Bryant Ward

A Patriot of the American Revolution for GEORGIA. DAR Ancestor # A120464

Uncertain Origins

The origins of Bryant Ward are not documented. He may have been the son of Edmond Ward, born in County Antrim, Ireland c.1720. [citation needed] He may have been born in 1730 and his father may have been Benjamin Ward.[1] He may have been English (or was mistaken for English because he fought for them. [2] Nancy Ward researcher David Hampton believes that he may have been from Virginia. [3]

Biography

Bryant Ward is notable because of a remarkable woman he encountered in his travels.

According to Emmet Starr, Bryant Ward came to British Colonial America from Ireland, possibly as a soldier, and remained as a trader. He had at least two wives, a white woman named Ann, and a Cherokee woman known as Nancy Ward. It is uncertain when he married Ann, but she was alive and living in Georgia in 1817 when his will was probated. Some accounts say that he had a wife and children in Ireland when he emigrated to America, and that his son John was born in Ireland. [4]

Bryant Ward partnered with Nanyehi, a Cherokee Beloved Woman who was later known as "Nancy Ward," about 1758. They were the parents of one child, a daughter Betsy. Betsy and General Joseph Martin had a daughter named Nancy Martin. One of Joseph's white sons, William, wrote in a letter that Bryant and Ann Ward lived near his [Joseph's] home on the Tugaloo River in 1793 - 1797. He stated that Bryant Ward had "Married the notorious Nancy Ward" and "she was, as I think, one of the most superior women I have ever seen. Bryant Ward and his family recognize her, for I have frequently seen her there; we then not living far from the Cherokee settlement." [5]

Bryant Ward's will was dated August 18, 1815, and probated in 1817 in Franklin Co. Georgia, where he lived at the time of his death. Mentioned in the will are his wife, Ann, a "nephew," Bryan Ward, and a "nease," Susannah Ward England, (Note these were actually his grand-children) as well as two sons, Samuel and John. His will named two enslaved people, a woman named Jean and a boy named Providence. Joseph Martin (partner of Bryant's daughter Betsy) is named executor, and the will is signed Bryant B. Ward. Witnesses are John Bryant, George Ward, and C.H. Dobson. [6]

Bryant Ward's will was dated August 18, 1815, and probated in 1817 in Franklin Co. Georgia, where he lived at the time of his death. These are copies are of the microfilm at the LDS Church, originals unknown but presumably archived in Franklin County, GA. I find no text transcript. Zoomable version located here: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ward-1524

Carey, Mathew 1814 State of Georgia, David Rumsey Historical Map Collection with Franklin County top most County upper right op able version located here: https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~629~5006...

Research Notes

Find-a-Grave includes a number of claims unsupported by any documentation;

"There is a story regarding Bryan [sic] Ward's travels in the Cherokee "Overhill country" shortly after the Cherokees had captured Fort Loudoun in 1759. A group of Cherokee warriors encountered Bryan and accused him of being a British spy. He was taken before a council of chiefs and sentenced to a test which would have resulted in certain death. Nanyehi became aware of his situation and intervened on Bryan's behalf. A meeting was arranged between Nan-ye-hi and Bryan which resulted first in his release and later in 1759 in their marriage."[1]

"At the start of the Cherokee - English war of 1760, Ward left the Cherokee Nation and settled on the Tugaloo River in the Pendelton District of South Carolina where he married a white woman (Ann)." [7]

(Curator Note: the sequence of Bryant’s marriage(s) is in question. There was one story that he left a wife (and family?) behind in Ireland and his son Jack joined him in America later, but zero documentation to support that story. Unlikely because Jack would have been much older than it seems he was. Bryant did leave a wife, adult children, and grandchildren when he died, all named in his will, so much more likely that he “married,” i.e. had a child with, Nancy, then married Ann, the wife who survived him. Or they could have been married all along and emigrated with him, lots of white traders had both white and Cherokee families concurrently. The marriage with Nancy could have been only of necessity as such a marriage was required for a white Indian trader for access to the tribe.)

Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 02 November 2018), memorial page for Bryant Ward (1730–15 Aug 1815), Find A Grave: Memorial #169740250, ; Maintained by S.Stults (contributor 48948087) Unknown, who reports a Burial Unknown.
2. ↑ David Ray Smith, "Nancy Ward," Tennessee Encyclopedia URL http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/nancy-ward/ Access Date November 2, 2018 (Tennessee Historical Society, October 8, 2017, Last Updated March 1, 2018).
3. ↑ Hampton, David K. Cherokee Mixed-Bloods. Arc Press of Cane Hill, Lincoln, Arkansas. 2005. p. 104
4. ↑ Starr, Emmet. History of the Cherokee Indians. Oklahoma Yesterday Publications edition, Tulsa, OK. 1979. p. 468. Digitized edition at Starr
5. ↑ William Martin to Lyman Draper, July 7, 1842. Draper Manuscripts Vol. 3xx Letter 4. Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin.
6. ↑ Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Franklin County), Franklin, Georgia. Unbound Estate Records, 1791-1901, Vickery, Joseph H-Watkins, David G. Digitized at FamilySearch, images begin at: Will Also see attached image.
7. ↑ Find A Grave cites Flower and Feather--full citation needed. (claims unsupported by any documentation)

Source: The WikiTree Native American Project @ https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ward-1524
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