Joppa Cemetery, Mocksville, Rowan, North Carolina.

This article* (TRANSCRIBED BY DIANA McGINNESS) is verbatim as publish ed in the Register of Kentucky State Historical Society, Volume 40, No. 13 2, pp. 318-322. C1974 KY State Historical Society-Frankfort. Edward Brya n, the compiler, is descended from Morgan Bryan. He was born in Louisvill e, but at the time of the publication, lived in Colorado.

* The family most closely associated with the redoubtable Daniel Boone, a nd that one whose exploits most nearly parallel those of the picturesque e xplorer, was the family of Morgan and Martha Strode Bryan. So much has be en written concerning the kindly and nomadic Boone, that his neighbors a nd kinsmen, the Bryans, might well be forgotten men, but for some scor es of prideful descendants who, from generation to generation, contin ue to recount the adventures of their forefathers, and recall the role th ey played in the westward march of empire. Colleagues in the difficult a nd dangerous enterprise of settling Kentucky, the lives and fortunes of t he two families are so inextricably interwoven that some genealogists hav e, for the sake of convenience, treated them very much as though they we re one.

Daniel Boone married a Bryan, his brother, Edward, married another, his si ster, Mary, a third, and these Boone-Bryan alliances were continued into f ollowing generations. Joseph, eldest son of Morgan Bryan, taught young Dan 'l to ride and to handle a rifle. Friends and neighbors in Pennsylvania, t he two families continued their close association on the Yadkin River in N orth Carolina, and in time blazed the trail together to settle the la nd of blue-grass and rhododendron.

Morgan Bryan, progenitor of the Bryans of central Kentucky, was born in De nmark in 1671. He came to America as a young man, settled at the present s ite of Reading, PA, thence in 1730 to what is now Winchester, VA, then ce in 1748 to a point near the present town of Wilkesboro, NC. Here, so me sixty miles from the nearest habitation, he founded what came to be kno wn as the "Bryan Settlements," and here he devoted himself to fighting o ff the Indians, raising fine horses, and
rearing a sizeable family of children.

Much of what is known concerning the ancestry of Morgan Bryan has been gle aned from the family papers of the descendants of his brother, William, w ho also came to the colonies.

While the immigrant ancestor or William and Morgan Bryan Migrated to the se shores from Ireland, he was of Anglo-Irish stock, being descended fr om Francis Bryan, an Englishman who was sent to Ireland in 1548 as Lord Li eutenant. Some of the writers who have compiled papers on the genealo gy of the pioneer Bryans have stated that Morgan Bryan was descended fr om Brian Boru, an Irish monarch of the tenth century, and great-stem of t he royal Irish house of O'Brien.

While this is true, this statement, without a word of explanation, is inde finite and misleading. Sir Francis Bryan of Buckinghamshire, and ancest or of Morgan Bryan, married Joan, dowager duchess of Ormond and heire ss of James Fitz-Gerald. Joan's mother was the daughter of Turlogh O'Brie n, and of that branch of the clan known as the "Mac-I-Brien-Ara."

Thus do the Bryans descend from the house of O'Brien and from the mighty B oru, but only through the WIFE of Sir Francis Bryan, and not in the dire ct male line. The Rev. J. W. Shearer, another of the family historians, ap pears to have succeeded in tracing the ancestry of Morgan Bryan to Sir Fra ncis, but he too, falls into the error of assuming that the later was a Da lcassian.

A comparative study of the armorial bearings of the Irish O'Briends and t he English Bryans reveals that the Brayns of Carolina and Kentucky inher it and display the coat of the English Bryans. This
device, described as "Or, three piles in point, azure," was first display ed by Guy, Lord Bryan, at the siege of Calais, 1345. His lordship "le b on Guyon" as he was sometimes called, was descended from a long line of G uy Bryans who settled in Devon since very early times. While there is on ly heraldic evidence, their name is believed to be a place name, and fr om the ancient Chateau de Brienne in the former province of Champagne.
The generations which intervene between Lord Guy and Sir Thomas Bryan (gra ndfather to Sir Frances) are missing, and it is stated by Beltz (Ord er of the Garter) that the family of the former became extinct, b ut it is a matter of record at the College of Arms that Sir Thomas bore
arms: three piles in point, and difference from those of Lord Guy on ly in the matter of color.

