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LT. JOHN BRYANT1
of Plympton, Ma.
There has been a persistent error by some of the early
compilers in trying to identify
Lt. John Bryant of Plympton, Ma., who married Abigail, daughter of
Stephen Bryant Sr. of
Plymouth, Ma., with that of John Bryant Jr., the son of John Sr. of
Scituate, Ma. It can
now be shown that these two were two distinct persons, and the
assumption that they were
the same, is in error.
Lewis Bradford, the town clerk of Plympton, 1812 to 1851, was partly to
blame for
this misunderstanding, for it was he who said in some of his notes,
that Lt. John Bryant of
Plympton, was the son of John Bryant Sr. of Scituate, Ma. This error
was taken as fact by
those whom compiled their genealogies by using the old Plympton records
and the works
of the early compilers. The use of this error has resulted in the
descendants of John Sr. of
Scituate, merging with the descendants of Stephen Sr. of Plymouth, and
I can find no
evidence to show that this ever happened.
The Scituate town records show that John Sr. and Mary (Lewis) did in
fact have a
son by the name of John. But, this John, according to the records,
lived in Scituate,
married Mary Battellie, raised a family and died there on Jan 20, 1708,
never leaving. on
the other hand, the Plymouth and Plympton records do not show a John
& Mary Battellie,
but do show a Lt. John and Abigail Bryant, the daughter of Stephen
Bryant Sr. of
Plymouth as being married and having issue being born there.
When one compares the Scituate records with that of the Plymouth
& Plympton
records, they will find the two Johns both married and having issue
being born at about the
same time. Lt. John and Abigail lived in the western section of
Plymouth, which in 1707
became incorporated as Plympton. Not having their own church until
1695, all birth were
originally recorded in Plymouth, and later transferred over to the
Plympton records.
To further show that the two John’s were not the same, we
find in 1718, 10 years
after the death of the so-called Lt. John of Scituate, a Lt. John of
Plympton, selling his farm
to his youngest son Benjamin, for a promissory note of 400 pounds. The
John of Scituate
did not have a son by the name of Benjamin.
It should be noted that this error was first pointed out in 1881 by
William B.
Lapham in his article, “Lt. John Bryant of
Plymouth”, than in 1972 by Harold S. Bryant in
his article on the Poet, William Cullen Bryant, and again in 1983 by
Robert C. Bryant in
his edition of “John Bryant of Scituate, Massachusetts and
his Descendants”.
I have included a SURNAME INDEX
to help you find whom you want to locate. Have fun and if you find any
errors please let me know. Your more than welcome to add to what I have
here or to fill in some of the missing blanks.
Surname
Index
This site created
and maintained by Craig E. Bryant using