Friday's Photo: Alice Bryan Williams - Bienville Parish, Louisiana

These beautiful photos were found in Marguerite Cook Clark's collection where they were labeled with green ink by Marguerite's mother - Mary Marguerite "Maggie" Martin Cook.

Alice Bryan was the daughter of Augustus Reddick Bryan and Erie Ontario Nix, both of Bienville Parish, Louisiana. She had two older sisters - Tulette Bryan and Alma Bryan. Also living with her family was cousin, Albert Brown Bryan, whose parents died when he was very young. 

Alice married Clarence Emory Williams in 1920. They had three children; John Reddick, Aylmer Bryan, and Lorris Winston. Alice and Clarence are buried in the Wimberly Cemetery. 

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 

Alice Bryan Williams photos, n.d.; digital images held by D. B. Quinn, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

Vera Meeks Wimberly, Wimberly Family History, Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana 1837 (Houston Texas: D. Anderson, 1979), 326.

James Bryan's Bible - Recorded Births, Deaths, and Marriages of Bryan and Wimberly Family Members in Northwest Louisiana.

This Bible is identified as James Bryan's Book. It is part of the Frye family's collection of family documents and photos. James and Alice Mary Wimberly did not have children but did adopt Joseph "Josie" Sarah Catherine Bryan and John Terrel (also seen as Terrell) Bryan, siblings and children of Sarah Margaret Wimberly (Alice's sister) and Joseph B. Bryan (James's half-brother). It appears that this Bible was passed down from James and Alice to Josie Bryan Cook then on to her grandson, William Trott and finally to the Frye family. In this post, I have included the scanned images of the pages in the Bible containing family information. 

On this page in the first column, marriages were recorded for James and Alice, for Josie and Joseph W. Cook, for Thomas H. Wimberly (Alice's brother) and Josephine A. Davis, and for Josie's brother, John T. Bryan and Sarah Elizabeth "Lizzie" McElroy. 

In the second column, the marriages of the children of Josie Bryan and Joe Cook are recorded; Lula L. Cook to William J. Trott, Alice Belle Cook to Thomas W. Neal, Mary Elizabeth Cook to Thomas Corley, and James Bryan Cook to Ollye Mae Reed. The death of S. E. McElroy, wife of John T. Bryan is found at the bottom of the column. 

On this second page are the births and deaths of James, Alice, Josie, and John. On the bottom of the page are the birth and death dates of the biological parents of Josie and John, Joseph B. Bryan and Sarah M. Wimberly. 

The second column also shows the deaths of James Anderson Bryan and Fannie Nix Bryan. James A. was Josie and John's brother (another son of Joseph and Sarah). James A. and Fannie died of influenza within only a few days of each other. 

This third page tells of births and deaths of several family members. 

Thomas Henry Wimberly, Alice's brother, died in 1871, just a few years after his wife, Josephine, and young daughter, Lula. 

Under Thomas Henry Wimberly's birth, John Lawson Senior's death on April 6th, 1888 can be seen in very faded handwriting. This may be Alice's uncle as her mother, Lucy Lawson Wimberly did have a brother, John, who lived in Louisiana. 

Sophanny Ann Frances Nix Wimberly was the first wife of John Lawson Wimberly who is named below her and died on April 13, 1888. John was Alice's brother. 

C. A. Martin was Charles Arthur Martin, son of Laura Frances Bryan Martin (Josie's biological sister) and Thomas Jefferson Martin. He died at age 27 on June 15, 1912. 

At the bottom of the second column find the deaths of Martha S. Caldwell and Alice M. Stewart sisters of Alice's mother, Lucy Lawson.

This final page names some birth and death dates of  Josie and Joe Cook's children. 

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 

 Posts Related to James Bryan and Alice Mary Wimberly

Friday's Photo: Alice Mary Wimberly and James Bryan

Correcting Mistakes in Bryan Family Trees And How You Can Help

Friday's Photo: Joseph B. Bryan or James Bryan?

James Bryan - No Middle Initial

Friday's Photo: James Bryan - He Died Happy

Friday's Photo: Alice Bryan and Albert Bryan of Bienville Parish, Louisiana

Friday's Photo: Alice Mary Wimberly Bryan of Bienville Parish, Louisiana

James Bryan's Bible, 1869; scanned images, from the privately held collection of the Frye Family, San Francisco, 2019. Used with permission. 

