2022)
Mary Bryan marriage to Thomas Lee in 1761 compiled by Ancestry.com users:- Name: Mary Bryan
- Gender: Female
- Birth Place: NC
- Spouse Name: Thomas Lee
- Spouse Birth Place: VA
- Spouse Birth Year: 1729
- Marriage Year: 1761
- Number Pages: 1
- ↑ Johnston, Weldon; Lang, E Z; Lee, Robert T Jr; & Long, A D; compilers. "Some of the Descendants of Capt. Thomas Lee of Hawkins Co., Tennessee." Sep 1972, p. 9, says that Thomas Lee Jr (9 Dec 1761-19 Aug 1828) was the son of Mary (Bryan) and Capt. Thomas Lee.
- ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/225975542/samuel-lee: accessed 16 April 2023), memorial page for Samuel Lee (1770–unknown), Find A Grave: Memorial #225975542, citing Lee Valley Cemetery, Hawkins County, Tennessee, USA; Maintained by Lela Parris Koch (contributor 47311410).
- ↑ https://www.wikitree.com/photo/png/Bryan-1224-3
- ↑ https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/2372904?mark=3f6a26161413c68bf81068a48fc7dfa062227aa8213b15259d662cfd72f30669 Daughters of the American Revolution
- ↑ Oregon State Roster of Ancestors, Daughters of the American Revolution, 1963. Tillamook, Or.: Oregon Society, D.A.R., 1963
- ↑ John Smith had a brother, Samuel and a son, Samuel
- ↑ Find a Grave, database and images, memorial page for Mary A Bryan Lee (4 Nov 1745–3 Mar 1821), Find A Grave: Memorial #151175144, citing Lee Valley Cemetery, Hawkins County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by Reta Mellons (contributor 47277838).
Acknowledgements
- Thanks to Michelle Brooks for starting this profile.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Mary by comparing test results with other carriers of her ancestors' mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Mary:
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Mary by comparing test results with other carriers of her ancestors' mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Mary:
-
~1.56%
Clyde Shelton
:
Family Tree DNA Family Finder, FTDNA kit #23445
-
~0.78%
Robert Jennings :
23andMe, GEDmatch YE7847643 [compare], yourDNAportal ROBf46964dc
-
~0.78%
Bettye (Holland) Carroll :
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch UH6657042 [compare], Ancestry member GeorgeHenry8
-
~0.78%
Thomas Taylor :
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch A840542 [compare]
-
~0.78%
Richard Arwood :
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch PD8312844 [compare], yourDNAportal RIC83e96e14, Ancestry member Richard_Arwood
+
Family Tree DNA Family Finder, GEDmatch PD8312844 [compare], yourDNAportal RIC79662204, FTDNA kit #863934
-
~0.78%
Steve Singletary :
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch A621851 [compare], Ancestry member singhunt_ss
+
Living DNA
-
~0.78%
William Dekle :
Family Tree DNA Family Finder, GEDmatch T559569 [compare], FTDNA kit #15373
-
~0.78%
Wally Rustin :
Family Tree DNA Family Finder, GEDmatch T440170 [compare], FTDNA kit #18349
-
~0.78%
Larry Bryan :
Family Tree DNA Family Finder, GEDmatch LD6542220 [compare], FTDNA kit #528892
-
~0.78%
Nan (Dekle) Barrett :
Autosomal DNA Test, GEDmatch LL605548 [compare]
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Images: 5
Rejected matches › Mary Irene Bryan › Mary (Ingram) Lee (abt.1745-abt.1821) › Mary (Lee) Ballenger (abt.1731-abt.1797) › Mary Bryan (1727-) › Mary Bryant (1728-1790) › Mary Briant (1746-1820) › Mary (Bryan) Griffith Jackson (-bef.1819) › Mary (Bryan) Wylly (abt.1744-bef.1822) › Anna Bremm (1747-)
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B > Bryan | L > Lee > Mary (Bryan) Lee
Categories: Lees, Lee Name Study | Hawkins County, Tennessee | Bertie County, North Carolina
Thank you, Loretta
Passenger List: "U.S., Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939" The National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland; Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985; Record Group Number: 92; Roll or Box Number: 264 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 61174 #98631594 (accessed 28 February 2022) Name: Mrs. Mary Lee; Gender: Female; Spouse: Thomas J. Lee.
edited by Karen Brubaker
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151175144/mary-a-lee: accessed 11 March 2023), memorial page for Mary A Bryan Lee (4 Nov 1745–3 Mar 1821), Find A Grave: Memorial #151175144, citing Lee Valley Cemetery, Hawkins County, Tennessee, USA; Maintained by Reta Mellons (contributor 47277838).
I think Mary Bryan (1745-1821) was the second wife of Thomas Lee from when they married in 1761. I don’t believe Thomas Lee had two wives (Mary Bryan d. 1721 and Mary Ingram d. 1721) at the same time. I have a new thought after seeing this: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ingram-1738#Chancery_Court_Litigation.
edited by Karen Brubaker
Is there any source for the claim the marriage of Thomas Lee and Mary Bryan other than the Ancestry "U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900" database? That is not a reliable source -- you can read why on this G2G thread. It is just a compilation of family data sheets, which may or may not be based on reliable sources. We know from the Chancery Court litigation that Needham, John, Winifred, Zilpha, William, Edward, James, and Mary were all the children of Thomas Lee and the Mary he was married to at the time of his death. Mary Ingram, daughter of Richard Ingram, is identified in Richard's 1781 will as Mary Lee, which is the basis for the somewhat speculative claim that Thomas's widow Mary was née Mary Ingram -- but is there any reliable source at all for the claim that he was married to a Mary Bryan? I have not been able to find any yet.
edited by Karen Brubaker
Bryan, William - DAR Ancestor A016287: William Bryan was Mary Bryan's father, but Error in Lineage: DAUGHTER MARY DID NOT MARRY THOMAS LEE & WAS NOT THE MOTHER OF ANY OF HIS CHILDREN. See DATACF. 1/2019.
One possible lead COULD be that she married a different Thomas Lee (see the Research Notes for his will), whose will was proved in Edgefield, South Carolina. Thomas Lee was a common name in this cohort. See the additional comment that presumptively, a different Thomas H Lee of Nansemond, Virginia (or his father, John, was of Nansemond), was the spouse of Mary Bryan.
The FindAGrave memorial has an interesting note stating that Mary Griffin was (Captain) Thomas Lee's 1st wife, Mary Bryan his 2nd, and Mary Ingram Rains his 3rd, citing a book: Rains, David S. Henry Rains 1767-1838: The Rains Family of Yellow Creek, Kentucky. 2002. IUniverse, Inc. The book might be a good source, given that the wives of Captain Thomas Lee are apparently discussed.
What does the H stand for?
Conflicts now resolved.
Loretta, can you please approve the merge now so we can start to clear up the multiple wives. Thanks
Mary Bryan and sibling Lewis Bryan
A birth date (Bryan-1224 born 4 Nov 1745) should not be within eight months of a sibling's birth date (Bryan-2065 born 24 Nov 1745) unless they are twins born within a day of each other.