UPDATE! Court Records Found using Full-Text Search!

Search terms are highlighted in these hard-to-read documents.

Last week, I spent several hours at the DAR Library in Washington, D.C., sifting through transcribed but unindexed court records with little success. Then, yesterday, I discovered those same records on FamilySearch using their Full-Text Search. Not only were these the original documents, but I also didn’t have to go through them page by page. I simply searched "Peter Reed," and records appeared!

Earlier this year, FamilySearch introduced Full-Text Search, and I spent days diving into land records, uncovering details I never would have found otherwise. I had hoped that court records would be added, and for many areas of the United States, that wish has come true. My to-do list has been completely ignored for the past two days—this discovery has been too exciting to put down. Here are some of the items I found:

• In Erath County, Texas, I encountered a lawsuit involving my great-grandfather that explained a few newspaper clippings in the family Bible.

• In a Wayne County, North Carolina, equity case, I found my third great-grandfather, Mitchel Giddens (spelled with one “l”), named as a witness. His signature appeared several times. Once, he was referred to as "Mitch" and described as a poor man planning to leave the area—new clues for me!

• I uncovered many Giddens court records in Duplin and Sampson counties, which will keep me busy all winter.

• I have always known my ancestor, Reddick Bryan, was civic-minded. Houston County, Georgia's court records prove just how active he was in local affairs.

• Finally, in Hinds County, Mississippi, probate estate files, I found my 2nd great-grandfather, John L. Hairston. I wasn’t surprised that he appeared to owe money to almost everyone!

For those of you not familiar with FamilySearch - all of this is FREE! Note that all records are NOT available from home. Tomorrow, I plan to visit my local library, a FamilySearch affiliate, as some records can only be viewed at a FamilySearch library or affiliate. 

Full-Text Search

To learn more about Full-text search at FamilySearch, check out these links for demonstrations and tips. 

Full-Text Search is found at this link. Make sure you watch the video to improve your search. If you don't have an account at FamilySearch, create your free account at familysearch.org 

Testing the Full Text Search in FamilySearch Labs - An Immediate Success!! From Randy Seaver (read his lessons learned and advice) 

FamilySearch Full-Text Search Is a Genealogy Goldmine - Randy Seaver's most recent post.

12 Strategies for Using FamilySearch Full-Text Search From Kimberly Powell

I have written two posts about Full-Text-search: 

• Last Week, Everything Changed . . . Finding Reddick Bryan Using FamilySearch's Full-Text Search 

• Navigating the History of Erath's Old Poor Farm with New Technologies.

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

© 2024 

Last Week, Everything Changed . . . Finding Reddick Bryan Using FamilySearch's Full-Text Search

Two weeks ago, I started on a much-procrastinated project - my brick wall, Reddick Bryan. He lived in Martin County, North Carolina, moved to Georgia and later to Bienville Parish, Louisiana. I am hoping to find more information that points to his parents. There are many public trees giving him a variety of parents, but none show adequate documentation. 

Exhaustive searches in Martin County, North Carolina records and Bienville Parish records were completed years ago, but I had never spent enough time looking at deeds and other records in the surrounding counties or in Pulaski, Houston, and Twiggs Counties in Georgia, where Reddick was said to have lived. 

In addition, Reddick was closely connected to a Miles Bryan in both Georgia and Louisiana. I don't know the family connection, but YDNA says it's close. 

I began by reading unindexed succession records in Bienville Parish, looking for any pages or clues I may have previously missed. I spent much time in the library reviewing Bienville Parish deeds on Family Search and much more time at home looking at Bryan family deeds in Houston County also on FamilySearch. I even wrote a blog post about searching the Bienville succession records on Ancestry.com - Look Beyond the Indexed Records When Searching Louisiana Wills and Probate Records at Ancestry.com 

Last Week, Everything Changed . . .   

Then, last week, at RootsTech, it was announced that FamilySearch Labs released Full-Text Search, allowing us to search scanned images of records not previously indexed. According to the website, there are currently only two collections available to search: the United States Land and Probate Records dating from 1630-1975, and the Mexico Notary Records collection, with most records created before the 1900s. However, new collections will be added regularly. 

This means that all of those wonderful land records that were digitized from microfilm will be searchable by name, place, or whatever phrase I use. Not only are they searchable, but when you locate a record, a transcription can be seen along with the record. 

This record of Reddick Bryan was found when I entered the search terms "Bryan" and "Twiggs." These terms are highlighted in the document. The transcription of the two pages was below the record, which was saved as a PDF. I clipped the bottom portion of the transcription to give you an idea of what you will see. 

In only a few days, I completed county searches in North Carolina and Georgia that would have taken me years to complete prior to Full-Text Search. I found records I did not find in previous searches. I was able to search by decade, state, and county. I searched for Bryan using a variety of spellings and full names in quotation marks, such as "Reddick Bryan," as well as only surnames or less common first names. 

