Mildred Bryant

We know Mildred Bryant b. ca 1770 was a daughter of John Bryant Sr. and Sarah Murray because:

1. Her DOB fits within the range one would expect for the children of John Bryant Sr./Sarah Murray.

2. Mildred Bryant married 15 Oct 1787 in Buckingham. Her marriage certificate was filed in Buckingham Co. She also mentioned that she had been a resident of Buckingham in her application for a pension based on her husband's Rev. War service. Ours was the only resident Bryant family in Buckingham from 1784 to 1800 (with the exception of 1791 when Parnassus Bryant was in the county for 1 year).

3. Thomas Ware, husband of Mildred, was an overseer at Snowden during the period 1787-8 (and perhaps longer), according to personal property tax records. Snowden was just a few miles from the Bryant property linked by Howard's Road. John Bryant Sr. almost certainly shipped from Scottsville, using the ferry at Snowden. Scottsville would have been the center of his business operations, as it was much closer than the county seat. Anthony Murray (Mildred's uncle) inherited his father's property adjacent to Snowden. This amplified opportunities for Mildred to meet Thomas Ware during the time he was an overseer at Snowden.

4. Anthony Bryant named a daughter "Mildred Ware Bryant."

5. James Lyon b. ca 1779 signed an affidavit in Mildred's pension application of 1853. He stated that he had known her a long time, having gone to school with her children ca 1800. He also stated that the school master was Holeman Jopling. Lyon's statement was witnessed by David Ballew, his son-in-law. In the 1850 census, David N. Ballew b. 1819 was living next door to James Lyon along with his wife Eliza Lyon Ballew, their children, and his mother, Sophia Ballew. The Ballew family returned to Buckingham, and over the next two censuses, lived very close to descendants of Reubin Bryant. In 1882, Thomas H. Ballew (son of David and Eliza) signed the will of Henry K. Bryant, son of Reubin Bryant. Thus, there was a direct link between Mildred Bryant Ware and the RIC Bryants through the Lyon-Ballew family.

6. Austin Bryant had a son named "Peyton," and so did Mildred. (This is very unusual name.)

7. The location of Holeman Jopling's school attended by James Lyon and the Ware children ca 1800 was almost certainly in the portion of Amherst that became Nelson Co. in 1807. Moreover, it may have been in the Rockfish area (surrounding the Rockfish River). If so, this was within 10-20 miles of the home where Mildred grew up on Rock Island Creek. Note: A Ware website stated that Mildred Bryant was the widow of Holeman Jopling when she married Thomas Ware. That was an error.

Family of Thomas and Mildred Ware

The scion of a prominent central Virginian family, Thomas Ware was born ca 1762-3 and enlisted in the Rev. War in Albemarle Co. as a private. The name of his father is uncertain. Although Thomas was not named in the will of Edward Ware m. Letitia Powell, he could have been a son, as it was not uncommon to leave children out of wills when they had already received their inheritance. In that case, Holeman Jopling's mother, Elizabeth Ware, was his sibling.

Some have speculated that his father was Mark Ware, son of Edward, but that seems unlikely, due to a marked lack of naming coherence. All the other sons of Edward Ware and Letitia Powell appear to have been born too late to be Thomas' father. Another possibility: Thomas might have descended from a brother of Edward Ware.

From 1787-8, he was employed by Randolph Jefferson as an overseer at his Snowden estate in Buckingham Co. There, he met and married Mildred Bryant. (Randolph Jefferson cosigned with Thomas on security.) The couple lived in Albemarle Co. in 1790 before settling in the part of Amherst that became Nelson.

The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy: First Families of America Vol. 4, by Albert Nelson Marquis, 1930. Page 513, states: Thomas Ware (1762 - 1851) of Albemarle Co. VA; later in Henry Co.; in Am. Rev. with Lafayette at Charlottesville, Williamsburg and surrender at Yorktown m. 1787, Mildred Bryant (b. 1770) of Buckingham Co.

Due to her age, James Lyon traveled to the county court to testify on Mildred's behalf so that she could continue to receive her husband's Rev. War pension. Lyon stated that the veteran and his wife's oldest daughter was Mrs. Elizabeth Pugh was about 64 years of age and the youngest son Robert was about 36 years of age; that the veteran and his wife had 14 children -- Elizabeth, John, Thomas, Martha, Nancy, Malinda, Mildred, William, Edward, Payton, Polly, Virginia, Almira, and Robert.