Vera Meeks Wimberly, Wimberly Family History, Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana 1837 (Houston Texas: D. Anderson, 1979).

Flowers and Family - A Letter from Erath County to Bienville Parish - May 3, 1913

A letter was written by Terrell Little Bryan Biggs of Morgan Mill in Erath County, Texas to her childhood friend, Erie Ontario Nix Bryan of Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana. 

This letter was found in the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark, a Bryan family descendant.[1]  Spacing, some punctuation marks, and capital letters were added to make this letter easier to read. Spelling errors remain as written. Note that a version of this story was first published in the Erath County Genealogical Society Journal in April of 2020.[2] 

Terrell Little “Bunch” Bryan Biggs [3] and Erie Ontario Nix Bryan [4]

Terrell Little “Bunch” Bryan Biggs

Terrell Little “Bunch” Bryan, the daughter of Terrell Bryan and Harriet Louisa Albritton, was born on 13 July 1861 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Her family left Louisiana for Texas sometime in 1876 or 1877 and lived in Eastland County before moving to Erath County in 1878. Terrell Little Bryan married James Daniel “Jim” Biggs on 16 May 1880 in Erath County where they had eight children; Margaret “Maggie” Lizina, Willie Allen, Terrell Bryan, James Frederick, James Ely, Harry Tracy, Ina Lou, and Charles Calvin. In the 1920s, Terrell Little and her husband moved to Wheeler, Texas to live with their daughter Margaret Gunter. James Biggs died in 1925. Terrell Little Bryan Biggs died in 1939. They are buried in the Wheeler Cemetery.[5]

Erie Ontario Nix Bryan

Erie Ontario Nix, the daughter of George Washington Nix and Telitha Garrett, was born on 4 July 1856 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Her family lived near the Bryan family in Bienville Parish. Erie married Terrell Little Bryan’s first cousin, Augustus Reddick Bryan, on 14 May 1874. Erie and Augustus had three daughters; Tulette, Alma, and Alice. They also raised Albert Bryan, son of Augustus’ brother, James Anderson Bryan, and Erie’s niece, Sarah Frances Nix. Erie died in 1934 and Augustus in 1917. They are buried in the Wimberly Cemetery in Bienville Parish.[6] 

The Biggs family home - Morgan Mill   
On the back of the photo, Terrell Little Bryan Biggs wrote, to Mrs. E. O. Bryan
from Mrs. J. D. Biggs. My Home Sweet Home. Morgan Mill Tex [7]

Morgan Mill to Ringgold 

I haven’t the stamps this time will send the amount next time for the Postage on the flowers. [This was written along the top edge of the letter.]

Morgan Mill, Tex

May 3/13

Mrs. E. O. Bryan

My dear cousin, I will answer your kind letter, glad you were all well. We are the same. We had a fine rain last night we sure did appreciate it, was the first good season we have had in so long a time. We texas people have had a sege of dry years. I do hope the drouth is broken. Have you had plenty of rain? Everything is so backwordy here on account of cold and dry winds.  So much dirt. We would have light rains would soon dry out, and dust would soon be as bad as ever, but we sure had a ground soaker this time. 

Was so proud of my flowers, Jacobs Laders died and the Stargrass Hawthorn also. All of my café jessimins are living or they look that way. If you can ever get any of the kind you spoke of please send them to me. 

Do you have gerraniums and Olianders. I have several colors of gerraniums. Pink, white, and red. White, red, and pink Olianders. I have Phlox, petunias, Larkspurs, Cosmos, poppys and several other kind in my years. I have several kind of roses all ever Blooming. I do wish you could see my yard now after the rain. It’s so pretty, it will be a beauty. 

After this my [illegible] are so pretty. I have a pretty Crape Mertle. I have a longer front yard it takes more work than my garden. 

I hoe it like a garden. I have some pretty Phlox. Such bright colors. I do love flowers so much. I work with them lots. Most all of my neighbors comes every day after some kind of flowers. 

My door neighbor little girl wanted some larkspurs this morning to sit out. I said no today is Sunday. Come in the morning. They all want flowers. We have a flower tower at the Mill. The ground is just adapted to flowers anyone that trys can have flowers. 

I live rite at the church or so near not more than a quarter of a mile

3 churches, Mishionary Baptist, Montainites [Martinite] Baptist, Methodist Presbyterian preach at the Meth house. Preaching every Sunday. 

