A Church Meeting Held at Liberty Chapel, Bienville Parish, Louisiana - April 11, 1875

The following description of the Liberty Chapel was found on a paper titled "Brief Statement of the History of the Grand Bayou Church. It appears to have been written by Marguerite Cook Clark. She sent this to E. Ragan Pruitt in 1982. He passed this on to me in 2003.

"Liberty Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church South, Bienville Parish was located some 6 or 7 miles SE of Ringgold on what was the Reddick Bryan place, near the Bryan cemetery was the founder of Methodism in this area.  As early as Oct. 1845 they were having Camp Meetings. Elizabeth S. Bryan reported there were only 4 tents, but they had a fine time. That had a good many hearers, and there were 13 who joined the church."

Along with this description, Ragan sent me a copy of this information about the Liberty Chapel and its members. However, when I visited Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter, Palma, I saw the actual document and scanned it along with the back of the document, which contained some notes and a few more names.

I have identified the individuals named in this document below. At least thirty-one of those named are connected to my Bryan/Regan family. There may be errors, and I would appreciate any corrections or additional information about the persons listed.

Mrs. Mary Manning 

May have been the mother of Mildred Manning Prothro Bryan, wife of Tillmon C. Bryan. In 1870, Mary Manning was living with the Tillmon C. Bryan family. 

Mrs. Eliza S. Bryan 

Born Elizabeth S. Regan in 1798, she was the daughter of Joseph and Dorothea Regan of Robeson County, NC. In 1875, she was the widow of Reddick Bryan.

Mrs. Sarah Bryan

"Absent" was written next to her name. Could this be Sarah Lawson Bryan, widow of Miles Bryan, who died in 1863? Miles is thought to be closely related to Reddick Bryan.

Mr. John Regan and Mrs. John Regan

"Moved" was found next to their names. John Regan was the son of Elizabeth Regan and her first husband, Joseph Regan. He married Martha Davis. All surviving children of John Regan and Martha Davis were on this list.  Three of the Regan's four sons were killed during the Civil War.

Mr. James Bryan

James Bryan, first son of Reddick Bryan and his first wife. James Bryan married Alice Mary Wimberly.

Mrs. A. M. Bryan

Alice Mary Bryan, daughter of William Wimberly and wife of James Bryan.

Mr. Kenneth Wardsworth and Ann Wardsworth

"Died" is written next to "Kenneth Wardsworth." No other information can be found about Kenneth or Ann Wardsworth. 

Mrs. Amanda Watts

Catharine Amanda Bryan, sometimes called "Manda."  She was the daughter of Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan and the widow of James C. Watts.

Mr. T. C. Bryan and Wife

Tillman C. Bryan, son of Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan, was married to  Mildred Manning Prothro Bryan.

Mrs. Sarah M. Bryan 

Sarah Margaret Wimberly was married to Joseph B. Bryan. She was the daughter of William Wimberly.

Mrs. Laura F. Martin 

Laura Frances Bryan, the first child of Joseph B. Bryan and Sarah Margaret Wimberly. She was married to Thomas Jefferson Martin.

Span Regan and Questions Regarding his Name

Span Regan
1818-1875

Span Regan, the son of Elizabeth Span Regan and Joseph Regan was born on April 1, 1818. The date is well documented; however, the spelling of his name varies from Spann to Span and Regan to Ragan. It is said that Span Regan changed the spelling of his last name to Ragan. In Public and Private Trees at Ancestry.com, Span Regan along with name variations were found in over 100 trees. I found the name Span to be used in 73 trees and Spann in 55 trees. Regan was used in 82 trees, Ragan in 25 trees and the rest could not decide whether to use Regan or Ragan so used Regan/Ragan. 

Elizabeth Span Regan Bryan, 

Span's mother. I'm sure I have

written her name as Spann as

well and will need to make 

many changes. 

