Directory
People & Businesses
Named in the records of the 1832 Bryan House plantation, 1847 – 1867
Path One
The Bryan Family
Ten children. One estate. Twenty years of records — and a family story that stretches from 1801 to 1966.
James & Catharine · Ten Children · Second Generation
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Path Two
The Enslaved
They are recorded here by first name only. Forty-one names in 1847. Some appear again in 1861. Eight sign a labor contract in 1867.
1847 Inventory · 1861 Inventory · Returns · Freedmen
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Path Three
The Plantation
Cotton, corn, and coal. The gin works. Salt at $25 a bushel. A war arriving in a ledger entry.
Commerce · Agriculture · War · Reconstruction
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The Bryan Family
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Original Family
Father · 1st generation
James A. Bryan
1801 – 1847
Built the house in 1832. Died at forty-five. His estate ran for nineteen more years. The inventory filed at his death is the founding document of this archive.
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Mother · 1st generation
Catharine H. Bryan
1803 – 1861
Died the same year as her son Troup, and the year the Civil War began.
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1st son
Robert
1826 – 1895
Administrator of the estate 1847–1866. Represented Laura in the final distribution. The longest presence in the documentary record.
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3rd son
Hugh
1830 – before 1875
Precise date of death unknown. The record lost him before 1875.
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5th son
Abner
1836 – 1889
Left for the Confederate Army in 1862 — $7.50 cash recorded in the ledger. Returned. Signatory to the 1867 Freedmen's labor contract.
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2nd daughter
Catharine P.
1837 – 1919
Known as "Kitty." Confirmed in the 1866 distribution. Lived to 82 — she saw emancipation, Reconstruction, and the First World War.
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6th son
James S.
1840 – 1907
Co-signatory with Abner to the 1867 Freedmen's Bureau labor contract. Initial retained to distinguish from his father James A.
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3rd daughter
Honora
1844 – before 1890
Represented in the 1866 distribution by her husband Thomas Whitehurst. Precise date of death unknown.
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4th daughter
Laura
1847 – 1909
Born the year her father died. Represented by Robert in the 1866 distribution. Subject of the 1867 Laura's Return.
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Descendants
Son of Abner
John
1869 – 1914
Husband of Lynda Lee. Named the house Lynton in his will.
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🚩
Wife of John
Lynda Lee
1872 – 1966
Narrator of the Lynton Book. The name Lynton comes from the first syllable of Lynda and the last syllable of Houston. She lived 94 years.
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🚩
Daughter of Robert
Kathleen
1852 – 1937
The town of Kathleen, Georgia is named for her. Born before her grandfather's estate was settled; lived to see the New Deal.
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Descendants
Additional descendants to be added
Court Officials, Appraisers & Commissioners
Wilson Smith — Appraiser, 1847
Wm. Haddock — Appraiser, 1847
M. Joiner — Appraiser, 1847
Thomas Kinsey — J.P., 1847
J.M. Davis — Commissioner, 1866
A.M. Crowder — Commissioner & J.P., 1866
W.D. Simmons — Commissioner, 1866
Jas. B. McMurray — Commissioner, 1866
L.R. Alexander — Commissioner, 1866
The Enslaved
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1847 Inventory · 41 Named Individuals
🚩 A flag marks a notable detail recorded in the documents.
Enslaved · 1847
Nelly
Appraised $200
Enslaved · 1847
Polly
Appraised $250
Enslaved · 1847
Bitsey
Appraised $500
Enslaved · 1847
Joe
Appraised $700
Enslaved · 1847
Sylva
Group value · $900
Appraised together with Frank and Cloa
Enslaved · 1847
Frank
Group value · $900
Appraised together with Sylva and Cloa
Enslaved · 1847
Cloa
Group value · $900
Enslaved · 1847
Henry
$700 · $250 · $400
Three distinct individuals named Henry appear in the 1847 record
Enslaved · 1847
Redick
Appraised $800
Enslaved · 1847
Mary
$700 · $450
Two distinct individuals named Mary in the 1847 record
Enslaved · 1847
Phill
Group value · $700
Appraised together with Caroline and Susan
Enslaved · 1847
Caroline
Group value · $700
Enslaved · 1847
Susan
Group value · $700
Enslaved · 1847
Lyda
Appraised $450
🚩Enslaved · 1847
Charles
Appraised $500
Paid for making horse collars — recorded in the returns
Enslaved · 1847
Mariah
Group value · $775
Appraised together with Morning and Emily
Enslaved · 1847
Morning
Group value · $775
Enslaved · 1847
Emily
Group value · $775
Enslaved · 1847
Clarissy
Group value · $825
Appraised together with Toby
Enslaved · 1847
Toby
Group value · $825