Have a large Tabbernacle will seat five hundred people. So you see we have a duke’s mixture. The comutity holds a protracted meeting every year, here, and the Seven days adventist preaches sometimes. 

We have a nice School Building 6 rooms. Nice stage and auditorium. So you see we are up to date folks. Masonic Hall, and Odd Fellows Hall too. My husband is a mason and odd fellow too. 

Are a Woodman Loge here. They haven’t any Hall as yet, but our Town is just a wide place in the road. 6 stores and grocery houses. 2 Blacksmith Shops, one Bank.

We live 12 miles north of Stephenville. Our farm and pasture is five or six miles north west of here. 

I was glad to hear all from all of my old friends back there. It made me so sad to here of Bittie’s death. Tell Singgie my P.O. is Morgan Mill. That I would be more than glad to get a few words from her. I write to so many but I do love to get letters from La. 

It just seemed to me that I had talked with Jim when I read Albert’s letter. It brought him right back to my mind. I cant see you all as you are now, but I can see you all as I did when we left La. When I look at Aunt Alices picture she sent me I just say it cant be her surely and then I look at my self and say how much I have changed since I came to Tex. 

I am looking for Ina in any time. She was at Wheeler Tex Maggie Gunter her sister. She may go by Fairfax Okla to see her sister Willie Delavan. She has gone back on her feller. Her school was out 26 of April. I am so anxious for her to come home. She came home Xmas. Just stayed 4 days. Her Bro Jimmie came with her. He may come home with her as his school will soon be out. 

And you all have phones all over your country. We have them here most everyone has a phone. Automobiles are common here. Do you all have them. Or is the country to rough. Lots buying that don’t know what they are doing. Just a fade [fad] with the people, but still they are nice. I would love to have one. We may get one sometime. I cant go any where in the Buggie. Our horse is afraid of them. So you see I don’t drive much. 

Well I must sing off for this time I know you are tired of this. Give my best love to all inquiring friends and Kinfolk. 

Love to your family and Self. Write soon to your cousin. T. L. Biggs

This additional piece, found with the letter, may have been written after
the completion of the letter. 

Some Family Mentioned in the Letter

The identity of "Bittie" is not known. 

Singgie was Alice Bryan Wimberly, sister to Erie Ontario’s husband and Terrell Littles' first cousin. She married John Lawson Wimberly Jr. Her parents were Joseph B. Bryan and Sarah Margaret Wimberly of Bienville Parish, Louisiana.[8]

Albert Bryan of Bienville Parish was the son of Augustus Reddick Bryan’s brother, James Anderson Bryan, and Erie Ontario Nix’s niece, Sarah Frances Nix. His parents died when he was just two years old. Augustus Reddick and Erie Ontario raised him as their son.[9] 

Aunt Alice was Alice Mary Wimberly Bryan, wife of James Bryan. James Bryan was uncle to Terrell Little Bryan Biggs and Erie Ontario's husband, Augustus Reddick Bryan.[10] 

Ina Lou Biggs was the youngest daughter of Terrell Little and James D. Biggs.  She was born on 26 September 1896 in Morgan Mill. She was married first to Frank Blackwell and second to Robert L. Chapman. She died in Tyler, Smith County, Texas.[11] 

Maggie Gunter was Margaret Lizina Biggs, the first child born to Terrell Little Bryan and James D. Biggs. She was born on 11 March 1881 in Erath County. She married Malcolm Lee Gunter on 1 February 1900. Maggie died in Wheeler, Texas in 1951.[12] 

Willie DeLavan formerly Willie Allen Biggs was the second child of Terrell Little Bryan and James D. Biggs. She was born on 24 August 1882 in Erath County, Texas. She married James Edwin DeLavan on 30 April 1902.[13]  

Jimmie was James Eli Biggs, born in Morgan Mill on 17 June 1890 to Terrell Little Bryan and James Daniel Biggs.[14] 

Other Biggs Family Posts

Friday's Photo: The Biggs Family + One in Erath County, Texas

Friday's Photo: Terrell Little "Bunch" Bryan

Friday's Photo: Ina, Charlie, and Jimmy Biggs of Erath County, Texas

The Terrell Bryan and Harriet Albritton 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

© 2022

    1. Letter from Terrell Little "Bunch" Biggs (Morgan Mill, Erath County, Texas) to Erie Ontario Bryan (Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana), 3 May 1913; original copy held in 2022 by D. Quinn.

