Taylor-Upson County GaArchives Biographies.....Respess/Bryan, Family unk - unk ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Harris Hill http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00011.html#0002514 September 3, 2005, 11:10 am Author: Phillips Bryan The Reynolds New Era Wednesday, June 4, 1930 MY FAMILY HISTORY (Phillips Bryan) The most complicated affair that I have ever attacked is a family tree. I have often listened to the conversation of my grand parents discussing marriages and other family connections of the far past. According to them, family history, I thought was easily recorded. However, upon my recent investigation of our family records I find that they were merely discussing incidents within their own recollections. There are so many far reaching branches of the family, that when I got well into the matter, I knew not which branch to follow. On my father's side there are the Bryans, Madoxes, Moultons and Hodges, while on my mother's side are the Phillips, Respesses, Rogers, Williams, Dawsons, Claytons, Walkers and Howells. The data of each record reaches back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. To give the history of all these family lines would be altogether too tiresome and dry. The history of the Respess family line alone gives a complete history of our family, without relating the inter-marriages of the many other families. Our knowledge of it begins with three Respess brothers of England. John, Thomas, and Richard came to Virginia in the latter part of the seventeenth century. One of them, John Respess held the position of high sheriff for the King and soon afterwards returned on some business connected with the position. He never came back to America. Thomas Respess is my direct ancestor of the three brothers. One of his sons, also named Thomas settled in North Carolina and according to Wheeler's History of North Carolina, he was a member of the assembly of that province. I was interested to find that an ancestor on my father's side, Nathan Bryan was also a member of the assembly at the same time. Richard Respess, a son of Thomas Respess, Jr., came to Georgia to live. Among his sons was Nathan Respess who was the father of John Respess. Harriet Respess, a daughter of John Respess, and her husband Rufus R. Phillips are my mother's parents. In reading information for this history, I noticed that the same family names occur again and again. To-day in our family most of the names are the same ones that are found several generations ago. On the Phillips side the masculine names John, Richard and Nathan are most commonly found. John and Richard are the names of two of the Respess brothers who came to America. Nathan is the name of several of my ancestors on both the maternal and paternal side of the family. Of the feminine names, Harriet, Elizabeth, Susan and Louise occured many times in both sides of the family and are found more often today. There is a superstitious fact attacked (attached) to the name Harriet. Every woman of that name in our family has been left a widow soon after her marriage. Probably the most interesting part of this history is through old wills. The earliest one was written by Anthony Williams. It was recorded in North Carolina in 1773. Another one was recorded in 1829. It was written by Nathan Bryan, my great, great grandfather on my father's side of the family. The last one was the will of Richard Respess, whom I have already mentioned, and was recorded in Upson County, Georgia in 1836. Each one clearly portrays some of the customs and the language of the time. They were so solemnly worded that they seem almost rediculous today. Nothing seems to have been overlooked in making them. To each beneficiary was bequeathed not only land, currency, and slaves, but separate pieces of furniture, and a long list of household articles as pewter plates and bowls, feather beds, blankets, fine liquors, curtains, rugs, and in one case an umbrella. The capacity of each pewter bowl was limited to a given number of quarts. In one will several very small sums of money, decribed as being in small bags were left to certain persons. To one person was given a liquor distillery. In bequeathing slaves, great care was shown in naming them. Often a whole family of slaves was given to one person. ADDITIONAL NOTES FROM: Gerry Hill genealogyplus@bellsouth.net GENERATION #! Phillips Bryan Phillips Respess Bryan born 9 Oct 1914 Reynolds, Taylor, Ga died 27 Nov 1998 Lynchburg, Va