Notes:

Ananias "Nias" Bryant was a prominent farmer in the Lower English Creek Community at the turn of the century (end of 19th, beginning of 20th). His farm, which straddled the creek, was part of a larger tract purchased in the early 1800s by his grandfather, Tarlton Bryant, who came to Cocke County from South Carolina soon after the turn of that previous century. Bryant-Sisk Cemetery, where Ananias and many members of his family and descendants are buried, was originally part of that property.

In 1867 Nias married Sarah Sisk, a granddaughter of Revolutionary War veteran Bartlett Sisk. Nias and Sarah were parents of a dozen children (7 buried near them in Bryant-Sisk). Three of their sons (Add, Judd and Lee) moved to Missouri, where they raised families.

"Ananias" is a biblical name, with 3 characters in the Bible named Ananias, including a disciple of Jesus Christ. The initial "S." was for "Sodie" (Sodi), an Old Testament name. Nias considered himself a follower of Christ. (See cutline under the PB hymnal photo to the right). Nias was an active Primitive Baptist at the time his denomination was beginning to consider less rigid interpretations of the Scriptures. His uncle Brummit Bryant had been a Primitive Baptist minister. Two of Nias's sons, Joe and Lee, became Primitive Baptist ministers. His grandson Dan Clevenger (son of Lucinda) became a founder of a spin-off congregation of the Big Pigeon Primitive Baptist Church.

Nias died at age 66 in 1916. Listed on his death certificate as undertaker was James Breeden, a son-in-law (husband of Cordelia). After Nias's death, James and Cordelia Breeden became owners his farm.

Nias had 7 siblings. His brothers were Aaron, Judd and Thomas. His sisters were Martha (died as a teenager), Emma (Mrs. Sam McNabb of Ark.), Julia (Mrs. Clinton Holloway) and Mary (Mrs. J.A. Clevenger).

BRYANT-SISK CEMETERY: In the late 1800s there were two Bryant cemeteries in the English Creek Community, both on Tarlton Bryant properties (about a mile apart). Tarlton had owned an Upper English Creek farm, his homesite left to son Brummit, and a Lower English Creek farm, left to son Hardy. The "Old Bryant Cemetery," the Tarlton Bryant Family Cemetery, was on the upper tract; the "New Bryant Cemetery" was created on the lower tract. The first burials in the new cemetery may have been a few slaves from the area. Sisk family burials may have preceded Bryants. These earliest graves were marked with fieldstones. The first chiseled inscription on a fieldstone was in 1878. The first incised lettering on a cut stone was in 1888. There is an engraved stone for Revolutionary War veteran Bartlett Sisk, who died in 1840, but his stone was placed there decades later, after his body was exhumed from the old Big Pigeon Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery and reburied in Bryant-Sisk. Hardy's sons Aaron and Ananias are buried there. A third son, Judd, is buried across the road in the Click-Hannon Cemetery. A third and more recent Bryant cemetery is the Will Tarlton Bryant Family Cemetery, also on the Upper English Creek tract.

[Research by Gene Bryant, whose father, James ANANIAS Bryant, was a grandson of Nias. Thomas Nelson Bryant, one of Nias's sons and James's father, was living at Nias Bryant's old home place when James was born.]

