Bryson Family History by Lawrence E. Wood (1937-1997)

Page 1.

"Capt. Samuel Bryson - born ca - 1664 md - Mary ---

Issue-

• Samuel C. Bryson b - late 1680s md Rebekah ---
• James Bryson b - 1690
• William Bryson
• Daniel Bryson
• Andrew Bryson

Samuel C. Bryson born late 1680s md Rebekah --- from Scotland.

issue-

• William Bryson md - Isabella Holmes
• James Bryson
• Henry Bryson
• John Bryson
• Andrew Bryson"

Page 2.

"issue [of William Bryson and Isabella Holmes]

• James Holmes Bryson md Isabella Countryman
• Andrew Bryson md Agnes (Nancy) Nail
• Samuel Bryson b 1754 md Martha Bogle
• Capt. Daniel Bryson b- Jun 1756 md -Jane, 2nd- Martha Morrow
• William M. Bryson md Susannah Bogle
• John Bryson md ---
• Polly Bryson md Newman Wells"

Analysis:

Lawrence Wood wrote several books including this one on the Brysons. His work is generally pretty good, but like everyone, he made a few mistakes. He and I were good friends, and visited, spoke and corresponded often. We shared a great deal of family data back and forth.  Unfortunately his book contained little to no documentation, but I've only found a few errors, so all in all, it is quite reliable.

His Bryson book is very accurate for the most part, excepting some mistakes in the earliest generations. Let me take it paragraph by paragraph from the questionable sections:

This generation is completely wrong. Lawrence confided in me that he added this to his book without any documentation, confident that the person who shared it with him had properly researched it. It wasn't long after publication that he found out that this data was not only incorrect, but probably worse than that, it was made up, or just very shoddily done. It was quite embarrassing to him, but an easy enough mistake to make. I have not found anything (yet) to suggest that any of these people ever existed. If they did, I have no data showing they are connected to our Brysons.

Samuel C. Bryson born late 1680s md Rebekah --- from Scotland.

issue-

• William Bryson md - Isabella Holmes
• James Bryson
• Henry Bryson
• John Bryson
• Andrew Bryson"

Like the first generation, this one is also incorrect, and for the same reasons. This was shared data that had no documentation, and has since proven to be false.

Page 2.

"issue [of William Bryson and Isabella Holmes]

• James Holmes Bryson md Isabella Countryman
• Andrew Bryson md Agnes (Nancy) Nail
• Samuel Bryson b 1754 md Martha Bogle
• Capt. Daniel Bryson b- Jun 1756 md -Jane, 2nd- Martha Morrow
• William M. Bryson md Susannah Bogle
• John Bryson md ---
• Polly Bryson md Newman Wells"

This generation is correct except for two things. First, James H. Bryson's wife was Sarah Countryman, not Isabella. Second, Polly, wife of Newman Wells, does not belong here. She was a Bryan, not a Bryson. Lawrence Wood told me this himself. I have not followed up on it, but I still see researchers listing Polly in this family. She is not a Bryson at all.

* There are other minor errors in Lawrence Wood's book, but I'll not outline them here. I can say that he told me to completely ignore pages 59 to 98 concerning the Wood family, as it contains several big mistakes. I'm not sure what they are, for my copy of the book had those pages removed already.

One last known error is on pages 311 through 316 concerning the Phillip Phillips family. Phillip's wife Mary was not a Bryson (as suggested), but an O'Neal instead.

All in all, I'd highly recommend this book, if you can get a copy of it (it is long out of print). I believe that the Macon County, NC Historical Society now has reprint rights to the book.