__
_William Smith BRYAN _|
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_Francis BRYAN _|
| | __
| |_Catherine MORGAN ____|
| |__
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|--Morgan BRYAN
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| __
| ______________________|
| | |__
|_Sarah BRINKER _|
| __
|______________________|
|__
[594]
"The Boone-Bryan History"
J. D. Bryan
Kentucky State Historical Society
Frankfort, KY, 1913
"The records show that Morgan Bryan lived in Chester county, where in 1719, he married
Martha Strode... About 1728 or 1730, Morgan Bryan and Alexander Ross and "other friends"
(Quakers) obtained a grant of 100,000 acres of land on the Potomac and Opequan rivers in the
colony of Virginia. He moved to this land and settled near the present site of Winchester
about 1730. Here the rest of his children were born. The children of Morgan Bryan and Martha
Strode Bryan were: Joseph, Samuel, James, Morgan, John, Elinor, Mary, William, Thomas, Sarah
and Rebecca. Martha Strode Bryan died about 1747 and was buried at the home near the present
site of Winchester, Va. After her death Morgan Bryan sold his interests in Virginia, and in
the fall of 1748 moved his family to North Carolina and settled in the forks of the Yadkin
river... Morgan Bryan, Sr., died in 1763; aged ninty-two, and was buried in what was then
Rowan county, N.C."
"The Shearer-Akers Family Combined with the Bryan Line"
James William Shearer
Somerville, NJ, 1915
p12: "Morgan Bryan 2nd. d. 1763, m. Martha Strode. To present Davie co., N.C.,
about 1748. with all his children, but Jos."
[Broderbund WFT Vol. 2, Ed. 1, Tree #3979]
Morgan Bryan, born in Denmark in 1671, Morgan was named for his grandmother and was 12 years old when he moved with his family to Ireland, land of his father's birth. He lived in Ireland for the next 12 years and as a young man of 24 migrated to Pennsylvania in 1695 with his brother William, two years after the death of their father. They first seettled in Chester County and lived here for many years. They might have made contact with their many uncles and aunts who had been in Virginia since 1650, but we have no evidence that they did.
Morgan married Martha Strode. She was reported to have been born in Holland about 1678 (a date we question) and her father was probably Edward Strode, a descendant of a famous English family. Edward was a Protestant exile in Holland and was married in France to a Huguenot. It is believed that edward and his wife died at sea on their way to America and that young Martha together with two brothers, Geremiah and Samuel were bound out until they were of age. This event probably occurred before 24 September 1697 because the will of Edward's father on that date refers to his son as deceased. The marriage date of Morgan and Martha is in question. Once source states 1695 when she would have bene 17, which supposedly was two years before she arrived in Pennsylvania, and another source states 1719, when she would have bene 41, too old to have later had nine children. Since the first child was born about 1719, it is our guess that the birthdate given is too early by at least ten years. It must also be noted that if Morgan's birthdate is correct, he would have been 48 years old when his first child was orn. This is possible, and Martha also could have been his second wife.
Eight of their nine children were born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and as a member of the New Garden Quaker community, Morgan had been a successful trader with the Conestoga Indians.
In 1730, Quakers in Pennsylvania formed a Company under the leadership of Morgan Bryan and Alexander Ross for the purpose of making settlements in Maryland and Virginia. Permission was then gained from the quaker Meeting of Chester County to build a meeting house in Virginia. On 28 October 1730, Governor Gooch of Virginia granted a right to survey and lay out 100,000 acres west of the Opequan River (just north of present day Winchester, Frederick, County). In 1734, Morgan led a group of Quakers in the building the "Hopewell Monthly Meeting" of Frederick. This settlement flourished for mahy years at Frederick Town, later named Winchester. Here, where their last child was born, the family lived for over ten years, and son Joseph was first married.
Sometime about 1745/46 Morgan moved with his wife and eight children up the Shenandoah Valaley to the Big Lick at the head of the Roanoke River where land was more plentiful. His oldest son, Joseph, who by now had a family of his own, stayed in Winchester. The family did not like this new area in Roanoke County and in the fall of 1748 they all moved again to the Forks of the Yadkin in North Carolina. Morgan's brother William who had always lived close by up to this point decided to stay in Roanoke County Virginia where he presumably died.
As some of the earliest settlers in this part of the Yadkin River Valley, Morgan, Martha and eight of their children selected the choice pieces of land in an area that was afterward called "The Bryan Settlement." Their nearest neighbors were about 60 miles away. The Bryans claimed large acreages in Rowan County, parts of which are now in Wilkes County, and some 5000 areas in the northeast section of what is now Davie County, from Dutchman
s Creek into Farmingotn, Smiths Grove, and the Bend of the River sections of the county.
Morgan lived here for the rest of his life surrounded by his family. Martha died first, the date and place require explanation. Most early biographers of the family state that Martha Strode Bryan died in Virginia in 1747, but in teh Bryan Papers deposited by the Rev. John D. Shane with the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, is the following:
Martha Bryan died August 24, 1762
Allenor Bryan died Oct 21, 1772
Morgan Bryan died Apr 3, 1763, Easter Sunday
These records given to Lyman Draper are a part of the "Shane Collection: Bryan Family Papers; MS/SH18/B84, Item 2." This document is more likely to reflect the true record of Martha's death since Morgan Bryan did die 3 April 1763 in Rowan County, North Carolina at age 92 and left a will dated 28 March, recorded in Will Book A, Page 13 as follows:
"I Morgan Bryan of Rowan County living in perfect mind and memory, blessed be God for his mercies, so dispose of my worledly estate as follows, vis. first, I give and bequeath unto my beloved son Thomas Bryan my mansion house and plantation, also my part of a Negro boy named Jack, also my wagon and wagon horse called Black and the necessaries belonging to the wagon and my plow and utensils thereunto. Two brood mares, viz. a mare called Brown Dent and her yeard and her colt, a cow called Josie and her calf and one called Brown and her calf; also my bed and furniture after my decease reserving a sufficient living for me from the land while I live. Second, I give and beqeueath unto my beloved daughter Elinor Linville all my wife's wearing apparel. I give and bequeath unto my granddaughter Mary Forbes my great pot and five shillings Sterling. Eight pounds proclamatin to my beloved sone James Bryan. I reserve for my funeral charages and sickness. I give and bequeath Joseph, Samuel, Morgan, John William, James and Thomas and my daughter Elinor Linville all the rest of my real and personal estate to be equally divided amongst them, together with that part of my estate which they have already received. I do nominate and appoint my beloved sons John Bryan and William Bryan to be Executors ratifyng and confirming this and no other to be my last will and testament, whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this March 28, 1763.
Morgan Bryan"
Signed, Sealed, Published and Pronounced by the testator in presence of us - Morgan Bryan Jr., Anthony Heaverloe, Mary (X) Forbes: Proved July Court 1763.
[592]
[S13]
BrŠiderbund WFT Vol. 2, Ed. 1, Tree #3979, Date of Import: Apr 18, 1998
[593]
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[669]
[S13]
BrŠiderbund WFT Vol. 2, Ed. 1, Tree #3979, Date of Import: Apr 18, 1998
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