Bryan McDaniel is one of the most tragic figures in the family of Henry and Hannah (Bryan) McDaniel.
On January 3, 1819, Bryan married Elizabeth Prose in Gallia County, Ohio.[1] In the 1820 census of Walnut Township, he is listed as "of age 16 and under 26", placing his birth between the years 1795 and 1804. It has been handed down though not proven that he was born in 1797. With him in the 1820 census were one female also "of age 16 and under 26" and one female under 10. The census states further that he worked in agriculture.[2]
The next official document that mentions Bryan by name is dated 28 November 1822. It is a Gallia County Court of Common Pleas record of his death noting that "the widow of Bryan McDaniel" had relinquished to Jehu McDaniel her right to administer Bryan's estate, along with an order to appraise. Jehu McDaniel was Bryan's brother.[3]
What had happened to take Bryan's life so young? The report handed down is that he had gone to Madison County, Indiana (perhaps to investigate a possible move), was home again for butchering in November 1822, and accidentally shot himself while cleaning his gun.
Children of Bryan and Elizabeth (Prose) McDaniel have been reported as daughter Permelia, son Levi, son Bryan Jr., daughter Emily, son Jacob Alexander, and daughter Louisa. Of these, only Permelia and Levi were born during Bryan's lifetime, and Bryan Jr. was born about nine months after his death. The remainder are seen in census records to be years too young to have been children of Bryan McDaniel, Sr.
In that day, it often was the case that a couple married the very day they obtained a license. It is not improbable that Bryan's estate entered probate within a day or two of his death. In the 1830 census, his widow and three children, along with an unnamed man about 30 years her senior (possibly her father), were still living in Gallia County.[4]
By 1840, Elizabeth McDaniel, Bryan's children, and two additional children age 9 or under, were living in Madison County, Indiana.[5] The family later moved to Marshall County, where Elizabeth died on February 13, 1888. Her obituary tells a different story of Bryan's death: "Mr. McDaniel was killed, while hauling logs, by some men accidently falling a tree on him and his team."[6]
The truth of Bryan's death is a mystery. In whatever manner it occurred, it is proven by court records to occurred sometime before 28 November 1822 and most assuredly was a heartbreak to the entire family.
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Bryan is 23 degrees from Herbert Adair, 23 degrees from Richard Adams, 17 degrees from Mel Blanc, 23 degrees from Dick Bruna, 17 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 31 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 20 degrees from Sam Edwards, 15 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 19 degrees from Marty Krofft, 10 degrees from Junius Matthews, 15 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 17 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.