Ananias married SISK, Sarah about 1867. Sarah (daughter of SISK, Lawson and CLEVENGER, Sarah) was born in Jul 1851 in TN; died in 1916. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. BRYANT, Addison H was born on 7 May 1868 in TN; died on 12 Mar 1948 in Ray County, MO.
2. BRYANT, Judge Andrew was born on 20 Dec 1869 in Cocke County, TN; died on 1 Oct 1940 in Cocke County, TN.
3. BRYANT, Delia was born about 1871 in TN; died on 20 May 1939 in Newport, Cocke County, TN.
4. BRYANT, Lucinda was born on 8 Oct 1873 in English Creek, Cocke County, TN; died on 19 Jan 1936 in English Creek, Cocke County, TN.
5. BRYANT, Daniel was born on 22 Jan 1876 in TN; died on 15 Mar 1930 in Knoxville, Knox County, TN.
6. BRYANT, Taylor was born on 14 Oct 1878 in TN; died on 13 Apr 1942.
7. BRYANT, Thomas Nelson was born on 14 Dec 1880 in TN; died on 20 Jan 1926 in Newford, Cocke County, TN.
8. BRYANT, Julia was born on 3 Nov 1883 in TN; died on 23 Jan 1917.
9. BRYANT, Lawson Lee was born on 4 Apr 1886 in Cocke County, TN; died on 4 Oct 1947 in Ray County, MO.
10. BRYANT, Joseph B was born on 7 Apr 1889 in TN; died on 20 Jan 1935 in Newport, Cocke County, TN.
11. BRYANT, Elbert Sisk was born on 25 Oct 1891; died on 26 Feb 1893 in TN.

Notes:

Birth: Dec. 22, 1817
Cocke County
Tennessee, USA
Death: Jan. 20, 1881
Cocke County
Tennessee, USA

Hardy was a son of Tarlton Bryant and Jane Henry. He married Lucinda "Cindy" Dillon in 1845.

The 1860 census listed James H. as age 43; wife Lucinda, 32; Martha, 17; Aaron, 13; Ananias, 11; Andrew, 8; Emaline, 5; William, 3; and Thomas, 3 1/2. Julia and Mary were born later. The handwritten "Andrew" may have actually been Addison (a reading error). There was a son William who married Susie Jones and moved to Texas. (The 1880 census listed a James Jr., but further documentation is unavailable.)

The 1850 census listed Nancy Lax, age 19, as living with Jame H. and Lucinda Bryant. Her identity is unknown, but she was probably a neice or other relative of Lucinda. Nancy Lax married Daniel Bayless Duncan, son of William Duncan and Elizabeth Bayless of the Bogard Community.

Hardy and Cindy lived in the Upper English Creek Community, but he and his sons farmed on land owned by Tralton Bryant in the Lower English Creek Community. The Bryants in the Bryant-Sisk Cemetery and adjacent Click-Hannon Cemetery are their descendants.

[Many Byant descendants of my father’s generation assumed that Hardy and Cindy were buried in the Bryant-Sisk Cemetery in graves unmarked or marked with fieldstones, as many are. But several researchers had placed their burials in the Tarlton Bryant Family Cemetery. On April 17, 2015, I searched the older abandoned family grave yard for evidence of unrecorded graves. I found a Freemasonry headstone for Hardy under thick underbrush and vines, partially hidden with soil and decaying vegetation. His name was not readable, but his birth and death dates were. Although in doesn’t show up in the photos I took and posted on this page, a faintly visible Masonic emblen covers the top third of his stone. The symbol appears to be almost identical to image I have added under his stone on this page. This emblem is fairly common on headstones of the late 1800s --Gene Bryant (great-great grandson of Hardy Bryant]


(Also part of the Hardy Bryant household was Amon, a slave raised as a child. According to a story handed down through generations, a slave trader once offered Hardy $1,000 for Amon, who heard the offer and began crying. Hardy reportedly said he would not sell Amon for any amount of money. Amon was still a young man when the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (abolition of slavery) was ratified. Hardy told Amon he was free to leave. Amon remained in the Newport area working as a hired laborer. He kept in close contact with his Bryant relatives. Although unconfirmed, Amon possibly could be buried in the Bryant-Sisk Cemetery.)

James + DILLON, Lucinda. Lucinda (daughter of DILLON, John and VINSON, Mary) was born on 25 Apr 1828 in Cocke County, TN; died in 1880 in Cocke County, TN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth: Apr. 25, 1828
Cocke County
Tennessee, USA
Death: 1880
Cocke County
Tennessee, USA

Lucinda "Cindy" Dillon was the wife of James Hardin "Hardy" Bryant. She was the daughter of John Dillon and Mary Vinson. (John was a son of Thomas Dillon and Margaret Eagan. Mary was a daughter of William Vinson Sr. and Lydia Coleman of the Edwina Community in Cocke Co.)

