Sketch of the Bryan Family , St. Charles County, Missouri

>From "A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri, with numerous
sketches, anecdotes, adventures, etc., relating to Early Days in 
Missouri" by William S. Bryan and Robert Rose, Published by Bryan,
Brand & Co., St. Louis Missouri, 1876.
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William Bryan, a native of Wales, came to America with Lord Baltimore,
about the year 1650, and settled in Maryland.  His wife was of Irish
descent, and they had three children: William, Morgan and Daniel.  Of
the succeeding two or three generations of this family nothing is de-
finitely known, but early in the eighteenth century, William Bryan, a
descendant of the original stock, settled in Roan County, North Carol-
ina.  He married Sally Bringer, who was of German descent, and they
had eleven children: William, Morgan, John, Sally, Daniel, Henry,
Rebecca (who became the wife of Daniel Boone), Susan, George, James 
and Joseph.  During the Revolutionary War six of the sons served in 
the American Army, and one, probably Joseph, cast his lot with the 
Tories.  He was promoted to the position of Colonel, and served with
Tarleton during his campaign in the Carolinas.  On one occasion his
regiment of Tories, being in the advance, was attacked by the patriots
and forced to retreat.  As they were falling back in great confusion,
they met Tarleton, who had heard the firing, and accompanied by only a
few of his staff officers, was riding leisurely toward the scene of
conflict, blowing his bugle as he came.  The patriots, hearing the 
sound of the bugle, and supposing that the entire British Army was ad-
vancing upon them, gave up the pursuit and retired.  Whey Bryan met
Tarleton, he demanded, in an angry tone, why he had come alone, instead
of marching his army to his assistance.  Tarleton replied that he want-
ed to "see how the damned Tories would fight".  This so enraged the 
Tory leader that he came near resigning his commission and retiring 
from the service, and would probably have done so if he could have re-
turned home in safety.  Two of the brothers who were in the American
Army, James and Morgan, were at the bloody battle of King's Mountain,
and from the best information that we can obtain, their Tory brother
fought against them in the same battle.  The war feeling ran so high
that they would have shot him if he had come within range of their 
rifles.  Three of the brothers, James, William and Daniel followed
Daniel Boone to Kentucky, and built Bryan's Station, near Lexington.
Shortly after their arrival, William and two other men left the fort
and went some distance into the woods, for the purpose of obtaining a
supply of game for the garrison.  During their absence they were attac-
ked by the Indians; Bryan's companions were both killed and scalped,
and he was shot through the knee with a rifle ball.  But notwithstand-
ing his severe and painful wound, he rode to the fort, a distance of
thirty miles, through the thick woods and brush, and gave the alarm in
time to save the place from falling into the hands of the Indians. They
soon began to suffer greatly for provisions, being so closely watched 
by the Indians, that hunting parties did not dare to venture out, and
they were reduced to the necessity of boiling and eating buffalo hides
in order to avert starvation.  James Bryan was a widower, with six 
children, at the time of the removal to Kentucky, and it was his branch
of the family that afterward came to Missouri, the descendants of the
other two brothers remaining in Kentucky.  The names of his children
were: David, Susan, Jonathan, Polly, Henry and Rebecca.  David married
Mary Poor, and came to Missouri in 1800.  He settled near the present
town of Marthasville, in Warren County.  His children were: James,
Morgan, Elizabeth, Mary, Willis, John, Susan, Drizella, Samuel and
William K.  Mr. Bryan reserved half an acre of ground near his house
for a grave yard, and it was there that Daniel Boone and his wife were
buried.  He also had a large orchard, which he grew from apple seeds
that he carried from Kentucky in his vest pocket.  Susan Bryan married
Israel Grant, of Kentucky.  They had three children: James, William and
Israel B.  Jonathan married Mary Coshow, a widow with one son, William.
Her maiden name was Mary Hughes.  In 1800 he moved his family to Miss-
ouri in a keel boat, and landed at the mouth of Femme Osage Creek, on
Christmas day of that year.  He settled first in Lincoln County, near
the present town of Cap-Au-Gris, but there they were greatly exposed to
attacks from the Indians, and the location proving to be a sickly one,
he moved and settled on Femme Osage Creek, near Nathan Boone's place,
where he lived during the remainder of his life.  In 1801 he built the
first water mill west of the Mississippi River.  The stones were carri-
ed from Kentucky on horseback, a spring branch supplied the water power
and an old musket barrel formed the sluice or water power.  The child-
ren of Jonathan Bryan were: Parthena, Phoebe, Nancy, Elijah, Abner,
Mary, Alsey, James, Delila and Lavinia.  Henry Bryan married Elizabeth
Sparks, and settled in St. Charles County in 1808.  They had eight
children: Susan, Joseph, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Cynthia, Johannah, John W.
and Polly.  Rebecca, daughter of James Bryan, married Hugh Logan, of
Kentucky, and they had five children: William, Alexander, Hugh, Henry
and Mary.  Mr. Logan died, and she was married the second time to James
Smith, of Kentucky.  They had two children, when he also died; and in
1810 Jonathan and Henry Bryan moved their sister and her family to
Missouri.  She settled on South Bear Creek, in Montgomery County, and
died twenty years later.  Her two children by Smith were named Susan
and James.  Susan married a man named King, and James married Susan
Ellis.

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