Enslaved · 1847
Jenny
Appraised $650
Enslaved · 1847
Syla
Appraised $700
Enslaved · 1847
Eliza
Appraised $550
Enslaved · 1847
Matilda
$500 · $650
Two distinct individuals named Matilda in the 1847 record
Enslaved · 1847
Frederick
Appraised $600
Enslaved · 1847
Caleb
Appraised $400
Enslaved · 1847
Lucey
Appraised $450
Enslaved · 1847
Bob
Appraised $300
Enslaved · 1847
Flora
Appraised $300
🚩Enslaved · 1847
Cullen
Appraised $500
3 bushels coal recorded against his name in the returns
Enslaved · 1847
Sarah
Appraised $500
Enslaved · 1847
Ester
Appraised $450
Enslaved · 1847
John
Appraised $350
Enslaved · 1847
Sintia
Group value · $850
Appraised together with Harriett
Enslaved · 1847
Harriett
Group value · $850
Enslaved · 1847
Sam
Appraised $275
Enslaved · 1847
Amanda
Appraised $300
1861 Inventory · The Plantation at Peak
Enslaved · 1861
Names to be added when 1861 inventory is transcribed
Compare with 1847 — who remains, who is new, who has disappeared
Annual Returns · 1847 – 1865
Returns
Names noted in returns to be added as documents are transcribed
Known: Charles, Matilda & Claiborne hired out 1862 · Bob purchased from Alabama 1855 · Henry purchased 1858
Freedpeople · 1866 – 1867
Freedman · 1867
Matthias Boston
Wages $150/year
1867 labor contract
Freedman · 1867
Charles Boston
Wages $150/year
1867 labor contract
Husband of Peggy Boston; provisions included for him in her contract
🚩Freedwoman · 1867
Peggy Boston
$10.50/month
1867 labor contract
Contract includes provisions for husband Charles and grandson Mathi — three generations recorded on the same plantation
Freedwoman · 1867
Mintie Boston
Wages $100/year
1867 labor contract
Freedman · 1867
Littleton Jones
Wages $120/year
1867 labor contract
Freedman · 1867
William Chase
Wages $125/year
1867 labor contract
Freedman · 1867
Solomon Walker
Wages $110/year
1867 labor contract
Freedman · 1867
Frank Rawls
Wages $110/year
1867 labor contract
The Plantation
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A selection of notable entries from twenty years of estate records. 🚩 flags the unexpected.
Cotton & Commerce
Cotton Factor
Warren & Scarborough
1847–1850 returns
Cotton sales agent; receipt for notes in the founding years
Cotton Factor
Scott Carhart & Co.
1847 return
Seven bales sold in the first season after James A. Bryan's death, June 1847. The plantation did not pause.
Cotton Factor
Wright Mims
1847–1850 returns
Receipt for notes $269.59; bills of sale to enslaved persons
🚩Textile Mill
Houston Factory
1847–1850 returns
Cotton carded for yarn here — and also a cotton buyer. The plantation sold to the mill that processed its own crop.
Peak Harvest
92 Bales — 1858
1858 annual return
The largest documented cotton harvest. Seven transactions, approximately $4,685 net. The plantation at its commercial height.
First Season
55 Bales — 1848
1847–1850 returns
Largest single-season sale in the founding years. Cotton price swung from 5.5¢ to 10¢/lb between 1848 and 1849.
The Gin Works & Suppliers
Gin Manufacturer
Samuel Griswold
1853 · 1858 returns
Overhauled the 50-saw cotton gin in 1853 for $48.50. New gin installed April 1858. Clinton, Georgia.
Merchant
Harmon & Cook
1847–1850 returns
Receipt for $489.87 — one of the largest single merchant transactions in the founding years
Merchant
Parr & Everitt
1847 inventory · returns
Note for $400 in the 1847 inventory accounts receivable
🚩Re-roofing
The House — 1858
1858 annual return
31 squares of wood shingles, 3,100 square feet. Total cost $120.24. The same year as the peak cotton harvest and the purchase of Henry for $1,170.
War Years 1862 – 1865
🚩1862 — The Pivot
Cotton to Corn
1862 annual return
Eight bales sold in April 1862 — the last cotton sale in the war record. The plantation converted entirely to food crops: corn, peanuts, ground peas.
🚩Confederate Government
1,000 bu. Corn Impressed
1862 annual return · March 1863
Delivered to the Confederate government at $1.25/bushel — $1,250 total. The war arrived in the ledger as a line item.
🚩War Economy
Salt — $25/bushel
1862 annual return
Salt, once a routine purchase at cents per bushel, reached $25 a bushel during the war. A single line in the ledger that measures the collapse of supply.
War Record
Abner — $7.50
1862 annual return
Cash given to Abner C. Bryan going to war — $7.50. The ledger's entire record of his departure.
War Years
1863–1865 entries to be added as returns are transcribed
Reconstruction 1866 – 1867
🚩April 1866
9 People Appraised
1866 final distribution
Nine named individuals appraised as property in the estate distribution — one year after emancipation, four months after the 13th Amendment was ratified.
🚩62 Bales Cotton
Largest Single Asset — 1866
1866 final distribution
$3,761.90 — the largest single asset in the final distribution, representing 16% of the total estate value at closing.
Labor Contract
Freedmen's Bureau — 1867
1867 labor contract
Eight freedpeople and their families contracted to work the plantation for wages. Fined 50¢/day for unauthorized absence. The same land, new terms.