The earliest of the Bryan grandsires of whom there is authentic reco rd is Sir Thomas, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas from 1471 until his de ath.

His will, proved December 11, 1500 mentions his son, Thomas, Thomas' wi fe and an illegitimate daughter. The son - Sir Thomas Bryan of Chedingto n, Bucks, was knighted by the seventh Henry in 1497. His wife, the LADY MA RGARET BRYAN was a sister of John, Lord Berners, and daughter
of Sir Humphrey Bourchier and his wife, Elizabeth Tylney. Through this mar riage the Bryans claim descent, on the distaff side, from the houses of Bo urchier, Bohun and Plantagenet.

Following the unhappy death of Anne Boleyn, Lady Margaret was
made foster-mother to the princess Elizabeth, and in recognition of this
service the king created the Barony of Bryan. She died in 1551,
whereafter her peerage, conferred only for life, is heard of no more. An
interesting account of Dame Bryan's training and her relationship to the
little princess, is contained in Agnes Strickland's "Lives of the Queens
of England."

Her son and heir - Sir Francis Bryan, had a prominent place
at the court of Henry VIII. Together with Sir Thomas Wyatt, George
Boleyn and Nicholas Carew, he was one of a coterie, the members of which
were the companions of the sovereign. Sir Francis was educated at
Oxford, was M.P. for Buckinghamshire from 1542 to 1544, and a member of
the Privy Council until the close of Henry's reign. At the beginning of
the reign of Edward VI, he was given large grants of land, which through
the dissolution of the monasteries had reverted to the crown. In 1520 he
was knighted, and during this year attended Henry at the Field of Cloth
and Gold.

The circumstances under which he removed to Ireland are
curious and interesting. In 1548, James Butler, Earl of Ormond, an Irish
noble whose powerful influence was obnoxious to the government at Dublin,
died in London of poison. Thereupon his widow, Joan, daughter or James
Fitz-Gerald, sought to marry her relative Gerald Fitz-Gerald. To prevent
this marriage, which would have united the leading representatives of the
two chief Irish noble houses, Sir Francis was induced to prefer a suit to
the lady himself. In the autumn of that same year, he married the
widowed countess, was shortly nominated Lord Marshal or Ireland, and sent
to Dublin. He died in February, 1550, at Clonmel, and was buried at
Waterford.

The data concerning the ancestry of Sir Francis Bryan is
based on research done by The Society of Genealogists, London. Much of
this material is also contained in "The Dictionary of National Biography"
and "The Complete Peerage."

For the line showing the descent of Morgan Bryan from Sir
Francis, the writer is indebted to the late Gordon M. Ash, Esq. Of
Frederick, MD, a Bryan descendant, and lately genealogist to the Society
of Descendants of Knights of the Garter. It has also been published in
Carter R. Bryan's, "The Bryan Family," Armstrong's "Notable Southern
Families, " J. W. Shearer's, "The Shearer-Akers Family," and various
articles on the ancestry of Morgan's brother, William.

Sir Francis Bryan was twice married, first to Phillippa
Montgomery, by whom he had a son, Sir Edward Bryan. By Lady Joan, he had
a son, Francis, who married Ann, daughter of Sir William Smith. From his
mother, the second Francis Bryan inherited estates in County Clare. His
son, William Smith Bryan, attempted to gain the throne of Ireland, and in
1650 Cromwell deported him as a troublesome subject. Together with
eleven sons and a shipload of chattels, including horses and other
livestock, he landed at Gloucester Beach, Virginia, and his twenty-one
sons and grandsons settled Gloucester County. An article in "The
Thoroughbred Record" credits him with being among the first to bring
horses to America.

