Mary (Bryan) Oglesby (1765 - abt. 1798)

Born 13 Dec 1765 in Rowan, North Carolina

Ancestors

Wife of Elisha C. Oglesby II — married Apr 1782 in Boonesborough, KY

Descendants

Died about Dec 1798 at about age 32 in Sumner, Tennessee, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Keith Schindler [send private message]

Biography

Mary (Bryan) Oglesby was part of a Southern Pioneer Family.

Mary, also known as “Polly,” (Bryan) Oglesby was born December 13, 1765 in Rowan County, North Carolina. She was the fifth child and second daughter of James Bryan and Rebecca (Enochs) Bryan.^[1][2]

Polly’s grandfather, Morgan Bryan, had settled in the forks of the Yadkin River of North Carolina in 1748 when, two years later, Squire Boone (father of Daniel Boone) settled nearby and they became close neighbors. (This area became part of Rowan County in 1753.) Three descendants of Morgan Bryan eventually married three children of Squire Boone, including Rebecca (Bryan) Boone, an older first cousin of Polly, who married Daniel Boone.^[2][3][4]

Polly’s mother died after the birth of her sixth child in 1768 and James Bryan remained a widower for the rest of his life. According to some accounts, the six small children, including Polly, were then helped to be raised by Rebecca and Daniel Boone.^[1][2] According to J. D. Bryan, a great-grandson of James Bryan, the Bryan children would address Daniel Boone as “Uncle Dan’l” as they grew up. The adoption of James Bryan’s children by the Boones is also dramatized in Chapter 7 of a book by Etta Degering titled “Wilderness Wife: The Story of Rebecca Bryan Boone.” Degering had done extensive research into the Boone and Bryan families in preparation for writing her book. ^[5]

In 1773 the families of Daniel Boone, James Bryan, various brothers and other families travelled through the Cumberland Gap on their historic trek to ultimately settle in the land that became known as Kentucky. (This party of settlers included Polly Bryan and her siblings.) In 1775 the settlers erected a frontier fort called Boonesborough on the Kentucky River. The Bryan families, including those of brothers Joseph, James, Morgan, Jr., and William, then proceeded farther north on the Elkhorn and erected a stockade fort that they called Bryan Station.^[6][2][7]

The Bryan families initially held the belief that they owned the land where Bryan Station was located by right of settlement; however, a court case was later settled in January 1778 where it was found that the land was within the limits of a prior survey made in July 1774 by William Preston. This, together with their suffering through a long, hard winter with difficulty hunting game and Native American attacks leaving three men seriously wounded and William Bryan dead from his wounds, caused the Bryan families to abandon the settlement. Some returned to their old homes in North Carolina.^[8][7]

Polly’s father, James, remained in Kentucky and served during the American Revolutionary War in defense of Boonesborough, KY in 1779. ^[9] Historians have also inferred that James and three of his daughters (including Polly) were present at Boonesborough sometime between April 1775 – May 1784.^[1]

During the famous Siege of Boonesborough^[10] in 1778, Elisha C. Oglesby, a “long hunter,” was one of the soldiers in the militia that arrived to defend the settlement, only to find that Daniel Boone and his fellow settlers had already successfully defended Boonesborough.^[11] This may have been when Mary “Polly” Bryan first met her future husband. They were later married in 1782, at the home of Daniel Boone in Boonesborough, according to one account. ^[2] At the end of the Revolutionary War in 1784, Elisha removed from Washington County, VA, according to his pension application transcript, and settled in Sumner County, Tennessee with his family.^[11] Many of the rest of the Boones and Bryans (including James) eventually moved on to settle in Missouri.^[1]

Elisha Oglesby’s family bible records are posted online by Carolyn Oglesby who is in possession of the family bibles.^[12] It states that Elisha was married to Mary Bryant (a common alternative spelling for ‘Bryan’) in April 1782. Mary Oglesby is then indicated as having died in 1798, after which Elisha married his second wife Selah Rogers in May 1799. Mary and Elisha’s six children, Elizabeth (Betsy), James, Daniel, Hannah, Nelly and Peggy are also listed in the family bible with birthdates indicated below. ^[13]

Marriage

Mary was married to Elisha C. Oglesby in Boonesborough, KY in April 1782^[13]

Children

1. Elizabeth "Betsy" (Oglesby) Pursley (b. 29 Jan 1782, d. 19 Jun 1837)^[13][14]
2. James Oglesby (b. 11 Oct 1783)^[13]
3. Daniel Oglesby (b. 24 Dec 1785, d. 12 Sep 1859)^[15]
4. Hannah Oglesby (b. 1 Oct 1787)^[13]
5. Nelly Oglesby (b. 19 Mar 1793)^[13]
6. Peggy Oglesby (b. 10 Apr 1795)^[13]

Research Notes

M Elisha Oglesby, at home of Daniel and Rebecca (Bryan) Boone.

Text: Correspondence with Sue Hawkins, 7765 Brookview, Indiapolis IN 46250, probably from ca 1987.

