BRYAN, GEORGE, was born Feb. 15, 1758, in North Carolina. He went, or may have been taken by his parents, to Virginia, and from there to Kentucky with Daniel Boone, about 1780. There he either founded, or by his bold daring as a leader, gave the name to a primative fortification called Bryant's Station, in what became Fayette county, Ky., a few miles from where the city of Lexington was afterwards established. It will be observed that in applying the name to the fortification a letter has been added, making the name Bryant, which is erroneous. There is a tradition preserved by his descendants, that soon after the fort was established, the young women belonging to the families connected with it were washing clothes at a stream of running water on the outside of the stockade. George Bryan and some of the other young men stood guard. Not being apprehensive of danger, they permitted the Indians to place themselves between the girls and the fort. The guard quickly secured a position between the girls and the savages, and a skirmish ensued. After making the way clear, Bryan, in a loud voice, announced that he would marry the girl who would enter the fort first. They all escaped, and he, true to his word, after gaining the consent of the young lady, was married in the fall of 1781 to Elizabeth Ragan, who was born in 1760, in South Carolina. Mr. Bryan always claimed that it was first marriage of a white couple in what became the State of Kentucky. That was before the era of mills in that region of country, and his descendants have handed down the statement, in connection with the wedding festival, that he paid ten dollars for a bushel of corn meal, to make bread for the occasion. They had at least raised one crop, and Mr. Bryan rolled pumpkins into the fort as a substitute for chairs to seat the guests. They had ten or eleven children, four of them sons, and Mrs. Bryan died. Mr. Bryan was married in 1829, to Mrs. Cassandra Miller, who died in Kentucky, in 1833. In 1834 Mr. Bryan came to Sangamon county with some of his children and grand-children. Of his children, who came to this county--

NICHOLAS, born March 24, 1794, in Bourbon county, Ky. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was in the battle of New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1815. Soon after the close of the war, and within that year, he was married in his native county to Mary Delay Scott, who was born there Dec. 24, 1800. They had four children in Kentucky, and came to Sangamon county in 1833, settling in what is now Woodside township. Their son GEO., born in 1818, in Kentucky, married near Elkhart, Logan county, Ill., in 1839, moved to Texas and died there, leaving two children. ELIZA C., born Feb. 17, 1820, in Bourbon county, Ky., married July 25, 1837, near Springfield, Ill., to James Taylor. See his name. MARY J., born May 22, 1822, in Bourbon county, Ky., married in 1840 in Springfield, Ill., to Milton H. Wash. See his name. ROBERT A., born July 13, 1833, in Kentucky, married in Springfield, Ill., to Hannah Sperry. She died, and his residence is unknown, but it is somewhere South. Mrs. Mary D. Bryan died Dec. 25, 1843, in Springfield, Ill., and Nicholas Bryan was married in 1845 to Adelia Trumbull. They had one child, BRYANAH, and moved to the Pacific coast. Nicholas Bryan died in 1855, in San Jose, Santa Clara county, Cal., leaving his widow and daughter there.

MELINDA W., born April 11, 1797, in Bourbon county, Ky., married there in 1815 to Abraham Todd, who was born in Woodford county, Ky., in 1792. They had three children in Kentucky, and Mr. Todd died. Mrs. Todd married Thomas P. Pettus. See his name. Mr. Pettus and wife, with her three daughters by the first marriage, came to Sangamon county in 1838, and settled near what is now Woodside Station. Of the three children, ELIZA J. TODD, born April 29, 1816, in Woodford county, Ky., married in Sangamon county, April 16, 1840, to Stephen S. Ferrell. They have a family, and reside at Boscobel, Grant county, Wis. MARY A. TODD born Jan. 12, 1819, in Woodford county, Ky., married Aug. 12, 1835, in Sangamon county, to Thomas B. Morris. They have children, and reside near Wyoming, Iowa county, Wis. ANNA MARIA TODD, born Jan. 19, 1823, in Woodford county, Ky., married in Sangamon county to John B. Wolgamot. See his name. Also, see T. P. Pettus.

POLLY, born Aug. 20, 1797, in Bourbon county, Ky., married there to Thomas Jones. See his name. She died in Kentucky, but her family came to Sangamon county.

When George Bryan came to Sangamon county, in 1834, he was in his seventy-sixth year, but he continued visiting Kentucky, riding each way on horseback, annually for eleven years. He died Nov. 22, 1845, and was buried near Woodside Station, Sangamon county. He was eighty-seven years, nine months and seven days old.

