Outlined below are some very special people. They are the pioneers who played a major role in settling Bryan County, Georgia during its first hundred years, i.e., circa 1733-1833. These first settlers were a mix of people who were rich, poor, educated, and uneducated - - and they were Bryan County's first planters, homemakers, farmers, blacksmiths, lumberjacks, millers, carpenters, ministers, teachers, lawyers, judges, law enforcers, politicians, Revolutionary War veterans, businessmen, plantation overseers, slaves, etc. Many of them were also the original settlers of the areas in Georgia we now know as Chatham, Effingham, and Bryan Counties, i.e., the individuals and families who were part of English General James Edward Oglethorpe's military group of English Officers and Scot-Highlander soldiers, and from those who first migrated from the English Province of South Carolina . . . into St. John's Parish (which are now parts of Liberty, Long, and McIntosh Counties), and then into  Indian Lands that later became part of Tattnall County, Georgia.

First, and starting in 1733, there were the non-English "Salzburgers" settlers in the area just North of Bryan County, i.e.,  a location called "Ebenezer," in what became Effingham County, Georgia. Soon afterward (in the 1740s), many who came into the area were English Mounted Rangers,  Scot-highlander soldiers, businessmen, and planters from Virginia and South Carolina. Included in this early wave of settlers were General Oglethorpe's original group of military soldiers who built and manned the First and Second Fort Argyle sites, as well as the first Ogeechee River settlements, just upstream from the mouth of the Canoochee River.

As more settlers trickled into Georgia they traveled through St. George Parish, i.e., from parts that make up present day Burke, Screven, and Bulloch counties. By the end of the 18th century -- and especially after the American Revolutionary War (circa 1776-1785), there was a flood of migrants into the area, with some settlers coming from as far away as the New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Northwestern Georgia Indian Lands.  Among this flood of settlers were  uprooted war refugees from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina ... who were starting their lives over -- after losing everything they had during the American Revolutionary War.

The roots of our early Bryan County settlers were in distant England, Scotland, Ireland, Austria, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Morovia, Portugal, Switzerland, and Italy. They traveled overland and by sea, i.e., through the English Province of South Carolina, and through the small port and town of Savannah. This sea of migrants spread out and into the surrounding English Parishes of Christ Church, St. Andrew, St. James, St. John, St. Matthew, St. Philip, and Eastern Georgia Indian Lands. After the Revolutionary War all of the English Colonial Georgia Parishes were abolished, counties were formed and reformed, and a number of the first settlers were cut into the present day Bryan County lands from nearby parts of the older Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, and Liberty Counties.

Today we must appreciate that our earliest pioneers ventured into what was then a wild, dangerous, and pristine wilderness. At best, it was an uncivilized  land . . . with hostile Native Americans (Indians).  There were no towns, roads, or bridges ... just ancient dirt trails that meandered through thick piney woods.  Some of the first settlers came alone, but the majority came with their wives and children. Those that came overland traveled in covered wagons - - pulled by oxen or plow horses - - or maybe by a mule or two -- carting everything they owned with them.

For labor the original and wealthier South Carolina rice planters of the coastal Ogeechee Neck area brought their black slaves with them -- even though slavery was prohibited in the English Province of Georgia. Those that came later and settled the interior part of the county never did have slaves ... and did all of the necessary hard labor using their own limbs, the muscles in their back, and a lot of grit in their souls. They labored long and hard hours to settle and clear the land. They slashed, burned, and  stumped large areas of the thick forest, to make the fields needed for farm animal grazing and crop planting.  Most built their own first shelters and dug wells for the fresh water supply needed for their family and farm animals. For so many, their first homes were sailcloth tents, or hastily and crudely built log huts.  Soon they built log homes, and within a few decades they built sound and finely finished homes.  It wasn't long after that there were clusters of homes, forming small communities . . . and as these communities in the woods grew larger, so evolved a number of small townships throughout the parish.

Painting of the old ancestral plantation home site of the Bird Family, Black Creek, Bryan County, Georgia

At the time it was a common to see whole families and their neighbors working the land ... side-by-side ... helping each other dig wells, construct homes,  outbuildings, fences, grist mills, carriage houses, watering ponds ... and cutting a web of paths and crude dirt roads throughout the thick woods.  In time they cut, stumped, and cleared more and more of the thick forests around them for more farm animal and cattle grazing , and crop fields.  As land was cleared, they planted fields of cotton, rice, sweet potatoes, indigo, peas, potatoes, and tobacco.  Just about every home site had a vegetable garden out back.  It was nothing for barefoot youngsters in the family to work from dawn to dusk, beside their parents ... all sharing in the long hours and hard work it took to establish themselves in the wilderness.

We only imagine how much these first Bryan County pioneers managed to accomplish in those first hundred years.  Soon they built and improved their town's dirt streets, their county's roads,  a Courthouse, a Jail, Schoolhouses, Churches, town and family cemeteries, river and creek bridges and landings.  To improve transportation, they dug a large network of canals and boat landings ... all along the banks of the Ogeechee and Canoochee Rivers, the river tributaries, and the backwater creeks.