A search for "Twiggs" in the 1810s and 1820s showed numerous deeds in other Georgia counties and states naming those who lived in Twiggs County, Georgia, during the time Reddick Bryan was living there. This is especially valuable as Twiggs County's early records were burned in a fire in 1901.

In less than a week, I accomplished the following:

• Complete searches of deed records at FamilySearch for Bryans in Houston, Twiggs, Pulaski, AND all surrounding counties in Georgia. Began searches for Bryans in counties surrounding Martin County, North Carolina. 

• Determined that Reddick Bryan probably never lived in Pulaski County, as seen in many family trees. There will be more on this in a later post. 

• Determined that Reddick probably left Martin County in North Carolina to settle in Twiggs County, Georgia, where he lived before moving to Houston County, Georgia. Again, more about this will be in a later post. 

• Found new clusters of friends, associates, and neighbors of both Reddick and Miles Bryan that need to be investigated.

With AI, I was hoping for good transcriptions of handwritten records, but I never expected to get something this good in my lifetime! Now waiting for court records, Freedmen's Bureau records, and Irish birth records. Thank you, FamilySearch!

For Descendants of Reddick Bryan and Miles Bryan 

As many of you reading this post will be descendants of Reddick Bryan, I want to offer my help and ask for yours. I have been researching Reddick and his family since the late 1990s. I have collected much information and am willing to share what I have. 

I would also like your input. If you have family documents, a Bible, or family photos, please share. You never know what kind of clue will be in the documents, on the back of a photo, or in a family Bible. Click below to send me an email. 

Click to send 

More About Full-Text Search

Learn how others are using this fabulous tool at the links below. 

Testing the Full Text Search in FamilySearch Labs - An Immediate Success!! from Randy Sever (read his lessons learned and advice) 

12 Strategies for Using FamilySearch Full-Text Search from Kimberly Powell

Try It! FamilySearch's New Full-Text Search from Marian B. Wood

Full-Text and AI comes to FamilySearch from James Tanner

John Coor of Copiah County Made an Agreement with Joel Hoggatt from Lisa S. Gorrell

Exploring FamilySearch’s New Full-Text Search Tool & AI Transcription Comparison from Dana Leeds

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

© 2024 

Simeon Baker Bryan, son of Reddick Bryan, did not move to Louisiana with family. He remained in Georgia.

My grandfather, Redic E. Bryan, wrote the portion of
this list in black ink sometime before his death in 1929. 

This paper, found in Terrell Bryan's family bible, lists members of the Reddick Bryan family as known by my grandfather, Redic E. Bryan. With the exception of Baker Bryan, other family members had been found in numerous family and government documents. It was said that Baker remained in Georgia when the rest of the family moved to Louisiana. 

In 2004, after quite a lot of research, I was able to conclude that Baker Bryan was actually Simeon Baker Bryan. You can see my search documented on my Rootsweb page at this link.

Simeon Baker Bryan was the second known son of Reddick Bryan and his first wife whose name is unknown. A birth date of January 19, 1817 was found in a transcription of Reddick Bryan's family Bible.  And, the same date was seen in another Bryan family Bible published in 1843 and found in the Marguerite Cook Clark collection. It is thought that Baker was born in North Carolina.

Copied from a Bible published in 1843. One of several Bibles saved by
Marguerite Cook Clark and her family. 

In 1836, Simeon appeared as Simon B. Bryan on list of the names of those in the Georgia Militia who marched from Houston County on the 27th, May 1836 to rendezvous at Columbus, Georgia on June 2, 1836. "Creek War" was indicated on his military record. Simeon's brother, James Bryan, and step-brother, Span Regan were also on the list. 

Simeon B. Bryan married Louisa Smith on May 20, 1838 in Houston County, Georgia. His name is written as Simeon on the actual marriage record but in Jordan R. Dodd's Georgia marriages : early to 1800 : a research tool (found at Ancestry.com), his name is transcribed as Simon. 

In Houston County, on February 1, 1839. it was reported that Simeon B. Bryan's wife, Louisa, died. Her parents were listed in the obituary as Needham and Ardelia Smith and it was written that the "marriage took place in May last and in the fall afterwards her husband's father and brothers emigrated to the far west, in the State of Louisiana."

A portion of a Georgia map found at the Library of Congress website and published in 1854.

In the 1840s and 1850s, I have seen Simeon Baker Bryan in Lee, Clay, Early, Baker, Dougherty, and Calhoun Counties. After looking at old maps and understanding the formations of each county, it's easy to see how he could have lived in the same area for most of his life but shows up in records from several different counties. 

Simeon married Elizabeth Ann Mercer, daughter of Silas Mercer and Ann Thompson sometime in the 1840s or early 1850s. No record has been found. E. A. Bryan wrote letters to family in Louisiana referring to Reddick Bryan and his wife, Elizabeth, as Pap and Ma. In Georgia probate records, Elizabeth A. Bryan is the wife of Simeon Baker Bryan. 

