Mom and Dad

Betty, Bob, Harry and Kyle are the four living children of Dott and Lois Bryan. An older sister, Helen, died at three days of age on January 7, 1931. From the best information I can obtain, we are of English ancestry. The Bryan line goes back to our Great, Great Grandfather, Franklin Bryan who was born in 1808 and died in 1871. He is buried in the Crowson Broyles Cemetary on the Crowson property in Wears Valley, Tennessee. We have been unable to trace the Bryan line past Franklin. In the early 1800's there were Bryans in Wears Valley and other Bryans near Kodak. We have been unable to make a connection between the two sets. One of the Bryan's in Kodak was named Peter Bryan and signed the Tennessee constitution when Tennessee became a state in 1796.

We have taken the Crowson line back to Robert Crowdson, who was born about 1665 and immigrated to America  around 1686 and settled in Accomack County, Virginia. There is no record of Robert's wife, so he probably married after coming to America. Robert had two sons, William and Thomas. Both sons were apprenticed at a very early age. William, our 6th great grandfather born in 1693, was apprenticed to John Evans, a local planter in 1702 at only 8 years and 8 months of age. William was the grandfather of Aaron Crowson, the first white settler in Wears Valley and the first Crowson buried in the Crowson-Broyles Cemetary.  Aaron is our 3rd great grandfather. He is the father of Richard West Crowson. Richard West is the father of Richard West Crowson Jr. and Richard West Jr. is the father of our grandfather, William Walter Crowson. All four grandpas are buried in the Crowson-Broyles Cemetary within a few feet of each other. More information on the Crowson line can be found here.