Note: Additional information from: "Bryan Wills and Deeds With Genealogical Notes" by Lindsay M. Brien in Dayton, Ohio. FHL Book US/CAN 929.273 B84 bl Page 92.

While J.D. Bryan^[2] and others refer to Rebecca Bryan Boone as James' "favorite sister," she was actually his niece (i.e. the daughter of James' older brother Joseph Bryan Sr.)^[16]

Other information cited as family tradition by J. D. Bryan may also be inaccurate. While he claims that James Bryan and his family remained at Bryan Station "through all the Indian troubles,"^[2] other historians note that the Bryan families abandoned Bryan Station after a land claim dispute was settled in court on 1 Jan 1778.^[8] Enoch and Crabb infer that James Bryan and three daughters were present at Boonesborough sometime between April 1775 - May 1784^[1]

While James Bryan is not known to have created a will,^[17] there is a letter from J. D. Bryan to a cousin, Jennie C. Morton of Frankfort, Kentucky, and published in the Register of Kentucky State Historical Society as part of J. D. Bryan's paper on the Boone-Bryan history.^[18] This letter describes the family of James Bryan as follows: "Dear Cousin:--As to the defense of Bryan's Station: My great grandfather, James Bryan, (son of Morgan Bryan and brother to William Bryan), married Rebecca Enox in North Carolina in 1756. Their children were: David, born October 29, 1757; Jonathan, born July 15, 1759; Henry, born January 15, 1761; Susannah, born April 11, 1763; Mary, born December 13, 1765; Rebecca, born March 1, 1767. Soon after the birth of the last of these children, James' wife, Rebecca, died and left him a widower in the prime of life, about the age of forty-four years. He never married again, but lived a widower until his death, about August 18, 1807..."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Enoch and Crabb, "Women at Fort Boonesborough 1775-1784," Fort Boonesborough Foundation 2014
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} Bryan, J.D. The Boone-Bryan History. Frankfort, KY: Coyle Press (The Kentucky Historical Society), 1913. Page 16.
3. ↑ McMurtry, "Seven Sons and Two Daughters of Morgan Bryan", Book 8, p.42
4. ↑ J. R. Cooper, "Bryan Families", Lexington Herald, seven-part series, March-April 1927
5. ↑ Degering, Etta. Wilderness Wife: The Story of Rebecca Bryan Boone. Chapter 7: One Family, Two Families. David McKay Company, Inc. (Philadelphia 1966).
6. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Bryan Station," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bryan_Station&oldid=825123605 (accessed 18 Aug 2019).
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Howard, Virginia Webb. “Bryan Station, Heroes and Heroines,” Regent of Bryan Station Chapter, DAR, (Lexington, KY 1928-1930).
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Ranck, George W. The Story of Bryan's Station. An Address. Bryant's Station and the Memorial Proceedings Held on Its Site Under the Auspices of the Lexington Chapter, D. A. R., August the 18th, 1896, in Honor of Its Heroic Mothers and Daughters, Volume 12, page 77.
9. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed May 2nd, 2015), "Record of James Bryan", Ancestor # A016238.
10. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Siege of Boonesborough," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siege_of_Boonesborough&oldid=869305194 (accessed 18 Aug 2019).
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Elisha Oglesby Revolutionary War pension file, S. 1866, VA, Smith-Sumner County TN Archive Military Records
12. ↑ private email from Carolyn Oglesby to Keith Schindler.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6} Sumner County, TN - Elisha Oglesby family bible contributed by Carolyn Oglesby
14. ↑ The Purcell Family of America Genealogical Association, Apr 1982, Vol 11, No 2, p. 82.
15. ↑ Sumner County, TN - Daniel Oglesby family bible contributed by Carolyn Oglesby
16. ↑ [http://sites.rootsweb.com/~geneajan/JosBryanWill.html "Will of Joseph Bryan, Jefferson Co. KY, 1804, " JEFFERSON CO, KY, WILL BOOK 1, pg. 158.
17. ↑ Spraker, Hazel Atterbury. "The Boone family, a genealogical history of the descendants of George and Mary Boone, who came to America in 1717" The Tuttle Company. (Rutland, Vermont) 1922. p. 511.
18. ↑ Bryan, J.D. "The Boone-Bryan History". Register of Kentucky State Historical Society, Vol. 3, No. 9 (September, 1905). Page 90.

Acknowledgements

• This person was created through the import of Shortened files.ged on 30 December 2010. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Arletta and others.

Southern Pioneer Trail Profile

This profile has been project reviewed and approved by P Kreutzer 25 January 2020, 03:58 (UTC) for meeting the Southern Pioneer's Project standards for quality and accuracy.

1. The parent-child relationships have been determined to be reliably established by the sources cited;
2. The biography is well-written, concise and meets the project's standards for quality and style and,
3. The facts presented are believed to be accurate, consistent and free of conflicting information

This profile has been officially designated as a "Pioneer Trail Profile" (25 January 2020)