In time the eldest of his sons, Francis Bryan III, returned
to Ireland and tried to regain the Clare County estates, but being
persecuted by the government he was obli to seek refuse in Denmark. He
was born about 1630, married Sarah Brinker, a cousin to the Princess of
Orange. He was permitted to return to Ireland about 1683, and is said to
have been standard bearer to William of Orange at the battle of the
Boyne. He died in Belfast in 1694. He had two sons, William, born in
Ireland, and Morgan, born in Demark. Both came to America.

William was the first to settle at the present site of
Roanoke, and died there at the age of 104. Many of his descendants are
listed in "The Shearer-Akers Family," heretofore referred to.

From the time of his arrival until his marriage in 1719 to
Martha Strode, not much is know of the movements of his brother, Morgan
Bryan. Martha Strode's parents had migrated from France to escape
religious persecution. Her mother died at sea, leaving three children,
who were provided for by their shipmates until they came of age. Martha
died in Virginia in 1747, and it was about a year later that Morgan Bryan
began his epic journey through the Blue Ridge to the Yadkin Country, to
found what came to be known as the Bryan Settlements in Rowan County,
NC. His route was afterward called "Morgan Bryan's Road." It is related
that at one point he was obli to take his wagon apart, carry it piece
by piece over a mountain, and reassemble it on the other side. He died
about July 1763. A copy of his will is contained in Mr. J. R. Cooper's
"The Bryan Families of Fayette County," and it is apparent from this
document that he had prospered at the Settlement.

He reared seven sons and two daughters, namely: Joseph, born
c. 1720; Eleanor, born c. 1722; Mary, c. 1724; Samuel, c. 1726; Morgan, c
1728; John, c. 1731; William, c 1733; James, c. 1735; and Thomas, about
1737.

Researchers who have delved into the Kentucky pioneer period
of the Bryan annals have found their task somewhat less arduous than
those who have searched out and listed the Morgan Bryan ancestry.
Interest in the brothers William, James and Morgan, founders of Bryan's
Station, and in Rebecca Bryan, wife of Daniel Boone, has uncovered the
wealth of material to be had from the Fayette County records, family
Bibles, gravestones, and two notable collections of family papers, known
as the "Shane and Draper Collections." Thanks to these sources, present
day descendants of Morgan and Martha Strode Bryan are enabled to complete
their lines of descent from their immigrant ancestors, of whom the
Bryans, unlike most families, have two.

When in the autumn of 1773 Boone made his first attempt to
settle Kentucky, the Bryans were among the "forty well-armed men" who
joined him in Powell's Valley. After being attacked by Indians as they
approached Cumberland Gap, and having several of their number slain, and
after retreating forty miles back on the trail over which they had come,
most of the company rested a while at Blackmore's fort on the Clinch
River, before moving back to North Carolina.

The Bryans, however, remained at the Clinch settlement, and
again joined Boone when he returned there in 1775 to take his family to
Boonesorough. Thence they moved on northward to the Elkhorn, where
during the autumn and winter of 1775 they built the stockade fort, which
bore their name. The siege of Bryan's Station and the subsequent battle
at the Blue Licks, were of national as well as local importance, since
they constitute what was, in fact, the final battle of the Revolution.

Friends and kinsmen in the several colonial communities in
which they lived, it is a curious circumstance that the ancestors of both
the Boones and the Bryans were long settled in Devonshire, and that both
families claim decent from the ancient Norman house of deBohun, the
Bryans through a collateral line.

Humphrey, founder of the house, and surnamed "with the
beard," came into England with the Con?????, Henry duBohun,
great-grandson of Humphrey, joined the barons who obtained the concession
of Magna Charta, and was one of the twenty-five appointed to insure it's
observance.

