Stephen Bryant, of the Plymouth Colony

STEPHEN BRYANT Sr.was born before 1618 in perhaps Kent, England. He died before June 1701 in Plymouth, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts.

• Father: JOHN BRYANT Jr. was born about 1592 in Kent Co., England. He died before 1630 in Kent Co., England
• Mother: ANNE PERKINS was born in 1596 in Kent Co., England. She died on 1 Jun 1654 in Plymouth, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts. She married John Doane second.
• Spouse: Abigail Shaw (daughter of John Shaw died bef 1683 & Alice his wife)

"Stephen Bryant [Physician from England in notes of Who Am I vol I] was the son of another [this] Stephen Bryant, who came from England in his youth in about 1632; was a town officer in Duxbury in 1644; removed to Plymouth, and was propounded as freeman in 1655; surveyor of highways in 1658, 1674, 1678. He married Abigail Shaw about 1645, who came over with her father, John Shaw, in 1632, and settled at Plymouth. From this couple the Bryants were descended."

Family

Married: ABIGAIL SHAW was born estimated 1623/1627 in England. She died on 24 Oct 1694 in Middleborough, Plymouth Co., Massachusetts.

children of Abigail Shaw and Stephen Bryant include:

1. Abigail Bryant (abt 1647 - 1715) n.b. listed by Savage
2. John Bryant, Sr. (1650-1736)
3. Sarah Bryant (1652-1652)
4. Mary Bryant Churchill (1654-1715)
5. Stephen Bryant, Jr. (1656/1657 - aft 1723)
6. Sarah Bryant Lobdell (1659-1696/1697)
7. Lydia Bryant Churchill (1662-1735/1736)
8. Elizabeth Bryant King (1665-bef nov 1701)
9. Mehitable Bryant King (1669-1724/1725)

summary

.....Stephen Bryant came to Plymouth Colony on The Handmaid on October 29, 1630. He married Abigail Shaw, daughter of John Shaw of Plymouth, Plymouth County, MA. Stephen was bonded to John Shaw. Stephen's mother was Ann Bryant (widow). She married (2) to John Doane (a widower) in England, before traveling to Plymouth Colony. Stephen's brother, Thomas Bryant, was bonded to Samuel Eddy, while John, his youngest brother, stayed with his mom and his stepfather. John Bryant was in Scittuate in 1643. John married Mary Lewis on November 14, 1643. Mary was the daughter of George Lewis and Sarch Jenkins. Stephen Bryant's children were:

biography

From THE BRYANT FAMILY OF KENT CO., ENGLAND-PLYMOUTH, MASS.- BRYANT HILL, ELLICOTTVILLE, NY Researched by: Edna Bryant Cole of Erie, PA:

"This story begins in 1630 in Kent County, England, with a widow named Anne Bryant. Anne's husband had died, leaving her with three young boys: Thomas Bryant (?), Stephen Bryant and John Bryant. Among the family friends and neighbors was a lawyer, John Doane, a widower with a son also named John. The elder John offered to give Anne's three lads a chance in the New World if she would marry him and go there with him (?). John was a capable man, highly regarded, and his influence would give the three Bryant boys opportunities they otherwise would not find. So Anne consented. The six of them boarded a little ship known as the Handmaid, on August 10, 1630  and two months later, October 29, 1630, they landed in Plymouth Colony.". ...

"With a step-father who was a friend of the colony's leaders, and a master who was prospering, Stephen was in an opportune position. ...

"Governor Bradford added the name Doane to Stephen Bryant for the purpose of identifying him as the step-son of John Doane. This committee was a select group; both Thomas Prence and Edward Winslow were to become governors of Plymouth Colony in their own right. As for the business they were to handle, an English merchant had mad a tidy profit selling necessities to pilgrims at Plymouth, and about 1626 had sent a few cows as a gift to the poor of that town. For twelve years the cows were cared for as the common property of the colonists. Now the committee was to decide who qualified for the cattle, and the assistants were to deliver the animals and get the proper receipts. ...

"What was Stephen doing with all of these parcels of land? William Bradford wrote in his journal that the first impression he had of the site of Plymouth Colony as he looked form the deck of the mayflower was "so goodly a land and wooded to the brink of the sea" (Mourts's Relation, p.2). Back from the coastline, the colony was a vast area of swampland extending for miles in many directions. These swamps, bogs and marshes were overgrown with cedar trees. One of the first manufacturing enterprises in new England sprang up here as the land was stripped of the cedar trees, which were made into barrels, used for shipping to England the tar and pitch into which the coastal pines were being converted. Additional cedar staves and heads were shipped to Engalnd for use as beer barrels and wine casks. Unlike other woods, cedar did not damage the flavor of the beverages.

"On Nov. 3, 1653, Thomas and Anne Savory had indentured their son Benjamin, age 8, to John and Alice Shaw. On March 2, 1657, Thomas and Anne again indentured Benjamin, this time to Stephen and Abigail Bryant, to be "instructed in husbandry" (i.e., farming) and to receive five pounds sterling at the end of his term. This was a way for Benjamin to learn farming, and for Stephen to have cheap hired help, in the same way that Stephen himself had been indentured as a boy to John and Alice Shaw. ...

Sources

• The Life and Works of William Cullen Bryant ... By William Cullen Bryant Published by D. Appleton and company, 1883 .p49
• Representative men and old families of southeastern Massachusetts : containing historical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families.. Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1912. p. 868
• [S205] DAR: Shaw - John Shaw of Plymouth, Mass., Shurtleff, Benjamin, 7
• [S284] NEHGS - Register: Bryant, Stephen, D. Alden Smith, (New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 153(1999):413-434.), 414
• “The decendants of Stephen Bryant of Plymouth, and of his son-in-law Lt. John Bryant of Plympton” by D. Alden Smith, NEHGR, 1999-2000.
• “Carteret and Bryant genealogy.” by Baetjer, Catherina Romana Marsiglia Cleveland, Mrs. Publication date 1887. Archive.Org

Links

• The Family Orchard November 2010
• Albert Arnold Sprague's and Claudia C. Milstead's Genealogical Website
• William Cullen Bryant Written and researched by Margaret Odrowaz-Sypniewski, B.F.A.
• http://trees.wmgs.org/getperson.php?personID=I23189&tree=Schirado

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GEDCOM Note

He was on the 1643 list of those able to bear arms at Plymouth, and land was purchased by him the same year. In 1646, he was on a list of inhabitants of Plymouth. In 1647 he was not on the list in Plymouth. In 1654 he was appointed constable of Duxbury, and in between 1654 and 1658, he moved back to Plymouth, being appointed surveyor of highways. In 1663 he was appointed constable of Plymouth.