1840 Census, Rockingham County, Virginia

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.

There seems to have been one too many males age 20-29.  I don't know if there was another son, unknown to us who died young, or if the extra male was a boarder or other male who was not a son.

Daniel Harrison age 30-39 and Rhoda Maria Brown age 30-39 were my third great grandparents.  Their son Joseph Harrison was my second great grandfather.  Joseph was born on 13 Aug 1840, and appears not to have been listed in this census entry.  That seems to be correct because the official enumeration date for the 1840 census was 1 June 1840.

Daniel Harrison was the son of David Harrison and Elizabeth Pickering.  I do not know who Rhoda Maria Brown's parents were.

Even though there is no obvious indication of an Allen C. Bryan in this census entry, Allen is the reason I chased it down.  Allen was born about 1800 and was married about 1842.  He did not appear as head of household in the 1840 census.  So it makes sense that he might have been living in the same household as his father Capt. William Bryan and his mother Nancy Kelly.

The pensioner William Bryan age 78 was almost certainly Capt. William Bryan.  The pensioner was exactly the correct age and was living in exactly the correct county to have been Capt. William Bryan.

William was the son of my sixth great grandfather Thomas Bryan Sr.  As such, William was the brother of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan.  William served in the regular army, and was at Yorktown at the time of Cornwallis's surrender to George Washington.  Peter was a captain in the Virginia militia.

There is clearly something wrong with this census entry.  William was a pensioner age 78, but no male age 70-79 was listed in the household.  I think that leaves two possibilities.  One possibility is that the male age 60-69 was listed in the wrong column.  He should have been listed in the column for age 70-79.  In this case, Elisha Bryan would have been the male age 40-49.  The other possibility is that William was listed as a pensioner but wasn't otherwise listed in the household.  In this case, Elisha could have been the male age 60-69 or he could have been the male age 40-49.  I prefer the theory that the male age 60-69 was Capt. William Bryan with his data entered into the incorrect column and that the male age 40-49 was Elisha.

In any case, Elisha Bryan is a puzzle.  This census entry would certainly suggest that he was the son of Capt. William Bryan.  But there are no other records that I know of that suggest that William had a son named Elisha.

Hannah Bryan age 40-49 was the daughter of Major William Bryan and Nancy Kelley.  William Bryan was the son of my sixth great grandfather Thomas Bryan Sr.  As such, William was the brother of my fifth great grandfather Peter Bryan.  William served in the regular army, and was at Yorktown at the time of Cornwallis's surrender to George Washington.  Peter was a captain in the Virginia militia.

Hannah Bryan married Samuel Moffett about 1814 in Rockingham County, Virginia.  Samuel was the son of Anderson Moffett and Barbara Hupp.  The male age 70-79 in the household could not have been Anderson Moffett because Anderson died in 1835.

Samuel Liggett and Hannah Bryan were married on 18 Apr 1815 in Rockingham County.  It is very clear that Hannah died before the 1840 census.  In fact, she may have died before the 1830 census, but the evidence is not definitive on way or the other on 1830.

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.