When in 1799 Boone, finding Kentucky too crowded for him,
sought "elbow room" in what is now Missouri, he was not long separated
from the Bryans. Shortly thereafter, JONATHON, son of James Bryan, as if
to continue the Boone-Bryan tradition, followed him to the Femme Osage
region and settled within half a mile of him. "However, for the most
part, the Bryans were content to remain on the dark and bloody ground.
The restlessness, which had so long characterized both families, appears
to have ended for them once their roots were embedded in Kentucky's rich
limestone soil.
======
The following data concerning the ancestry of Sir Francis Bryan is based
on research done by The Society of Genealogists, London. Much of this
material is also contained in "The Dictionary of National Biography" and
"The Complete Peerage."

Morgan Bryan, Sr. was:
1. 3rd great-grandson of Lady Margaret Bourchier and her husband, Sir
Thomas Bryan. (Lady Margaret Bourchier Bryan was first the governess of
Princess Mary and later foster mother of Princess Elizabeth after the
execution of Anne Boleyn. For this, Henry VIII gave her the title of
Baroness and an estate.) Charlemagne was Lady Margaret's 19th
great-grandfather.

2. 18th great-grandson of King Brian Boru of Ireland. (Usurped High
Kingship of Ireland 1002-1014 from the Ui Neill monarch, Malachi II.
Killed at the Battle of Clontarf 1014 A.D. fighting a mixed force of
Norse Vikings from Dublin and Leinstermen, but his victory broke,
forever, the power of the Northmen in Ireland. He was murdered in his
tent by Danes.)

3. 24th great-grandson of Charlemagne of the Holy Roman Empire (See:
Empire, Holy Roman, Charlemagne) for notes by Anne Bryant concerning
Germany's three reichs.

4. Therefore, he was half 9th cousin , 10 times removed, to the present
Queen Elizabeth II of England.

5. Also see Henry Bohun concerning the Magna Carta

6. Also see England, Richard III of... concerning Warwick Castle
======
See the following websites for more information about Morgan Bryan, Sr.:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~quakers/hopewell.htm
http://www.rootsweb.com/~quakers/monocacy.htm
One of the Fathers of the First Quaker Colony in the Shenandoah Valley of
Virginia: Owned 2,134 acres in 4 tracts, now in Berkeley Co., WV
(northwest of Bunker Hill along Mills' Creek) In the year 1730 the
Quaker leaders Alexander Ross and Morgan
Bryan appeared before the Governor and Council of Virginia and from them
received a grant of 100,000 acres on the Opequon River in Frederick
County, Virginia. This encoura the move of many Quakers who followed
them to back Virginia country.
REMEMBER: (Any reference made to "Virginia" or an individual having
been born in "Virginia" as early as 1728 to as late as 1863 MIGHT mean
the individual was born in:
Illinois 1781-1818, Indiana 1787-1816, Kentucky 1775-1792, North
Carolina 1728-1799, Ohio 1778-1803, Pennsylvania 1752-1786,
Tennessee1760-1803, W. Virginia 1769-1863.)

http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacheste/towns.htm
You will see that New Garden and Kennett
Townships are next to each other. Morgan Bryan married Martha Strode at t he New Garden MM
in 1719. This is one year after New Garden MM was formed out of Kennett (N ewark)
MM. You will see the mention of those places on
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~baily/pages/bailyline.html
In this last website it mentions a John Strode as
witness to Baily documents after the Bailys moved to the New Garden/Kennet t(Newark) area.
======
From: Noah Smothers
Death: 3 APR 1763 in Mocksville, Rowan County, North Carolina 1
Note: Buried in Jappa Cemetery, Mocksville, North Carolina.

