Morgan Bryan

Morgan Bryan led his extended family to the Forks of the Yadkin in the Province of North Carolina, now the state of North Carolina, and founded Bryan's Settlement there. He was known for "establishing critical settlements down the Shenandoah Valley along the Great Wagon Road in the Southeast."

Marriage and children Bryan married Martha Strode, (born about 1697 in 1719 when he was listed as a member of the New Garden Quaker Meeting of Chester County, his only known Quaker affiliation. There were a number of waterway crossings. Bryan, said to be the first settler to use the trail, was said to have needed to take his wagon apart at some point to make it through an impassible area and continue the journey. On November 28, 1748 or in the spring of 1749, the clan settled near Shallow Ford in the Forks of Yadkin, an area that became known as the Bryan Settlement and is now the town of Farmington, North Carolina. Bryan acquired several thousand acres in the Granville District within five years. His sons and his son-in-law William Linville also acquired substantial property. They all lived in Rowan County when it was formed in 1753. There was ongoing conflict in the region up to and including the Revolutionary War.

Death

Martha Strode Bryan died August 24, 1762. Morgan Bryan died on April 3, 1763,

Bryan's sons had influential roles during the American Revolutionary War. Son Samuel served for the Torys, while James, John, Joseph, William, and Morgan fought for the colonists. The sons were also influential in the early settlement of Kentucky County, Virginia, now the state of Kentucky. Granddaughter Rebecca Bryan Boone became the wife of Daniel Boone and attained fame as a pioneer woman.