Jerry Bryan's Web Pages

Settlement of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.

Thomas C. Bryan Jr. was the son of my fourth great grandparents Thomas C. Bryan Sr. and Nancy Cate.  As such, Thomas Jr. was the brother of my third great grandfather Peter Hubbard Bryan.

According to the Robert Reedy Bryan family bible, Thomas C. Bryan Jr. died in 1864 at the age of 28 years.  He was married with two very young children, and I do not know the cause of his death.  He was of an age to have been a Civil War soldier, but I cannot find a Civil War service record for him.

Thomas apparently had no will.  This settlement is the only record I have found of his estate.  The Sevier County settlement book contains two entries for Thomas C. Bryan Jr.  The entry on p.276 is undated, as are many entries in the settlement book.  p.269 contains an entry for a totally unrelated person that is dated 10 Sep 1864.  p.277 contains an entry for a totally unrelated person that is dated 5 Oct 1864.  Therefore, from the settlement book we can conclude that Thomas died in 1864 prior to 5 Oct 1864, but it is not possible to be much more precise than that.  In addition, Thomas's younger son William was born in May 1864 and his older son Charles was born in 1865.  The earliest that Charles could have been born was about May 1865, so Thomas was probably still living in about Aug 1864.  My best guess would therefore be that he died about Sep 1864.

Image of page 276 
Sevier County Settlement book, p.276

A List of Sales of the Property of Thos. C. Bryan Decd.

1 Book Morgan House             Sold to  Thos. Bryan               .25
1 Book Dandridge                Sold to  S.A. Bryan                .10
1 Book Redemption               Sold to  S.A. Bryan                .25
1 Book I. Edwards               Sold to  S.A. Bryan                .10
1 Book Practical Thought        Sold to  Lucy Drinnen              .40
1 Book Primative (sic) Church   Sold to  R.R. Bryan                .25
1 Book Immersion of P.B.        Sold to  L. Drinnen                .25
1 Book Immersion of P.B.        Sold to  A. Gaut                   .35
1 Book Wilsons History          Sold to  S.A. Bryan                .30
  Some Powder                   Sold to  F. I. Mount               .99
  Part of Box Caps              Sold to  F. I. Mount               .39
1 Powder Flask                  Sold to  Lucy Drinnen              .35
1 Lantern                       Sold to  Lucy Drinnen             1.30
1 Book Case                     Sold to  S.A. Bryan               3.00
1 Blank Book                    Sold to  R.R. Bryan               1.00
1 Set Brake Harness             Sold to  T. Drinnen               4.00
1 Iron Square                   Sold to  S. Henry                 1.00
1 pr Streachers (sic)           Sold to  Thos. Bryan              1.00
1 Small lot Irons               Sold to  T. Bryan                 1.00
1 clock                         Sold to  S. A. Bryan              5.00
1 Mowing Sythe                  Sold to  C. Elder                 2.75
1 Tine Plow                     Sold to  C. Elder                 1.15
1 Buggy & Harness               Sold to  R.R. Bryan              49.00
1 Falling Ace?                  Sold to  R.R. Bryan               1.75
1 Sythe & Cradle                Sold to  C. Elder                 6.00
1 Mare & Bridle                 Sold to  Thos. Bryan             75.00
5 Bushels Wheat                 Sold to  R.R. Bryan              12.20
1 wood work 2 wagons            Sold to  T. Bryan                24.30
1 pick                          Sold to  T. Bryan                 1.00
1 Book Redemption               Sold to  E. Sanders                .15
                                                                 -----
                                                               $211.84
  • Thomas Bryan or T. Bryan was Thomas C. Bryan Sr., father of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • S. A. Bryan was Saline Adeline Huffaker, wife of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.  It is a bit puzzling that she would have to purchase items from her own husband's estate, but that appears to have been the case.
  • Lucy Drinnen was Lucy E. Bryan, wife of William H. Drinnen and sister of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • R. R. Bryan was Robert Reedy Bryan, brother of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • It is a guess that the "Immersion of P. B." means "Immersion of Primitive Baptists", but I don't know for sure.  L. Drinnen was the aforementioned Lucy E. Bryan, wife of William H. Drinnen.
  • A. Gaut who bought the second copy of "Immersion of P.B." was Margaret Angeline (Angeline) Bryan, wife of John J. Gaut and brother of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • I am unable to identify F.I. Mount.  The first initial might have been F or T, and F seems more likely.  The middle initial might have been I or J, and I seems more likely.  I am unable to find anyone either in my database or in the census who matches any of these combinations of letters.
  • T. Drinnen was Thomas Drinnen, husband of Mary Jane (Jane) Bryan who was the daughter of William Enyard Bryan.  William was the brother of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • S. Henry is a bit of a guess.  Any number of men in Sevier County were named Samuel Henry and many of them had strong Bryan family connections.  However, none of the timeframes seem quite right for this settlement.  The best guess is that S. Henry was Sarah C. Bryan, wife of Luke Lee (Lee) Henry, and sister of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.  However, and iron square seems more likely to have been a man's tool than a woman's tool, so S. Henry is still a mystery.
  • C. Elder was Charles Thomas Elder, husband of Rachel Narsisus Bryan who was the sister of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • E. Sanders was Sarah Eveline (Eveline) Bryan, husband of Fidillo D (Dillo) Sanders and daughter of William Enyard Bryan.  William was the brother of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
Image of page 327 
Sevier County Settlement book, p.327