    2. Diana Bryan Quinn, "A Letter from Morgan Mill - May 3, 1913" The ECGS Journal (April 2002), 23-27.

    3. Terrell Little Bryan Biggs, photograph, ca.1880; scanned image, from the privately held photo collection of Patricia Pierce Waas, TX, 2006.

    4. Erie Ontario Nix Bryan photograph, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2022. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

   5. Sue Blackwell Pierce,  "Birth Record of Biggs Family," 1847 - 1939; supplied by Sue Blackwell Pierce, Texas, 2006.

    6. Vera Meeks Wimberly, Wimberly Family History, Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana 1837 (Houston Texas: D. Anderson, 1979).

    7. The Biggs family home at Morgan Mill, photograph, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2022. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016.

    8. Vera Meeks Wimberly, Wimberly Family History, Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana 1837 (Houston Texas: D. Anderson, 1979).

    9. Ibid.

    10. Ibid.

    11. Sue Blackwell Pierce,  "Birth Record of Biggs Family," 1847 - 1939; supplied by Sue Blackwell Pierce, Texas, 2006.

    12. Ibid.

    13. Ibid.

    14. Ibid.

Friday's Photo: Augustus Reddick Bryan of Bienville Parish, Louisiana

The photos and clippings from today's post were all found in the files of Marguerite Cook Clark. Marguerite's mother wrote "Uncle Reddick "Bud" Bryan" above the photo.[1] Augustus Reddick Bryan, the son of Joseph Bryan and Sarah Margaret Wimberly was born on 1851 July 23 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.  He was the grandson of Reddick Bryan and Elizabeth Regan and it is assumed he was given the middle name Reddick to honor his grandfather.[2] 

Reddick's siblings were Laura Frances, William Walter, Lucy Elizabeth, James Anderson, John Terrell, Alice Martha, and Joseph "Josie" Sarah Catherine.[3]

Augustus Reddick Bryan and Erie Ontario Nix

Augustus Reddick Bryan married Erie Ontario Nix on 14 May 1874. They had three daughters; Tulette, Alma, and Alice. Reddick's brother, James Anderson Bryan, and Erie's sister, Sarah Frances Nix, were married. The couple died of influenza within days of each other and left a young son. Reddick and Erie raised the young child, Albert Brown Bryan.[4] 

Reddick died on 28 November 1917. Erie died on 2 May 1934. Both are buried in Wimberly Cemetery.[5]

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

© 2022

    1. Augustus Reddick Bryan photos and clippings, n.d.; digital images, from the privately held photo collection of Marguerite Cook Clark (1913-1989), Waynesville, North Carolina, 2021. Photos were accessed and scanned at the home of Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter in Alpine, Texas on April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission. 

    2. Vera Meeks Wimberly, Wimberly Family History, Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana 1837 (Houston Texas: D. Anderson, 1979), 305-331.

    3. Ibid.

    4. Ibid.

    5. Ibid.

A Letter from Sallie Bryan Hammett of Bienville Parish, Louisiana to Lizzie Ragan in Terrell County, Georgia Written in Spring 1915

I scanned this photo at the home of a cousin in Post, Texas, several years ago.
This is Wesley Hammett and Sallie Bryan and their children, Jim,
Eleanor, and Ada. [1] 

This letter and one other were sent to me by a cousin in Georgia.  They were originally copied and sent to him by E. Ragan Pruitt. [2] I love how these posts came together with photos shared by so many different families. 

This letter and others belonged to Lizzie Ragan and their location is not known at this time.  Lizzie was looking for genealogical information. Sallie Hammett wrote this letter sometime in the Spring of 1915 prior to a second letter dated April 28, 1915.

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - May 17, 1923

My grandparents, Redic E. Bryan and Myrtie Hairston, and my great-grandparents, Phillip A. Hairston and Lodema Criswell, moved to Baylor County in 1905. My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was born in Seymour in 1920. He was the youngest of seven children born to Redic and Myrtie. 

In April 2019, I visited the Texas State Library and Archives to read Baylor County Banner issues that could not be found online or on microfilm. I photographed articles with information about my father's family who lived in Seymour. While sorting through my family finds, I realized I had photos of articles that might interest others looking for family. I have pictures of numerous articles from 1923 and a few from other years. I will post as time allows. 

