1820 Census, Rockingham County, Virginia

Benjamin Bryan was the son of Thomas Bryan Jr.  As such, Benjamin was the grandson of my sixth great grandfather Thomas Bryan Sr., the nephew of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan, and the first cousin of my fourth great grandfather Thomas C. Bryan Sr.

Benjamin's wife Persis (Piercy) Lair age 25-44 was the daughter of Joseph Lair and Persis Warren.

Henrich (Henry) May age 45+ was the son of my fifth great grandparents Thomas May Sr. and Maria Catherine Emerich.  As such, Henry was the brother of my fourth great grandmother Margarethe Elizabeth (Peggy) May who married my fourth great grandfather William/Wilhelm Messamore.  Henry was born on 5 Dec 1773 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, so he was actually about 46 years old at the time of the 1820 census.

Henry's wife was Catharine (Keaty) Sites.  They were married on 25 Jun 1798 in Rockingham County.

Something seems not quite right about this census entry.  Adam May and Catherine Branner were married on 5 Oct 1815 in Rockingham County.  The ages of the adults and the large number of children in this family would suggest either that this was the second marriage for Adam and Catherine, or else that this was a different Adam May and a woman different than Catherine Branner as his wife than the couple that was married in 1815.  It is difficult to know which is the case.  However, there were no other men named Adam May in the 1820 census for Rockingham County or any nearby counties.  Also, the Adam May of whom I'm aware is reported to have been born about 1783, so he would have been about 37 years old at the time of the 1820 census.

The Adam May of whom I'm aware was the son of John George May and Martha Magdalena Houghman, and the grandson of Leonard May.  I do not know how or if Leonard May was related to any of my May family members, but he probably was.

David Harrison and Elizabeth Pickering were my fourth great grandparents.

David was the son of Capt. Reuben Harrison and Lydia Donnell Harrison.  Lydia and Reuben were first cousins who married.

Elizabeth Pickering was the daughter of William Pickering and Barbara Woodley.

Daniel Harrison age 10-15 was my third great grandfather.  He was in fact about 13 years old in 1830.

Samuel Liggett and Hannah Bryan were married on 18 Apr 1815 in Rockingham County.  The only Liggett family in Rockingham County in the 1820 census was the family of Samuel's father Jacob Liggett.  Therefore, it seems likely that Samuel and Hannah were living in Jacob's household.

Hannah Bryan was surely one of mine, but I do not know who her parents were.  There were two Hannah Bryans in Rockingham County at about the same time, one of whom married the aforementioned Samuel Liggett in 1815 and the other of whom married Samuel Moffett in about 1814.  The Hannah Bryan who married Samuel Moffett is known to have been the daughter of Major William Bryan.  Major William Bryan was the brother of my fifth great great grandfather Peter Bryan.  It seems likely that the two Hannah Bryans were first cousins, but even if so I cannot at this time make an informed guess as to who the parents were for the second Hannah Bryan.

It is evident that there was another male age 16-25 and another female age 16-25 living in the household besides Samuel and Hannah.  I don't know who they were.  They might have been a son and daughter of Jacob, a son and daughter-in-law of Jacob, a daughter and son-in-law of Jacob, or somebody else entirely.