By Linda H. Barnette
A New Frontier Opens for Settlement
After the trouble with the Native Americans was essentially over, settlers from up north were eager to take advantage of land that was both beautiful and cheap.
Those early settlers, like Morgan Bryan, one of the first to bring his family here, possessed a sense of adventure and were eager to take advantage of the new land and the opportunities that awaited them in this area.
Morgan Bryan’s Journey to America
He was born in Denmark and came to America from Ireland around the dates of 1695-1700. He first bought land in Chester County, Pennsylvania, but moved several times. In 1719, he married Martha Strode, who had come here from England.
He worked with his brother and William Linville in the Conestoga wagon business, but like others of his day, he was a wanderer born.
Traveling the Great Wagon Road to North Carolina
As the Shenandoah Valley became more heavily populated, Bryan felt the need to look for another place to settle and eventually decided to take his family to the Lord Granville land south of the Virginia border and close to the Wachovia settlements, where the Moravians lived.
In 1748, Morgan and his family set out on a long and dangerous journey down the Great Wagon Road, reaching the Forks of the Yadkin in the spring of 1749. Though he was in his late 70s by then, Bryan bought several thousand acres of land within the Granville Grant. His son-in-law, William Linville, and his sons also acquired lots of property. Originally in Anson County, all their land was in Rowan County when it was formed in 1753.
The Bryan Settlement Takes Root in Davie County
The major part of what was known as the Bryan Settlement stretched across the northern half of what would later become Davie County, extending eastward to the Yadkin River and adjoining the property owned by Morgan Bryan’s son, Samuel. Some historians place the center of the Bryan Settlement near present-day Farmington.
Many well-known families from Virginia and Pennsylvania followed the Bryans to North Carolina: the Carters, Davises, Hughes, Linvilles, Boones, and others.
Growth of the Forks of the Yadkin Community
During the 1750s, the population of the Forks of the Yadkin grew rapidly. The elder Bryans lived to be old and saw most of their children survive to adulthood and marry. Some stayed here; some went to Kentucky; some fought in the Revolution, though many were Tories. There were seven sons and two daughters.
Remembering Morgan and Martha Bryan’s Legacy
Martha died in 1762, and Morgan in 1763. Her tombstone was discovered during work in the present Oak Valley area and is now in the Rowan County Museum in Salisbury. There is also a historic marker in Advance that identifies what was part of the Bryan Settlement.
The Bryan Settlement Cemetery is a now-defunct cemetery that is located within the Oak Valley Golf Community in Advance, Davie County, North Carolina. A plaque mounted on a solitary monument marks the cemetery’s location within the property.
Their granddaughter, Rebecca Bryan, married Daniel Boone and was a famous pioneer woman.
Many people who lived in that area of the county can trace their ancestry back to these early settlers.
Sources: James Wall’s History of Davie County and NCpedia.