Mary married BROWN, FelixBradey County, TN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth: 1824
Cocke County
Tennessee, USA
Death: 1882
Arkansas, USA

William Morris Bryant was a son of Tarlton Bryant and Jane Henry of Cocke County, Tenn. (In genealogy research William Morris is often mistaken for his younger half-brother from Tarlton's second marriage also named William, William Carson Bryant. After leaving Cocke County, both were identified as William Bryant son of Tarlton Bryant.)

In 1841 in Cocke County, William Morris Bryant married Mary "Polly" Mantooth, daughter of John Mantooth and Elizabeth Burke. The Mantooth family was a blend of Native American and European immigrant heritage. Mary's paternal grandfather was Thomas “Cherokee Tom” Mantooth. Mary was a sister of Elizabeth Mantooth, who married William's brother, Aaron Bryant, and Amanda Mantooth, who married William Clevenger (a grandson of Richard Clevenger). She also had a sister named Parmelia. Her brothers were Thomas, Samuel, John Jr., William, Robert and Lawson. Mary's oldest brother, Thomas, married Mary Sisk in Cocke County. After Mary died, Thomas married Lydia Dillon. 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.

William Morris [or Morrison?], known as "Morris" when distinguished from his younger half-brother William, and Mary moved to Polk County near the Georgia state line where other members of the Mantooth family resided, including her brothers Lawson and Robert and sisters Amanda and Parmelia.

In 1860 (census data), William (36) and Mary (37) were living across the state line in Murray County, Ga. Their children were: Mary (16), Lawson (13), John (11), Amanda (9), Narcissa (6) and Sarah (4).

The family moved to Arkansas in the late-1860s. In 1869 while living in Franklin Co., Ark. where Mary's brother John Jr. also lived, she and John signed documentation granting power of attorney to their sister Elizabeth (Mantooth) Bryant, who was still living in Cocke County before moving to Texas, "to sell our interest in the lands belonging to the Estate of John Mantooth [their father], Deceased, of Cocke County, Tenn."

In 1870 (census data), William and Mary were living in Mill Creek (Franklin Co.), Ark. Children living with them were Narcissa (16), (Sarah) Minerva ["Sarry"] (14), Emma (12) and Martha (7).

In 1880 (census data), William (56) and Mary (57) were living in Bayou (Baxter Co.), Ark. with daughter Alice (14) and grandchildren William (11), Mary (9) and Robert (5).

Data are lacking on the deaths and burials of William and Mary. They likely spent their final years in Arkansas. Some of their descendants eventually found home in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma (before OK became a state). In interviews with Indian Territory authorities, Mary's children indicated that she died around 1880 or 1881. She was alive during the 1880 federal census. William appears to have died a year or two later.

Their son John Bryant changed his name to William Mantooth (combination of his father's first name and his mother's maiden name). His dual life is detailed in in the link below, "William Thomas (John Bryant) Mantooth."

Lawson Bryant (son) married Martha Davis. They moved to Arkansas.

In 1900 (census data), daughter Alice Bryant (35) was living with her son Harvey (10) in the Chickasaw Nation (Indian Territory) of Oklahoma.

Emma Bryant Lyles Brown (daughter) died April 14, 1930 in Chickasaw, Okla.

Mary Jane Bryant Brown (daughter) was born in Cocke Co., Tenn., married Felix Brown in Bradley Co., Tenn., and died 1899 in Choctaw Nation, Okla. Felix died a few years later in Kansas.

Sarah Minerva "Sarry" Bryant Trammell (daughter) died 1904 in Indian Territory, Okla.

William + MANTOOTH, Mary (Polly). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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 + BURKE, Elizabeth. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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

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