U.S. and International Marriage Records
Name: Thomas Dillon
Gender: Male
Spouse Name: Margaret Eagan
Spouse Birth Place: VA
Spouse Birth Year: 1772
Marriage Year: 1793

U.S. and International Marriage Records
Name: John Dillon
Gender: Male
Spouse Name: Mary Vinson
Spouse Birth Place: TN
Spouse Birth Year: 1812

Most Dillon families left Cocke County for western states: Missouri, Kansas and Texas.

John Dillon's sister Letitia Dillon married Thomas Mantooth Jr. Their son Hugh, born and married in Cocke County, is buried in Kansas. John's sister Margaret "Peggy" Dillon married George Gray. He had 2 brothers, Thomas Jr. and James.

[Cindy's sister Julia Dillon married Elias Clevenger Jr.. Cindy's brother Calvin Dillon married Nancy Gray, daughter of James Gray Jr. and Syche Clevenger. Calvin and Nancy moved to Missouri. One of their sons, Thomas Jefferson Dillon, returned to Cocke County as a youth and lived with various relatives in the English Creek Community. Cindy's sister Lydia married Thomas Mantooth. Thomas and Lydia died on the same day in 1865 in Texas, both from accidental poisoning by a quack doctor. Thomas and Lydia's son Judge James Edwin Mantooth became a wealthy and prominent Texan.

Notes:

Birth: Aug. 3, 1785
South Carolina, USA
Death: Jan. 18, 1854
English Creek
Cocke County
Tennessee, USA

Tarlton Bryant was a son of William Bryan (1735-1799) of N.C. and Sarah Hardage of S.C. (Some sources list Tarlton's first name as William.) The family name was Bryan in S.C., but Tarlton opted for Bryant, the spelling of his grandfather John Bryant (1692-1741, born in colonial Virginia). John's wife, William's mother/Tarlton's grandmother, was Elizabeth Joyner. Tarlton and 3 brothers (William, Edward and John) moved to Cocke County, Tenn. between 1805 and 1808. Tarlton settled in the vicinity of present-day Bogard and Friendship roads (English Creek Community).

Tarlton's brother Edward Bryan, his wife Elizabeth, and 3 children spent some time with Tarlton before moving to Knox County, Ky. where 2 other children were born. All 3 Bryan brothers eventually moved on to Kentucky, later to Indiana. Their sisters remained in S.C.

Edward Bryan died in 1846 in Greene County, Ind. His widow Elizabeth remarried. Three of their children, William, Elizabeth, and John, as young children spend some time in Cocke County. Polly was born in Kentucky (even though her memorial lists S.C., where her older siblings were born). William does not have a Find A Grave memorial. But his son "Ned" has a well maintained memorial with family links and photos.

Tarlton married Jane Henry. Their children were Eva (Hickey), Brummit, James Hardin "Hardy," Aaron, Mary "Polly" (Hicks), William Morris, Levina "Vina" (Branch), and Lucy (died young). After Jane's early death, Tarlton married "Miss Allen" (full identity unknown). They had a son, William Carson. (With 2 sons, half-brothers, named William, the older was known as "Morris.")

After Tarlton returned from service in the War of 1812, he purchased (with a land grant) a second tract of land in the Lower English Creek Community, about a mile down stream from his home place. The Bryant & Sisk Cemetery, where many of Tarlton's descendants are buried, was carved from this farm. After Tarlton's death, the Lower English Creek farmland was passed on to his son, Hardy Bryant. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the land was held by Hardy's sons, Judd and Ananias Bryant. After Ananias's death, his land was passed on to daughter Cordelia and her husband Jim Breeden. Today, these original Bryant land holdings are subdivided and owened by various families not related to the Bryants.

Tarlton and Jane were buried on their Upper English Creek farm. There were 2 sections of the family cemetery. The larger section (later known as the Hicks Cemetery) has since vanished from the surface, but Tarlton and Jane's graves were apart from the graves of later deceased family members and their headstones still stand.