Administrators bonds, indicated that Simeon B. Bryan died in Calhoun County, GA prior to October 27, 1856 when Elijah Padgett applied to be administrator of the estate of Simeon B. Bryan. No record of his burial has been found. 

This post has been added to The Reddick Bryan Family - A Timeline.


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

© 2020

Sources

Bonner, William G. Bonner's pocket map of the state of Georgia. New York: J.H. Colton & Co, 1854. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/91685221/.

Dodd, J. R. (1999). Georgia marriages: Early to 1800: A research tool. Bountiful, UT: Heritage Quest.

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.

Holcomb, Brent. Marriage and Death Notices from the Southern Christian Advocate 1837 to 1860. 1979. Print. 

Louisiana Bible Records (1950), Louisiana DARGRC report S1v25. 1950. Accessed at the DAR library in Washington DC by Diana Bryan Quinn on July 7, 2010.

Quinn, Diana Bryan. My Search for Baker Bryan. 2005. Web. 
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~bryanquinn/genealogy/BryanSimeonBaker.htm. Accessed 5 Aug. 2020.

Quinn, Diana Bryan. Moments in Time, A Genealogy Blog: #52ancestors Post Eleven: The Bryan Family Bible. 2018. Web. https://momentsintimeagenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2018/03/52ancestors-post-eleven-bryan-family.html. Accessed 5 Aug. 2020.

Wimberly, Vera. Wimberly Family History: Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana, 1837. Houston, Tex.: D. Armstrong, 1979. Print. 

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

© 2020








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. 

Friday's Photo: Sarah Margaret Wimberly and Joseph B. Bryan

Photograph from the Marguerite Cook Clark Collection

A note found in Marguerite Cook Clark's research files 

Joseph B. Bryan was the son of Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan. He was born on September 19, 1824, in Georgia - probably Houston County. 

Sarah Margaret Wimberly was born in Twiggs County, Georgia on February 23, 1828. She was the daughter of William Wimberly and Lucy Smith Lawson. 

Sarah and Joseph were married on December 4, 1845, in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. They had eight children. Marguerite Cook Clark was a descendant of Sarah and Joseph's daughter, Laura. There are numerous photos of Sarah and Joseph's children and other descendants in her collection. Over the next month or so, I will be posting pictures and documents related to this family. 

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

© 2019



Sources 

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.

Friday's Photo: James Bryan - He Died Happy.

James Bryan
Born
Feb. 9, 1816
Died
August 24, 1884
I die happy.

James Bryan was born on February 9, 1815 or 1816* in North Carolina - probably Martin County.  He is thought to be the first child of Reddick Bryan and his first wife. His mother's name has been said to be Teletha or Lilitra and her last name is unknown. James had one younger brother from this union - Simeon Baker Bryan, born January 18, 1817. 

As a child James moved to Georgia and lived in Twiggs County. It is unknown if he moved prior to his mother dying of if she passed away in North Carolina. His father married Elizabeth S. Regan in 1821, a widow with two young boys. The family grew and in the late 1820s moved to nearby Houston County, Georgia. 

In late 1838, his family left for Northwest Louisiana. The family settled on land that would eventually be in the parish of Bienville. James married Alice Mary Wimberly on January 13, 1846. They adopted two children, Josie and John Terrell Bryan.  The children's biological parents were the siblings of James and Alice - Joseph Brown Bryan and Sarah Margaret Wimberly Bryan.

James served in the 55th Militia in Houston County during the Seminole Indian Wars in 1836 and was said to have served in some type of local reserves or home guard during the Civil War. 

James's physical features were described in his wife's application for a widow's pension from the Indian Wars. At age 20, he was described as being 5 feet 10 inches tall with a fair complexion, dark hair, and blue eyes.  His name is seen in letters and albums as Jim or Jimmie. James was active in his church and was a Mason. He was a life member of Mackey Lodge in Bienville Parish.  

James passed away on August 24, 1884 and is buried in the Wimberly Cemetery in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. He died happy. 



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. 

*According to transcriptions of family information found in both Reddick Bryan’s and Joseph Bryan’s family bibles his birth year is 1815. However, his headstone and one other Bryan family bible indicates that he was born on February 9, 1816.


Diana

© 2017

Sources

Bailey, Ralph. Houston County, GA - Military - Indian Wars Capt Jesse Smith. USGenWeb Archives., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2017.  <http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/military/indian/smith.txt>.

"Bryan -Simeon Baker." Bryan -Simeon Baker. 2008. Web. 11 Jan. 2017. <http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bryanquinn/BryanSimeonBaker.htm>.

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

Family photographs and documents from the Frye Family collection. Accessed June 6, 2016. Used with permission.

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.