Taking all of this in consideration, all that was accomplished was achieved by a special kind of people . . . a people who gave more than a fair share of their emotional and physical strength. Above all they made their dreams come true by giving their all, i.e.,  their blood . . . their sweat . . . their tears . . . and to be sure, a whole lot of human trials and tribulations. Like so many others in our new and blessed American nation, their efforts and sacrifices made a place in the wilderness for themselves and future generations in our area of Georgia. All said and done, these determined and courageous pioneers left their indelible hand and foot prints all over what is now our legacy, beautiful "Bryan County, Georgia."

Please appreciate that, unfortunately, there are many more names that rightfully belong on this list -- but they are not all known at this writing. These are the many settlers whose lands were cut out of the county as Georgia struggled to establish county lines in those first hectic and chaotic years following the American Revolutionary War.  Many of the original settlers remained loyal to the King of England during the Revolution, and had their homes and lands taken from them after the Revolutionary War ended.  Those that remained also found their home sites or their lands cut into an adjoining county ...  yet  still they worked crop lands and cattle herds within the bounds of Bryan County.

Also, let us never ever forget those early black slaves and the free blacks - - who, only through the accident of birth and circumstance of the times, provided the large labor force that worked the planted fields and county Government projects. Today there are no words to describe the human struggles within and from the bindings of slavery. They were, in fact, the majority of people that worked as our first field hands, road and ditch diggers, timber cutters and haulers, mill hands, waterway construction and maintenance laborers, cattle herders, horse groomers, boatmen, etc. For the prominent families, some of these slaves served in the household as personal valets, maids, cooks, butlers, gardeners, carriage drivers, housekeepers, and nursemaids to our infant ancestors. Can any of us ever forget those precious and beloved "Mammys," who nursed and raised so many of our ancestors when they were infants. All of those black slaves played a major role in everyday life . . . and they too are forever part of annals  of our heritage and Bryan County's pioneer history. They will be included in this list as their names become known.

It is with great pride, respect, appreciation, and dedication that we honor all of the following

"Pioneers of Bryan County, Georgia"

Information Sources

Most of the above names were originally extracted and compiled from microfilmed public "list" type documents, i.e., U.S. Census of 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, and 1880, Bryan County, Georgia, as found on microfilm in the Georgia Department of Archives and History, 330 Capitol Ave., SE, Atlanta, GA. 30334, and the Alabama Department of Archives and History, 624 Washington St., Montgomery, AL 35486.

Additional names were added as provided by other descendants, or when found in the materials listed below.

Example:   The most recent additions were made from a copy of the 1812 Bryan County, Georgia Tax List, as provided by Joyce McMurray in Internet Email jmc@centex.net, and disseminated over the Georgia Roots Web Mailing List GEORGIA-L@rootsweb.com on February 20, 1999.

In the event any author or publisher of genealogical material feels that there exists an "original work" and Copyright infringement on this "factual" and "public" information, please practice common and professional courtesy and bring it to my attention. I will, in good faith and with good intention, immediately take corrective action - - if in fact "non-public" information is involved and an infringement does exist due to the use of materials they alone originated. [Please see my web page on Copyright concerns.]

Listed below are books that contain some of our family genealogy and related historical facts. I feel that these books were obviously produced on a "labor of love" and "gratitude" basis. Should the reader desire more detailed information on our Bryan County settlers, the copyrighted materials listed below were purchased by the compiler and found to contain a lot of information on one or more of the surnames, individuals, ancestors, or descendants listed above. If you interested and able to do so, I recommend that you obtain copies of these publications for your own home library and for the information of your family.

1.   “Seeds of a Saxon, William Wise (1744-1816) of Bulloch County, Georgia, Ancestors, Descendants, and Allied Family Members,” Family Heritage Publishers,  SLC,  585 pages, 2005,  as compiled, edited and privately published by John F. Wise, et al.

2. "The Shuman Family Genealogy & Allied Families," 1994, 467 pp., as compiled as a labor of love for our families by Mrs. Earlene Shuman Geiger, Mrs. Carolyn Barber Jarrard, Mrs. Euna Mae Priester Futch, and Mrs. Alene English Knaeble, Copies of this excellent book can be obtained from Mrs. Carolyn B. Jarrard.

3. "The Mitchell Family from Bulloch County, Georgia, Uriah & Elizabeth Mitchell and Their Descendants," by Alfred W. Chassereau and Janie Mitchell Bourgeois, 1994, 499 pp. Copies of this excellent book can be obtained from Mr. Alfred W. Chassereau.

4. "Sims Families from Coastal Georgia 1790-1996, Descendants of Jacob Sims and Martha Brown Sims and Related Families," 1996, 414 pp., as compiled and written by Alfred W. Chassereau. Copies of this excellent book can be obtained from Mr. Alfred W. Chassereau

5. "Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia," by the late Honorable Judge Folks Huxford and the Huxford Genealogical Society, Inc., of Homerville, Clinch County, Georgia, 10 Volumes. Copies of this excellent set of books can be obtained from the Huxford Genealogical Society, Inc., P.O. Box 595, Homerville, GA 31634.