He graduated in 1938 from Emory Univ. Medical School, Atlanta. He married Mary Smith (A name often associated with the Bryan family as well as Whitfield) and they had 5 living children) GENERATION #2 he said he was the child of a Bryan Father and Repess Mother Sydney Hoke Bryan born 21 Dec 1884 Raynolds, Taylor, Ga died 18 Feb 1966 Macon, Bibb, Ga married 7 Aug 1912 Reynolds, Taylor, Ga Louise Phillips born 17 Aug 1892 Butler, Ga died 18 Aug 1981 Reynolds GENERATION #3 He said his Grandparents were Harriet Respess and Rufus Phillps Harriet Louise born 22 Jul 1858-shows Upson Co Ga-5 Sep 1942 Rome, Ga married Reynolds Rufus Rodolphus Phillips died Jun 1891 Macon Co Ga he had a sister Francis Caroline ) Rufus Rudolphus Phillips was murdered two months after his daughter, Louise, was born. The cause of death was a knifing and was tied to a land boundary dispute. They brought him into the front hall of his home and, it was reported, the "blood ran down the back steps". The killer was named "Killebrew", and was known as an "ignorant, worthless man". He fled to Texas; shortly thereafter, he was also killed.Rufus Rudolphus Phillips was murdered, leaving a wife and six children, including a two month old daughter. There was a dispute or misunderstanding over a land line, and he was knifed. They brought him into the front hall of the house and the blood ran down the back steps. The man that killed him was named Killebrew, an ignorant, worthless man. He fled to Texas where he was killed. http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2782299&id=I551129396 He also had in this generation Jacob Newton Bryan (Popeye) born 21 May 1861 Ga Ida Hodges 25 Sep 1862 Ga-1 Oct 1922 Ga GENERATION #4 Great Grandparents were John Respess----and He also had on this Generation- Andrew Jackson Bryan CSA born 1835 Macon, Ga died 5 Oct 1865 married 21 Jul 1856 Elizabeth H. Maddox 17 Jul 1834-3 Jul 1888 They had at least one more child-John Calvin. Andrew was a policeman in Macon Co.1864. He took the Oath, for the Union. GG were Nathan Respess I find Nathan Bryan-in this generation 26 Jan 1803-29 Jan 1868 Marshallville married 5 Mar 1820 Warren Co. Mary Lofley 10 Nov 1802-20 Jul 1879 (3 other known children) Elijah Phillips 1780 Wilkes Co Ga-25 Jun 1851 married 1805 Greene Tabitha Walker (also called Talethia) 1780 Amhurst Co Va-10 Feb 1854 Meri. Co Ga (or 2 Nov 1862) Pleasant P Clompton a 1794 Ga-1876 married 1822 Nancy Phillips Clompton? Nathan Repress II 4 Jul 1800 Ga-1877 Upson Co Gam 1827 Upson Mary Louise Williams 1810 Crawford-1874 Robert D Repress & Harriet Rowland GGG was Richard Respess and Nathan Bryan Littleton Bryan 20 May 1780-10 Oct 1836 Houston Co Ga married 15 Mar 1801 NC Elizabeth McGruder 17 Jul 1781 Martin Co NC-7 Feb 1854 Houston (7 other known children) Richard Repress II 31 Jul 1749 Beaufort, NC? -20 Jan 1839 Upson Co Ga married Pheriby Dawson John B Williams 1749 Bertie Co NC-1836 married Susannah Mourning Joel Phillips a 1738-3 Oct 1792 Wilkes Co Ga & Elizabeth Tandy Walker Sr 13 Dec 1714 St Peters,New Kent-a 1752 Lunenburg & Judith (Juday) Lankford d 29 Feb 1752 gggg was Thomas Respess Jr. (I found Richard & Frances Wilkins) John Williams & Ann William Phillips abt 1677 & Mary Swan Sylvanus Walker 1686 New Kent-& Ann Tandy GGGGG Thomas Respess Sr Nathan Bryan & Rebecca Little of Martin & Pike Co Ga Thomas Phillips I & Elizabeth William Walker & Elizabeth Warren GGGGGG Jesse Bryan & Nancy Z. Hinton (More on both) Francis Warren & Elizabeth His Mothers side had Williams,Dawson, Clayton, Walker and Howell-found all but Rogers His Fathers Bryan Madox, Moulton, Hodges -found all but Moulton (I do have the ones in Taylor-married to Hill's) The Burney Sketch by Thomas J. Burney: (Walker) IGI Genforum.com Ancestry http://awt.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2782299&id=I551129507 Additional Comments: The Reynolds New Era Wednesday, May 14, 1930 NEW ERA OFFERS PRIZE TO REYNOLDS SCHOOL The Editor of The Reynolds New Era has offered a prize of five dollars to the High School student submitting the best composition upon a subject to be decided upon by the Superintendent Mr. E.H. Joiner. We publish in this issue four of these papers with the others to be published next week. The winner of the prize will be published after all papers have been published File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/taylor/bios/respessb70nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/gafiles/ File size: 5.2 Kb