[There may have been another Bryant family (no relationship known) in Cocke County around the time Tarlton came from South Carolina. Military records indicate that two other Bryants from Cocke County (in addition to Tarlton) served in the War of 1812. They were James and William. William, possibly, could have been Tarlton’s brother “William Bryan.” James could have been the patriarch of the Bogard set of Bryants, settled a couple of miles away. The earliest recorded of the Bogard Bryants was Lavinia. Her origin (or whether Bryant was her maiden or married name) is unknown The father of Lavinia's children (Mary, John, James & Noah), who retained the “Bryant” name (sometimes "Denton"), was William Denton. Lavinia's son James Jefferson Bryant and many of his descendants are buried in the Aunt Bert Bryant Cemetery, about 3 miles from the Tarlton Bryant Family Cemetery. Lavinia's daughter, Mary Ann, married John Keener and later Moses Hicks Jr. Mary and Moses are buried in Missouri. Lavinia's son John married and started a family in the English Creek Community before moving away. Three of his sons, John Jr., Roten and James, along with their sister Alice Eslinger, remained in Cocke County. Another son, Dan, lived in Rockwood (Roane Co.).

[Research by Gene Bryant, son of James A. Bryant and a 4th-generation descendant of Tarlton and Jane.]

A set of detailed notes on the history of the Bryan/Bryant Family is posted online.

________________________________________________
Aaron/Aron Bryant (son of Tarlton) family history is highlighted in the book “COLLIN COUNTY: Pioneering In North Texas” by Capt. Roy and Helen Hall. It is part of a section featuring Elijah ‘Lige’ Baxter, Aaron’s son-in-law. The following is an excerpt:

“Lige...came to Collin County in 1869 or 1870 after inheriting his share of his father’s estate on the top of English Mountain....

“Lige had been captured at Vicksburg Mississippi during the Civil War but was released in about a week and returned to Cocke County where he married Aron Bryant’s daughter, Margaret....

“...Lige...had...brothers-in-law here before him. They were James Polk Duncan; Felix Grundy Lewis; and James ‘Jim’ Stuart. These fellows had all married daughters of Aron Bryant. Lige Baxter and Aron Bryant came to Texas together.

“Aron Bryant’s wife was Elizabeth Mantooth and their children were Emiline, who married Jim Stuart and after his death a Benjamin Johnson who was a preacher; Jane who married Samuel Baxter--Lige’s brother--and stayed in Cocke County, Tennessee; Lavina, who married Grundy Lewis; Margaret who married Lige; Elizabeth who married Jim Duncan; James; Lucinda, who married Houston Weaver; William [who died young]; Harriett, who died of pneumonia when about eighteen; and Aaron.”

The Halls’ book on Collin County, Texas pioneers outlines many other interesting connections with Cocke County, Tenn., under a section on “The Duncan Family.”

James Polk Duncan married Elizabeth Bryant, Aaron Bryant’s daughter (Tarlton Bryant’s granddaughter) in Newport, Tenn. May 25, 1865. J.P.’s parents were William Duncan and Elizabeth [Bayless]. The Duncans lived in the Bogard Community near the base of English Mountain.

Following are excerpts from the book:

“At age 17 he [Duncan] enlisted in the Union Army and served throughout the Civil War in Company E., 2nd Tennessee Cavalry in General Grant’s army. He served under his brother, 1st Lt. Daniel B. Duncan, and was in several battles in Tennessee, as well as the Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi. He received his discharge at Nashville, Tennessee on July 14, 1865 and returned to Newport.

“When he was 22 years old he and his family moved to Texas to live. The family and five other families made the trip in a boat made by William Duncan. The boat was 56 feet long and 16 feet wide. Besides the six families, the boat contained their household goods...and F. Grundy brought a span of mules and others their milk cows and chickens. The six families were Martin N. Lewis and family, F. G. Grundy Lewis family, G. Tucker family, Will Clevenger family, J.P. Duncan family, and the Phil Roberts family.

