Jesse Puryear Bryant

Jesse lost his father at the age of four and his mother at the age of nine. In March of 1832, at the age of 12, he took up the trade of tailoring, as an apprentice to Washington Webb. However, several years later he was called into the Baptist ministry and obtained a license to perform marriages in LaRue Co, KY on 26 July 1847.

Rev. Jesse was pastor for a short time at the historic Brush Creek Baptist Church in Green County; at Oak Hill Baptist Church from 1859-1869 and 1872-1877; at Mt. Tabor Baptist Church from 1850-1866; at Mt. Moriah (named after his first wife) from 1856-1859, 1864-5, and 1872-3; and at South Fork Baptist Church from 1872-1877. Records indicate that, for about 15 years, Jesse performed more marriages in the region than all other preachers and priests combined.

On Feb 28, 1870, Jesse was appointed merchant and postmaster of Mt. Sherman, Ky. According to a family lore,[1] he often told a story about being robbed by members of the Jesse James gang, during the time they rendezvoused in the Rolling Fork Hills of Nelson and Marion Counties. The story went like this: Apparently, members of the gang got wind of the possibility that Jesse kept money associated with his postmaster job stashed safely in his home. One day, a man appeared at Jesse’s door, complaining of a very bad toothache. He asked Jesse to take him to the store for medicine. Since the post office was located in a general store, Jesse turned around and went back inside to look for the key. The man followed Jesse inside and drew a gun. His partner dismounted and also entered. They searched (unsuccessfully) for a hidden stash of money.

Maybe the incident deterred Jesse from this occupation. A new postmaster was appointed in 1872.

Jesse married three times, the first time to Mariah Young on 27 Sept 1842. She died in July of 1856. Their children were: Rebecca who married Luther W. Smith (both buried in Sadler, TX), Jane or Ruth Jennie or Ruth Jane Ann who married Edward Calvin Creal[2], Louisa who married a John "Jackson" Moten Terrill [3],  William, Eunice, and John. Creal’s History of the Bryant Family says John and Eunice died young. John and Eunice were buried next to their mother, Mariah, at Mt. Tabor Church in LaRue Co, Ky. 

That left only one surviving male Bryant from this marriage: William, often referred to as "Uncle Bill." He married Bettie Sutton and they had two daughters. All are buried in Buffalo Cemetery, Larue Co., Ky. A letter written by William  refers to an injury he sustained in a car wreck that left him unable to work. Edward Weston Creal, a Bryant family biographer, said that William was widely known for his knowledge of history, scriptures and geography. He was also a skilled debator on the merits of "free silver"--a hot political issue of the era. According to relatives, his daughter Katie (Catherine) b. 1878 d. 1907 was murdered by an abortionist. The relative stated she was identified by her shoes, which had been purchased at the Terrill Store in Buffalo, Ky.

After Mariah’s death, Jesse married Louisa Sympson of Taylor Co. She bore Virgil, Sam, Bluford Emmett[4], and Jesse Ray (born within a few miles of Abraham Lincoln's birthplace) before dying in 1866. Virgil also died in May 1866 and was buried next to his mother in Gaddie Family Cemetery #1 in Taylor Co., Ky. 

Jesse’s last wife was Mary Margaret Ford. They married on Dec 19, 1866. Children that survived childbirth: Thomas, Sue, Bruce, and Rose L. The boys were born in Ky; the girls in Tx. Rose died as an infant and shares a tombstone with her father.

Jesse moved to Texas in 1878 with most of his family. For more about that, see the "Texas Pioneers" chapter.

[1] An account of the story was published much later in a 1920 article written by E. W. Creal and later published in the Larue County Herald on August 29, 1974.

[2] Richard Creal, a Virginian, settled in Ky around 1802 > James W. Creal who married Ellen Cates> Edward Calvin Creal> Edward Wester Creal, was a US Rep from Ky from 1935-1943: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000898

[3] Louisa Bryant married John M. Terrill whose father David moved to KY from the vicinity of Greene Co, VA between 1843-1850. Greene Co, VA was just north of Albemarle Co. Interestingly, David D. Terrill was a descendant of the same Terrill family that intermarried with the Murrays generations previously in VA.

[4] Most likely named for John Bluford Mann, a neighbor of the Bryants when Jesse was a boy in Green Co, Ky