Page 90 - The Ancestry of Francis Bryan (1770-1863)

He left Grayson County at age 21 (about 1791) and settled on the Little River and Glade Creek in what is now Alleghany County, NC. He married Phoebe Woodruff in 1796. Her family was from Surry County, but her father Moses Woodruff and brother John Allen Woodruff obtained land grants in 1797-1798 on Glade Creek near Bull Head Mountain (now Alleghany County).
There is an interesting record of a man named John Bryan who apparently lived for a time in "the Hollows" of Surry Co., NC, the area around present-day Mount Airy. In 1823, John Bryan gave a long statement about the local history which is preserved in the Walter Clark Manuscripts at the NC Archives. Along with colorful descriptions of various local characters, John Bryan talks about Thomas Blair who built the ironworks in Grayson County. He also describes the travels of a man named Mr. Miller from Augusta County, VA, who he says was a cousin of "the great Tory Samuel Bryan". (See NC Genealogical Soc. Journal, Vol. 3,
No. 3 (Aug. 1977), pp. 165, 172, and Vol. V, No. 1 (Feb. 1979), p.2.) The Tory Samuel Bryan, of course, was a son of Morgan Bryan, Sr. In other words, this John Bryan seems to have been closely acquainted with both Thomas Blair of Blair's Forge, and with the family of Morgan Bryan, Sr. Some researchers believe John Bryan was Francis Bryan's brother; he may be the John Bryan who purchased a parcel of land on the Little River (present-day Alleghany Co.) from Dabney HARRIS on May 30, 1796 (Wilkes Co., NC, Court Minutes).
Rebecca's research presents the evidence for a possible relationship between William Jennings Bryan and Francis Bryan. She also correctly states that there is still no proof of that relationship, despite the "Family Lore." (I discuss this relationship further on pages 111-112).
There was also “Family Lore” regarding our potential relationship to Rebecca Bryan, the granddaughter of Morgan bryan and Martha Strode who married Daniel Boone.
Before my genealogy research my only source for information about my Bryan family history came from my aunt, Winbourne Bryan Ranney. She was born in 1915 and lived to be 102 years old. She was very clear that we were related to Rebecca. Here is a hand written note from her to that effect. She wrote this in 2005.
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