“They started on the French Broad River at Hay’s Ferry, then into the Tennessee River, then the Ohio River and at last into the Mississippi. They left the Mississippi to go down Red River to Jefferson, Texas where they sold their boat and came overland to Collin County. They joined his father-in-law [Aaron Bryant]. They arrived March 27, 1868....”

Elizabeth (Bryant) Duncan’s obituary from Courier Gazette Newspaper of McKinney, Texas, October 3 1932:

"Largely attended funeral services for Mrs. Elizabeth Duncan were held at the family residence in the Bowlby community Tuesday afternoon at 2:30 o'clock, conducted by Reverand E. B. Jackson, pastor of the South Wilcox Street Methodist Church, and assisted by Elder R. C. Horn of this city. Internment followed in Pecan Grove Cemetery under the direction of Sam J. Massie and Son Funeral Home.

"The newly made grave was covered with a profusion of flowers, silent tokens of the high esteem and love in which the decesased was held by a multitude of friends and relatives.

"The deceased was 86 years old at the time of her passing Monday morning October 3rd, at 6:25 o'clock following a four weeks' illness. Her husband, the late Jim P. Duncan, passed away six days prior to her death, her body being laid to rest beside his grave.

"The surviving children are: Mrs. Mary Etta Hutcherson who resides west of McKinney; Mrs. Owen Matthews of Dallas, L.C. Duncan who resides on McKinney Route 2; R. L. (Bob) Duncan of Hopkins County; and Aaron, Ed, Jim, Ray and Clay Duncan all of whom reside west of McKinney."

Elizabeth’s husband’s obituary ran in the same newspaper a week earlier:

"Jim P. Duncan, native of Newport Tennessee and resident of the Bowlby community west of McKinney for many years, died at the McKinney City Hospital this (Tuesday) morning, September 27th at 3:35 o'clock. He had been in the hospital for the past six weeks.

"The deceased was born October 31st, 1844 in Newport, Tennessee being therefore at the time of his death 87 years, 10 months and 26 days old. He was the son of William Duncan and Elizabeth Balus [Bayless] Duncan of Tennessee.

"Surviving are his wife, who was before her marriage Miss Elizabeth Bryant and nine children as follows: Mrs. Mary Etta Hutcherson who resides west of McKinney; Mrs. Owen Matthews of Dallas, L.C. Duncan who resides on McKinney Route 2; R. L. (Bob) Duncan of Hopkins County; and Aaron, Ed, Jim, Ray and Clay Duncan all of whom reside west of McKinney.

"Funeral services are pending. They will be under the direction of the Sam J. Massie and Son Funeral Home of this city.

"The wife of the deceased, Mrs. Jim Duncan, is critically ill at their home in the Bowlby community."

Tarlton + HENRY, Jane. Jane (daughter of HENRY, Robert and Lucy) was born on 28 Mar 1790 in VA; died on 15 Dec 1830 in Cocke County, TN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth: Mar. 28, 1790
Virginia, USA
Death: Dec. 15, 1830
Cocke County
Tennessee, USA

Jane Henry was the wife of Tarlton Bryant. She was a daughter of Robert and Lucy Henry (who settled in Cocke County from southwestern Virginia around 1800).

Jane and Tarlton raised their family on a farm that saddled English Creek in the vicinity of the intersection present-day Bogard and Friendship roads. Their children were Eve (Hickey), Brummit, James Hardin, Aaron, Mary "Polly" (Hicks), William Morris and Levinia (Branch).

Jane died at a young age. She was buried near her home on a hillside plot that became the Tarlton Bryant Family Cemetery, which no longer exists. Jane's headstone, however, has been recovered from the ruins. The inscription: JANE Consort of T. BRYANT Died Dec. 15, 1830 Aged 40Y. 8M. 18D.

(Research by Gene Bryant, a descendant of Tarlton and Jane.)

John + VINSON, Mary. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William + HARDAGE, Sarah. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert + Lucy. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas + EAGAN, Margaret. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William + COLEMAN, Lydia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]