E. Ragan Pruitt
1922 - 2009

Deciding between Span and Spann was easy. I loved E. Ragan Pruitt's explanation for the Span/Spann confusion and wish I could undo some of my mistakes as well. Ragan, a descendant of Span Regan and a genealogical researcher who began his search for family in the  1970s, stated that it's Span (not Spann) in Span Regan's family bible and that an error was made when he (Ragan) wrote a family history. He wrote, "it has just gone the rounds - don't really know how to stop it." 

Span Regan and his birthday of April 1, 1818, is written in the transcription of his step-father's family bible. 

Span was the second of three sons; John born in 1816 and Rufus Wiley born on February 16, 1820. Rufus died just a few days before his father, Joseph Regan, in December 1820. Joseph named his sons, John and Span Regan in his will dated December 18, 1820. 

Span's mother, Elizabeth Span Regan married Reddick Bryan in 1821 in Pulaski County, Georgia. They lived in nearby Twiggs County and later settled in Houston County, Georgia

In 1836, Span Regan, John Regan, and their step-brother James Bryan were drafted into the Georgia Militia during the Creek War. In the index records, Span's name is written as Span Ragan. 

Span sold land in Coweta County, Georgia to his brother John in 1838. His name was transcribed as Span Regan. 

In the fall of 1838, the blended Bryan / Regan family left Houston County for Northwest Louisiana where they settled in what is now Bienville Parish. In a brief biography about Span Regan's son, Joseph Thomas Ragan, it is said that Span accompanied his family to Louisiana where he was employed as a school teacher before medical school.

Elizabeth Bryan wrote a letter to her son, Span Regan, in 1845. He was living in Houston County, Georgia. In 1846 Span graduated from Southern Botanico-Medical College in Macon, Georgia. The name on his diploma was Span Regan. 

The census taker wrote, Spann Ragan on the 1850 census in Lee County, Georgia. In the 1852 tax digests of the same county, his name was written as Span Regan. 

According to written family histories, Span married Julius Leurany Speight on May 1, 1856. I do not have a documented record for this marriage. 

The 1860 United States Census shows his name as Span Ragan. And, in 1863, Span Regan was named in his brother-in-law's will as his executor. Span Reagan was the name listed in the county index. 

 He is Span Regan on the Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers. Span is found in the Georgia, Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869.  He signed his name as Span Regan although, in two of three sections completed by a county official, his name was written as Span Rigen. 

On December 15, 1867, in a document giving Terrell Bryan Power of Attorney, Span signed his name Span Regan. 

Span Ragan was listed with his family on the 1870 United States Census. 




Span died in 1875. Obituaries, cemetery records, and written family histories all record his last name as Ragan. Old letters, written by his wife to Joseph B. Bryan in the early 1880s, show that she signed her name as Ragan. And, Ragan is the surname used by his children and their descendants. 

I've always wondered why Span Regan changed his name to Ragan. Now, I don't believe he did.



If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana

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Sources

Ancestry.com. U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865

Ancestry.com. U.S. Army Indian Campaign Service Records Index, 1815-1858

Ancestry.com. Georgia, Returns of Qualified Voters and Reconstruction Oath Books, 1867-1869

Ancestry.com. Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1893

Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census

Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census

Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census

Ancestry.com. Pubic Member Trees

"A History of Savannah and South Georgia - William Harden."  Google Books https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_Savannah_and_South_Georgia.html?id=zv9HAQAAMAAJ. Accessed 15 Mar. 2020.

Family photographs and documents from the collection E. Ragan Pruitt. Used with permission. 

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Diana Bryan Quinn.

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

The transcription of the Reddick Bryan Bible was found at the DAR library in Washington DC by Diana Bryan Quinn on July 7, 2010.  This bible record was submitted in 1950 and found in Louisiana Bible Records (1950), Louisiana DARGRC report S1v25. These records were submitted by Mrs. John Newton Pharr of the New Iberia Chapter of the DAR.