A List of Sales of the Personal Property of Thomas C. Bryan
Deceased Sold on the 24th March 1866 Viz.
1 pair of Hames          Sold to       Wm. Bryan               0.25
1 pair of Hames          Sold to       F. D. Sanders          $1.05
1 Collar                 Sold to       G. W. Cate               .10
1 Sythe & Cradle         Sold to       I. N. Underwood          .60
1 pr Hames               Sold to       Wm. H. Drinnen           .25
½ pr Breeching           Sold to       Wm. H. Drinnen          1.25
1 Mowing Sythe & sneed   Sold to       R. R. Bryan              .75
1 pr. Lances             Sold to       R. R. Bryan             3.00
1 Side Crupper Leather   Sold to       Charles Elder           4.00
1 Side Crupper Leather   Sold to       Charles Elder           4.50
1 Side Harness           Sold to       William Drenning        4.40
1 Side Sale Leather      Sold to       Lee Cate                4.75
1 Side Sale Leather      Sold to       Wm. H. Drenning         4.35
1 Bee Stand              Sold to       A. W. Bryan              .25
1 Bee Stand              Sold to       Nancy Bryan             2.00
  Interest fam. mill     Sold to       Thomas Bryan            6.00
                                                              -----
                                                             $37.10
                                    Wm. E. Bryan
                                                  Admx
  • William Enyard Bryan who bought a pair of hames was the brother of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • Fidillo D (Dillo) Sanders was the husband of Sarah Eveline (Eveline) Bryan, daughter of William Enyard Bryan and Amanda Keener.
  • George W. Cate was the son of Thomas H. Cate and Mary Rebecca (Rebecca) Lawrence, the grandson of John Cate Jr. and Mary Ann Koontz, and the great grandson of my fifth great grandparents John Cate Sr. and Mary.
  • Ira Nelson Underwood was the son of my fourth great grandparents Enoch Underwood and Nancy Underwood (first cousins who married).
  • William H. Drinnen was the husband of Lucy E. Bryan, sister of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.  William's surname was spelled both as Drinnen and as Drenning in the settlement.
  • Robert Reedy Bryan was the brother of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • Charles Thomas Elder was the husband of Rachel Narsisus Bryan, sister of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • Lee Cate was the son of my fourth great grandparents Joshua Cate and Elizabeth (Betsy) Wilhite/Wilhoit.  As such, Lee was the brother of my third great grandmother Mary Ann (Polly Ann) Cate who married Peter Hubbard Bryan.  Peter was the brother of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • Ahaz W. Bryan was the brother of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • Nancy Cate who purchased the bee stand and Thomas C. Bryan Sr. who purchased the interest in the family mill were the parents of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.
  • The administrator William Enyard Bryan was the brother of Thomas C. Bryan Jr.

Many of the items were equipment for outfitting a horse to pull a plow or a wagon of some sort.  That includes breeching (pronounced britching) and a pair of hames.  I don't know if the word scythe was misspelled in the settlement, or if sythe was the standard spelling in 1866.  A snead (misspelled as sneed in the settlement) is the handle of a scythe.

Return to Jerry's Home Page

This page last edited on 20 Jun 2016.