Morgan Bryan was a member of the New Garden Quaker community in
Penn. as early as 1719. In
1724 he moved to the west into Pequea Creek district
(present-day Lancaster, PA.). In 1730 he
and Alexander Ross, another Quaker from New Garden, purchased
one hundred thousand acres of
land on the waters of Qpequon Creek (near present day
Winchester, VA.). In 1734 Morgan Bryan
purchased a tract in present day Berkeley County, WVa. and
there he settled with his family. In
1748 Bryan moved himself and his large family to North Carolina
where he made his home near the south bank of Deep Creek and
was one of the most prominet settlers in northwestern North
Carolina.

********
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 marrtied 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. One source states 1695 when she would have been 17, which
supposedly was two years before she arrived in Pennsylvania, and another
source states 1719, when she would have been 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 Valley 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 acres in the northeast section of what is now Davie County,
from Dutchmans 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 the 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 son James Bryan. I reserve for my
funeral charges 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.
Parents: Francis Bryan III and Sarah Brinker.
He was married to Martha Strode in 1719 in , Chester, PA.(328) (2)
Children were: Joseph Bryan Sr., Eleanor Bryan, Colonel Samuel Bryan,
James Bryan, John Bryan,
Jr. Bryan Morgan, Mary Bryan, William Bryan, Thomas Bryan.
********************
NOTE: Recent research suggests that during the American Revolution,
Morgan Bryan, Sr. and his clan were all loyalists and wealthy Tories who
fought on the side of the English.
See: Those Confusing John Bryan's by John K. Bryan, Jr.
"The Bryans were Loyalists. Their reasons for supporting the Crown are
unclear, but one factor may have been a mistrust of North Carolina's
eastern-based political leadership.
In the late 1760's, the Regulator Movement developed in the Piedmont in
reaction to the excesses of corrupt local officials and others who
shared power. In many counties, crooked Sheriffs and Justices seemed to
be in league with member os the General Assembly and the eastern
merchants and attorneys who dominated it."
*********************************
SEE:http://www.rootsweb.com/~quakers/hopewell.htm AND
http://www.rootsweb.com/~quakers/monocacy.htm
***********
http://booneinfo.com/scroggin/boone1.htm
About 1728-1730 Morgan Bryan, who lived in Chester County, Pennsylvania,
until four or five of his eldest children were born, obtained a grant of
100,000 acres of land on the Potomac and Opequan rivers in Virginia, with
Alexander Ross and other Quakers. Morgan Bryan moved to this land about
1730 and settled near the present site of Winchester, where the rest of
his children were born. Martha Strode Bryan died here about 1747 and was
buried at the homestead. Afterward Morgan sold his interest in the
Virginia land and moved to the Forks of the Yadkin River in North
Carolina. An early pioneer traveler over the road the Bryans followed
gave this description:(47)
People had told us that this hill was most dangerous, and that we
would scarcely be able to cross it, for Morgan Bryan, the first to
travel this way, had to take the wheels off his wagon and carry it
piece-meal to the top, and had been three months on the journey from the
Shanidore (Shenandoah) to
the Etkin (Yadkin).
...William Bryan, who established Bryan's Station in Kentucky in 1779
with his brothers Samuel, James and Morgan Bryan, was wounded by Indians
while on a hunting expedition on 01 May and died at his fort on 07 May
1780. His son William, Jr. was killed in the same encounter and Mary
Boone Bryan went back to North Carolina with her other children until
1785 when she returned to Kentucky to stay.

"The Boone Family", Spraker; Letter, David H. Bryan.

A member of the New Garden Quaker community in PA as early as 1719.

In 1724 he moved to the west into Pequea Creek district (present-dayLancas ter, PA).

In 1730 he and Alexander Ross, another Quaker from New Garden,purchased o ne hundred thousand acres of land on the waters of QpequonCreek (near pres ent-day Winchester, VA).

In 1734 he purchased a tract of land in present-day Berkeley Co, WVA,and t here he settled with his family.

In 1748 he moved his large family to NC where he made his home nearthe sou th bank of Deep Creek and was one of the most prominantsettlers in northwe stern NC. --Joe Dallas Bryant
======