Subject: Bright & Dill Families Greenville Co., SC Early 1800s From: Dennis Smith Date: September 03, 1998 Hello Everyone, This is a stab in the dark but I believe I "might" have a Bright ancestor. My ggreat-grandmother, Susan A. DILL was born 10 Oct 1832 in Greenville Co., SC and died 10 Dec 1912 in Abbeville Co., SC. She married Franklin Esque BOWIE on 9 Mar 1852. Their second son was named William Bright Dill Bowie. I wondered how they were able to meet until I noticed that in the 1850 Census of Abbeville District, SC, where Franklin appeared in his father's household #2233 , there was a Bright Dill, household # 2225. Bright Dill is aged 30 and too young to be Susan's father but he is an Overseer and appears to have moved to the neighborhood (Cokesbury) from the Greenville area. He was probably related and since he already had six children by 1850, she might have been providing household help when she met Franklin. In this same 1850 census, Susan A. DILL is living in Greenville District, SC in the household of a Millford HOWARD # 335. According to a history of Greenville, SC, the Howard and Dill families were among those who had settled in the Northern part of the county before the American Revolution. According to "Cabins in the Laurel", a Samuel BRIGHT had the first homestead in the Toe River Valley of NC. He received a grant for 640 acres near Humpback Mt.. 15 Mar 1780. It mentions a Bright's Spring and a Bright's Trace. Another researcher has suggested that Samuel Bright either came from or through the Greenville, SC area before he moved into NC. A Bowie family history book, "Where the Brambles Bloom", states that Susan A. Dill was of "American Indian extraction". The same researcher mentioned above thought that she remembered hearing of an early Bright in the Greenville Area who married an Indian. She was not a Bright researcher. I would like to find parents for Susan and would appreciate any information on Brights in Early Greenville Co. A DILL/BRIGHT marriage would be a very nice clue. Go To: #, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, Main |