BIOGRAPHIES - BRYAN, George W. Jr., Bourbon County, Kentucky From: Bob Francis http://www.shawhan.com Date: 07 Feb 2000 The biographies are taken primarily from William Perrin's "The History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky" and E. Polk Johnson's "The History of Kentucky and Kentuckians," Vol. III. Many Bourbon County, Kentucky, researchers have pointed out mistakes and they are notated. Name: George W. BRYAN Jr. _________________________________________ Birth: July 19, 1848 Father: George W. BRYAN Sr. (1815-1849) Mother: Elizabeth A. W. MILLER Spouses _________________________________________ 1: Mary E. OWENS Father: Charles OWENS Mother: Eliza J. Marriage: October 13, 1868 GEORGE W. BRYAN,1 lawyer and Police Judge of Millersburg; P. O. Millersburg. The Bryan family, as settlers of Bryan's Station, and from their close connection by marriage with Daniel Boone, bore no unimportant part in the early history of Kentucky. Daniel Boone, in 1755, when about twenty years of age, married Rebecca Bryan, whose family, as well as Boone's, were living at that time near Wilkesboro, N. C. On Sept. 25, 1774, Boone with his family emigrated to the country which he had previously (in 1769) explored as far as the Kentucky River, and thither Morgan, James, William and Joseph Bryan, brothers of Boone's wife, shortly followed with their famihes. They shared with the other adventurous spirits all the dangers and hardships to which they were subject. In 1779, with emigrants principally from North Carolina, these four brothers settled the Bryan Station neighborhood, and built the fort that is now historic. It would require much space to recount the narrow escapes of these famihes from the murderous tomahawks of the lurking, skulking savages, or the personal deeds of prowess and heroism and the struggles and privations of these brave men and women. From Joseph Bryan are descended the family now residing in Fayette County. This branch spell their name with a "t," and in this way Bryan's Station has been and is improperly called Bryant's Station. From Morgan Bryan are the Bourbon County family; he was born May 20, 1729, and married MaryForbes. From this marriage sprang George Bryan, sr., who fought in the Revolutionary war, and at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. He emigrated with his father from North Carolina, and was married in the fort at Bryan's Station to Elizabeth Neal Rogers, in May, 1780, being the first marriage solemnized in the State of Kentucky. Roasted corn was handed around to the wedding guests in lieu of cake, and mush and milk took the place of ices on this and similar occasions. He was married a second time fifty years later, to Mrs. Cassandra Miller, and died upon the 22d day of November, 1845, in Springfield, Ill. A singular incident concerning Mr. Bryan's life is the fact that he suffered from a severe attack of whooping cough when over eighty years of age. To his wife, Mary, was born William S., March 17, 1785, at Bryan's Station. He was one of the first settlers of the City of Paris, where he spent the greater part of his life. He was by occupation a saddler and harness-maker, and amassed quite a fortune by strict attention to business. "Uncle Billy," as he was familiarly called by his acquaintances, was always ready to assist a friend in need, and at his death the majority of his estate had gone to pay surety debts. He married Judith Field, Jan. 25, 1811, and to them were born three sons: William H, Geo. W. and Robt. T., and a daughter, Eliza; Wm. H., the eldest son, married a Miss Bartlett, of Louisville, Ky.; by her he had two daughters-Blanche and Florence. He was a merchant in New York, Millersburg, Louisville, and Chicago, where he now resides with his family; Eliza became the wife of Frank Tucker, of Bourbon County, and died without issue shortly after marriage; Robt. T., the youngest son, graduated in the classical department of Bethany College, Va., in 1844, and in the medical department of the University of New York in 1848. He married a Miss Kenney, of Bourbon County, in 1849; by her he had one son, Robt. K., a dentist by profession, in Georgetown; he married a second time in 1853, to a Miss Mary E. Offutt, of Fayette County; by her he had three children: Frank, who is associated with his father in the practice of medicine at Georgetown, Ky.; George and Ella, who married Wm. S. Rogers, of Fayette County; George W. Bryan, the second son of Wm. S. Bryan, was born Aug. 23, 1815, and married Elizabeth A. W. Miller, Jan. 15, 1839; he was a merchant in New York and Millersburg, principally in the latter place; he identified himself and his interests with the house of his adoption, and after a useful and an honorable career, died of Asiatic cholera on the 8th of Aug., 1849. He had three children; the two older died young; Geo. W., the youngest, was born July 19, 1848: he graduated in the classical department of the Kentucky Wesleyan College, in 1869, and the law department of Columbia College, New York, in 1872; he is a lawyer by profession; has been elected Police Judge of his native town (Millersburg) three consecutive terms. He has twice traveled over the European countries. He and family are the only representatives of their branch of the Bryan family in Bourbon County. He was married to Miss Mary E. Owens, daughter of Charles and Eliza J. Owens, on the 13th day of October, 1868. Sources 1. Perrin, p. 502 ------------------------------ USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format or presentation by other organizations or persons. 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