6. "Sweet Land of Liberty, A History of Liberty County, Georgia," by Robert Long Groover, 1987. Copies of this excellent book can be obtained from W. H. Wolfe Associates, P.O. Box 972, Roswell, GA 30077.

7. "Everett/Everett Family, A Genealogical History," by the late Alvaretta Kenan Register (1907-1985), Certified Genealogist, and David Foley, Ph.D., Editor, 1987, 520 pp. Copies of this excellent book can be obtained from James A. Dorsey, of   Gainesville, GA.

8. "Once Upon A Time in Tattnall County, Georgia," by Charles Edward Wildes, 416 pp., 1990. Copies of this excellent book can be obtained from Mr. Charles E. Wildes, of Claxton, GA.

9. "Life in Old Bulloch, The Story of a Wiregrass County in Georgia ~ 1796-1940," by Dorothy Brannen (deceased), 1992. Copies of this excellent book can be obtained from the Statesboro Regional Library, Statesboro, Bulloch County, Georgia.

10. "Taylor's Creek 1760-1986, A Story of the Community and Her People," A Project of Taylor's Creek Cemetery Association, Second Edition, as edited by Bird and Paul Yarbrough, 1986, 761pp. Copies of this excellent book can be obtained from Wyman E. May, of Hinesville, GA.

11.  Early Court Records - "First Settlers of Bryan County," by Frances T. Ingmire.

12. "Beulah Baptist Church" [Pembroke, GA.], as compiled by Earline Shuman Geiger and Julia Dukes Hodges, et al, 1998. Copies of this excellent document can be obtained from Mrs. Earline Geiger, of Pembroke, GA.

13. Lower Black Creek Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery Survey, 49 pp., as compiled by Alfred W. Chassereau, August, 1998. Copies of this excellent booklet can be obtained from my cousin Al Chassereau, of Savannah, GA.

14. From Beautiful Zion to Red Bird Creek, A History of Bryan County, Georgia,  436 pp., as commissioned and published by the Bryan County, Georgia. Board of Commissioners, and as researched, compiled, and written by Mr. Buddy Sullivan, 2000. Copies of this recently published and excellent history of the county can be obtained from the Bryan County Board of Commissioners, P.O. Box 430, Pembroke, Bryan County, Georgia. 31321 (Telephone: (912) 653-3819. This compiler highly recommends that all descendants of Bryan County pioneers read and possess a copy of this book in their home. It contains, without any doubt, the best rendering and comprehensive overview to date on Bryan County's earliest history - - including the names of the County's first settlers and planters.

This web page is being compiled for the people of Bryan County, Georgia by John F. Wise, of Montgomery, Alabama. Although John was born in "Greenpernt" Brooklyn, New York City, we all make allowances for that and forgive him.  John's Burke, Screven, Bulloch, Chatham, Bryan, Effingham, Liberty, Ware, Brantley, and Tattnall County old timey family roots and connections are so overwhelming that we find it impossible to deny that he is one of us.

Through his father, John is a direct descendant of Tattnall County's JOHN STRICKLAND JR. (c1749-1838); Bulloch County's WILLIAM WISE (1744-1816), WILLIAM BATCHELOR DENMARK JR. (c1740-c1805), ONESIMUS FUTCH SR. (c1735-c1831), JAMES MARTIN SR. (b.1756), and THOMAS PETER STAFFORD (c1718-c1805); Bryan County's BURGEON BIRD (1707-1773), LEMUEL HARVEY (c1740-1797), JOHN MORRELL (c1735-1792), and ABRAHAM HOBBS (c1755-1819); and Liberty County's WILLIAM R. O'STEEN (c1745-c1818). Although unproven at this writing, John is also thought to be linked to Effingham County's ABRAHAM JONES (c1688-1757).

If you ever have the pleasure of meeting John, it will become obvious that he has the same Ogeechee and Canoochee River genes we all have in us. John is not, and makes no claim to be a professional researcher or genealogist - - but is doing this as a labor of love for the "family" that up until May of 1976 he never knew he had.

John served and retired from the U.S. Air Force, retired again from the Unisys Corporation, and now lives near his daughters and grandchildren in Montgomery, Alabama. Through his father and clear back to his ggggg-grandparents John descends from or is related to almost all of our  old timey "Beulahland" Georgia settlers. He considers it a humbling experience, an honor,  and a pleasure to compile this web page for his Georgia "cousins" and for the people of Bryan County, Georgia.   

Do We Need To Add or Change Something?

All additions and corrections to the above list are welcome. If you know of a Bryan County pioneer that should be on this list, please send details to John so he can make sure they are honored. John asks that all interested parties help him in his special effort to identify the pioneer wives, since there is so little documented on these courageous and enduring women. We can only imagine the hardships these pioneer women experienced to keep their families and their home front going.  Also, many of you have entries in old family Bibles, Wills, and other documents  that identify black slaves and free black laborers. Their names are sought to make sure they too are honored . . . and to make sure the above list is as complete as humanly possible.

Please feel free to critique my work, and/or send additions, corrections, and suggestions to me at my E-mail address:

  jfwise@bellsouth.net