Bryant Breeding1

M, (between 1705 and 1715 - August 1778)

Charts Pedigree for Stanley Russell McKinney
Relationship 6th great-grandfather of James Jay McKinney.
Last Edited 1 Apr 1999
Reference MMMMMFMMMC
Researcher 0
Unrelated 0

Note* Current speculation is that Bryant was born between 1705 and 1710, and that as a young man he was living in King George County by 1727.

(Margaret Hunt is not convinced that his wife was Elizabeth Conway)
John Conway’s will, recorded on September 26, 1727, names a daughter Elizabeth “left to Thomas Dennison to look after if she thinks well of it; if not, to do as she thinks fit.” What she really did think of it is our first inference! She married Bryant Bredin some time after that date, but before October 27, 1730, when her brother Thomas presented the couple with a lifetime lease on 50 acres of his land, next door to Samuel Earles, or Earle. This document is interesting of itself, filled with antique wording such as Quiet and Peaceable Seizin being Granted by Thomas Conway by Delivery of Turf and Twig.

Later in that same year, Prince William County was established and included Bryant and Elizabeth’s home, which was located on a small tributary of Rappahannock River named Deep Run, less than two miles from the present town of Goldvein.

In 1735, Bryant voted in an election; and then again at the 1741 Election for Prince William County flurgesses, where he voted for Col. John Colville and George Harrison.

On October 27, 1746, Bryant Breeding, planter, of Prince William County, purchased from Samuel Earle, gentleman, now of Frederick County, his 200-acre plantation adjoining Bryant on branches of Deep Run. The price was 5 pounds, current money.

Then in 1749/50 Bryant went to Frederick County himself, and arranged for permission to apply for a claim. He had the chosen land surveyed and submitted papers showing an area of 418 acres. It is presumed that at that time he moved his family there.

Among next-door neighbors was the Ruffner family; also, an adjoining tract was the property just claimed by Thomas Conway. Much later, Joseph Ruffner bought that large acreage.

Since surveys usually began at an established mark, often a no-longer-existant tree, it is not always easy to determine exactly where some of these places really were. The Conway land on Dry Run adjoined Bryant, but another tract adjoining Bryant was on Pass Run. These Runs were adjacent branches of Hawksbill Creek, a tributary of South Shenandoah, so such large properties could well have been partly in both valleys.

When Farquier County was formed in 1759, the land on Deep Run which Bryant had purchased from Samuel Earle lay in that new county, and in 1773 he sold it to James Thompson. It is believed that Elizabeth died before that time, as no record has been found that she was “privately examined,” a normal procedure. But in any case she did die first, and Bryant was remarried.

Bryant died in 1778, and on August 28th, his widow Sarah, Joseph Breeding, and two others, appeared at Court, where Sarah was named Executor of his estate.

When Bryant signed his lease, back in 1730, there was no “mark” to indicate that he was unable to sign his own name, and in his inventory four books were listed; clues which seemingly indicate literacy. In addition to cash, tools, equipment and household effects, he left two slaves, four horses, eight head of cattle, and other livestock.

At some time prior to March 5, 1780, Sarah Breeding also died.2 
Marriage* Principal=Sarah (?)3 
Birth*between 1705 and 1715 1 
Marriage*circa 1728 Principal=Elizabeth (?)3 
Death*August 1778 Shenandoah Co., VA1 

Family 1

Sarah (?)
Marriage* Principal=Sarah (?)3 

Family 2

Elizabeth (?)
Marriage*circa 1728 Principal=Elizabeth (?)3 

Family 3
Children

Citations

  1. [S74] Unknown compiler, compiler, "Correspondence"; Margaret Hunt, August 17, 1993., Ancestral File unknown repository, unknown repository address.
  2. [S73] Paul McGowen, Breeden/Hurst Family (n.p.: n.pub., 1983).
  3. [S74] Unknown compiler, compiler, "Correspondence"; Margaret Hunt, March 30, 1999., Ancestral File unknown repository, unknown repository address.