It seems almost incredible that a man who was of sufficient age to have been a soldier in the American Revolution, and who took an active part in the stirring scenes of the frontier settlements in the second State admitted to the American Union, should have become an early settler of Sangamon county, and witnessed some of its earliest strides towards civilization: but the life of George Bryan extended over this long and eventful period. His grandson, William T. Jones, has a great fund of reminiscences of the life of his grandfather Bryan, as he received them from the lips of the venerable patriarch while living. I can only give place to two incidents, both of which occurred in Kentucky.

On one occasion, when the forests were swarming with hostile Indians, Mr. Bryan, with six other men, left the Station for a scouting expedition. Proceeding cautiously, they had gone but two or three miles when the seven white men were fired upon by just twice their number of Indians, who lay in ambush until the white men were very near them. The Indians were good marksmen with bows and arrows, but they had not been sufficiently accustomed to fire-arms to become expert in using them. In their haste they overshot their marks, and never hurt a man. The advantage would then have been decidedly in favor of the whites, but at this juncture three of the latter, supposing there was a large force of Indians, took to flight. The other three, with Bryan at their head, each took to a tree, and commenced firing at the Indians. The fight continued the whole day, and as the sun was sinking to rest, it was discovered that there were but two men on each side in fighting condition: the chief on one side, and Bryan on the other, with a single man each. The others were all killed or severely wounded. A parley ensued, which ended in an agreement that the one subordinate on each side should cease hostilities, for the purpose of taking care of the dead and wounded, and that the two leaders should fight until one or the other conquered. Each kept behind a tree, with his gun loaded, while they were parleying, and when ready to renew hostilities, each called the other by every epithet expressing cowardice that they could respectively command, and each dared the other to come out and engage in open combat. As it was growing dark, Bryan put his cap on the end of his ramrod, and moved it from the tree as though he was very cautiously preparing to shoot. The Indian fired at the cap, and finding himself deceived, he ran in a zig-zag course, cautiously looking back until he thought himself at a safe distance, when he took to a tree and began to load his rifle. The moment the chief fired, Bryan sprang from his tree, and, instead of following direct, he ran at an angle of about forty-five degrees from the course of the Indian, and was soon out of the line where the latter expected to see him. Bryan thus had the Indian in plain view, while the latter thought himself secure. As the chief raised both arms to ram down the load, Bryan fired, the ball entering under one arm, it passed out under the other, and he fell dead. His clothes were covered with silver brooches and other ornaments, that were kept in the families of Bryan's descendants for many years.

As the increasing number of the whites convinced the Indians that they must eventually give way, they became less hostile. About this time Bryan and a comrade spent several weeks in hunting, and had taken a large number of skins and furs. While the two were alone in camp, a considerable number of Indians encamped near them; and very soon two of the Indians came to their camp, and, without the least ceremony, commenced opening and examining the goods belonging to the two white men. Mr. Bryan made up his mind that the result of their winter's work was lost, for if the Indians chose to take their goods, it would be madness to resist with such odds against them. Unknown to Bryan, his partner was an expert in legerdemain, and the thought occurred to him that the Indians might be driven off by some deceptive movement. He asked one of the savages for his butcher knife, and at once went through all the motions of swallowing it. The other Indian handed out his knife, which was swallowed with violent contortions. The two hurried away to their own camp, and soon returned with their chief, who held in his hand a much larger knife, having a very rough buck-horn handle, with a born spike about three inches long at one side. The white man shook his head, make signs that the knife was too large, that the little horn on the side of the handle would be more than he could swallow. They insisted, and he made signs that he would try. He then indulged in contortions so violent as to bring tears to his eyes; but the knife disappeared. The red men felt of his body, and came so near finding where the knives were hidden, that he thought it would be safer to return them, and commenced casting up and handing each Indian his knife. They, one after another, received their knives, each taking his own very carefully by the point, between the thumb and finger, would smell of it, make a wry face, and throw it on the ground. The three savages withdrew together, leaving their knives where they had fallen, and before morning the whole company, afraid to steal anything else, stole themselves away.

Having said so much about his pioneer life, in which he was brought in contact with wild beasts, savages, and white men unused to the restrains of civilized life as we now enjoy it, would probably lead the reader to infer that he was a rough and harsh man; but such was not the case. He embraced christianity in early life, and was one of the most steadfast supporters of the ordinances of religion. He aided in building a Baptist church at Bryan Station, which a grand-daughter of his, now living in Springfield, visited in 1860, and found it still in use. He was a member of that church, and worshipped there as long as he remained in Kentucky. He always held family worship, in which the colored servants were expected to unite.

He continued the practice to the day of his death.