Thank you to Matt Gwinn at the Baylor County Banner for giving me permission to post these clippings.  

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 

Harrison, O. C. The Baylor County Banner. (Seymour, TX.), Vol. 27*, No. 34. 17 May 1923. Print. Accessed 15 April 2019. 

*Note that January and February issues were part of Vol. 28. This and all March and April issues were printed as Vol. 27. 

Friday's Photo: Tillman C. Bryan and his Pension Record

This is the third photo of Tillman posted in the last two weeks. This tintype shows a much older Tillman. I love that I was able to easily see the same facial features in all three photos. Look at his nose and the shape of his mouth and mustache. 

This photo of the older Tillman came from Marguerite Cook Clark's collection. It's actually clipped from this photo of two brothers - Joseph B. Bryan and Tillman C. Bryan. 

This photo is labeled J. B. Bryan (Grandpap) and Uncle Tillman Bryan.
Marguerite's mother, Mary Marguerite "Maggie" Martin Cook (1887-1970)
labeled the photo in an album. 

This photo of Tillman was taken about 
the time of the Civil War. 

Tillman's pension record for service in the Confederate Army is a good record of his birth and other facts not easily found for those born in 1830.   I am certain that Tillman completed the application himself. He gives his birth date and place of birth - September 13, 1830, in Houston County, Georgia. 

At the time, Tillman suffered from facial paralysis and probably skin cancer as he wrote that he had "cancer on the face." 

Tillman enlisted in the Confederate Army in the spring of 1862 and served in the calvary until the end of the war. He listed three "comrades" living nearby; V. M. Davis and Fred Davis of Ringgold, and Howell Albritton of Campti. V. M. Davis and Jacob Cook witnessed the pension record. 

Tillman wrote that he had seven living children. Two sons and three daughters were married, while one daughter, age 15, and one son, age 23, lived in the home. 

The children at home would have been Jewell Antonette Bryan, age 15, and William Rufus Bryan, age 23. 

His married children were Tillman C. Bryan, John Wesley Bryan, Sally Manning Bryan Hammett, Ida Amelia Bryan Sheffield, and Tommie Eta Lissinie Bryan Nix.

This application was filed on February 1, 1899. There were a total of 27 questions. 

It appears that Tillman was approved to receive $8.00 a quarter; however, he probably did not receive any of the pension funds as he died on June 16 of the same year. 

Tillman's five-page pension record can be found at FamilySearch.org. Sign-up for a free account and click here to view the record. 

In April 1912, Tillman's wife, Mildred, filed for a widow's pension. Mildred reported they were married on March 15, 1854. This doesn't match the dates reported previously. She actually married her first husband, Hartwell M. Prothro, on March 23, 1854. He died in a steamboat explosion in March 1856.  

It was written that Tillman died of natural circumstances and is buried in the Liberty Chapel Cemetery. Tillman and Mildred are buried in the Bryan Cemetery. Is that formerly the Liberty Chapel Cemetery? 

Mildred died on December 8, 1912.* It is not known if she collected pension funds. With your free account at FamilySearch.org, you can view or download Mildred Bryan's pension application.  

To learn more about Tillman, visit the posts below. 

T. C. Bryan of Bienville Parish, Louisiana - Was he Tillman or Tilman?

Friday's Photo: Tillman C. Bryan 

*To learn more about Mildred and see an alternative death date read Mildred Rebecca Manning Prothro Bryan AND a Question About My Last Post.

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

© 2021 

Sources 

Bryan, Joseph B., and Bryan, Tillman C. Photograph. No date. Photograph in album held by M. Harrison, NC.*

Bryan, Tillman C. Photograph. No date. Photograph held by H. Forstmann, CT.

Bryan, Tillman C. Photograph. No date. Photograph in album held by M. Harrison, NC.*

"Louisiana Confederate Pensions, 1898-1950", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CSL8-FKMM : 27 November 2020), T C Bryan in entry for MM9.1.1/CSLF-6SMM:, 1899.

"Louisiana Confederate Pensions, 1898-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939F-VZSD-5S?cc=1838535&wc=M61M-PNB%3A164934001 : 20 May 2014), Brown, John B - Evans, C H > image 991 of 1406; Louisiana State Archives, Baton Rouge.

____________________________________

*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.