Mary Ann Green b. abt 1793 NC; d. 1853 Lee, GA– searching for information
Okay readers, I am stumped. My current brick wall is my 3rd great-grandmother: Mary Ann Green. I need help! Is there anyone who can provide additional information to the skimpy records I have? The surname “Green” has proven to be quite difficult to trace. Y-DNA67 testing of the male in this lineage has not been of value either. The closest matches are a genetic distance of 2 at the 25-marker level. Autosomal test results haven’t proven helpful either.
Mary Ann Green was supposedly born around 1793 in either Wake, North Carolina or Jefferson, Georgia to – maybe—Thomas Green Sr (b.1770 – ) and Ann Haslip (1771 – 1848). She died 08 Nov 1853 in Lee, Georgia.
I believe Mary Ann to have married Needham Bryan IV, my 3rd great-grandfather (b. abt. 1789, Burke, GA – d. 1852, Lee, GA).
Existing is a marriage record for a Mary Ann A. M. Harris who married Needham Bryan on 23 Dec 1819 in Jefferson, GA. But I’m looking for Mary Ann Green, not Harris.
There is also a marriage record for a Mary Greene who married Isaac Harris on 12 Nov 1807 in Jefferson, GA.
So, if Mary Ann Green/Greene FIRST married Isaac Harris (who is believed to have died 1816, three years before the marriage to Needham Bryan), then she could have been the Mary Ann Harris marrying Needham Bryan. But why all the way up in Jefferson county, Georgia? By 1860, a census record indicates Mary A. Bryan and Needham Bryan were living in Lee, Georgia. Lee county is way south of Jefferson county. There is a possibility that she was born further north, for example up in North Carolina and met her husbands as she was heading south.
Two items of information that help me: first is a marriage record for the older sister of Mary Ann – Sarah Green (b. abt. 1791, GA – d. 1853, Sumter, GA), who married Josiah Scrutchin in Jefferson, Georgia. So there’s a history of this family getting married in Jefferson! Brothers, Shepherd Green and Benjamin Green, also got married in Jefferson county. Shepherd is listed as head of household in the Jefferson county censuses of 1820 and 1830. So this family must have resided in Jefferson for at least ten years, though no one seems to have been born or died there.
I don’t have valid information on her supposed father, Thomas Green Sr. He may have been born in Virginia, though the most common belief is Burke, Georgia. He is believed to have died in 1821, but records don’t substantiate this. Some researchers have him listed as dying in Jefferson, Georgia but I have yet to find a record supporting this thought. There is also a Thomas Green who died in Kentucky, though I don’t believe this to be the correct Thomas Green.
Comments anyone?
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If this research is of interest to you and/or you descend from the Green line—especially if you can fill in my research holes on the life of Mary Ann Green, please reach out and let me know. I would welcome hearing from you.
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Do you have the Green-Bryan-Hooks-Clay family history on pages 370-372 of the History of Sumter County, GA? It has info on your Green family. I can scan the pages to pdf file for you.
Hi Lori– I vaguely remember seeing it in the past but I’m not sure that I have a copy. I would love one. Thank you! Julie
I am also a descendant of Shepherd Greene
Pryor and Lucinda Scrutchins. Shep Pryor’s mother was Mary Green. Her sister was Sarah Jane. I, too, have had trouble getting past thei parents.
I was drawn to your page in search for Edmund Mathis (1719-1783) and would love to know more. However, another brick wall I am encountering is my 3xgreat grandfather Green Berry Lee (1799-1869) born in Georgia, died in McKenzie AL. *I just recently visited the grave!
I realize this is almost 3 years later from your original post, but I too have Needham & Mary as my 3rd great-grandparents. I have bible records of John W Bryan, son of Needham with quite a bit of information on all of Needham and Mary’s children as well as pics of the grave markers from the Chokee district land. Please reach out to me if you are still chasing information on these people.
I’m always still chasing info! I’d love to see what you have. Thanks for reaching out.
I have a PowerPoint I have made with much of my research on Needham Bryan & Mary Green children with pics of documents and graves as well as some descendants. Their 6 children are:
John W. Bryan m. Sarah Jackson
Benjamin Bryan m. Nancy
Thomas Green Bryan m. Martha Hooks
Moses W. Bryan m. Permalia Outlaw
Harriett Bryan m. Peter Laramore
Elmina Bryan m. John Louis Laramore
John W. Bryan is my g-g-grandfather
I have Bryan Y-DNA submitted with FamilyTree and I have been chasing the parentage of this Needham Bryan for nearly 20 years with nothing that can be verified or validated as of yet. I have the Sumter County book with the Green family history (oral and secondary) that states Needham and Mary were first cousins (Needham’s mother being Sarah Green Bryan and Mary’s father being Thomas Green) but no verifying documents. I would love to share information between us if it could move this forward some. Where is your connection in this line? I also have my own and siblings DNA with Ancestry as well. Do you have any DNA testing on file?
I’d be happy to chat more about this line. Yes, I am DNA tested. I’ll send you an email to this email listed here. Julie
I’m also resurrecting this thread. My ancestor was Shepherd Green through his son James! He also moved to Lee Co with his second wife, Alice Spivey, and they are buried there. So you’re not crazy, it seems like a good chunk of the people in eastern GA moved to the western side when it became available (I see a large surname migration).
I have been doing research into his parents, and I don’t believe that Thomas and Ann were their parents. I have been researching the Greens that lived in Burke/Screven as well – using land warrants. The names I see on tax assessments in Jefferson CO starting at its formation in 1796 through the 1830s are John, John Jr, Benjamin, Shepherd.. and eventually Thomas appearing in that order- which makes me think Thomas and Ann Hayslip aren’t related to our Greens. The most intriguing evidence I have for this is this land warrant
https://vault.georgiaarchives.org/digital/collection/looseplats/id/6036
1801 – “Benjamin Green son of John Green.” in Burke Co GA with the SW border laying along “new Jefferson Co Line” Side note: Some Burke Co surveys are available on Virtual Vault, the Jefferson Surveys are located on FamilySearch, and I always have better luck finding stuff in their unindexed image catalog vs their regular search.
When he had it surveyed, Shepherd Greens property lay on the Jefferson side of the Burke/Jefferson line. It was adjacent to Henry Green which is a name I hadn’t seen before. I haven’t been able to map out the properties yet to see if they’re truly adjacent but it is a future project.
I had originally thought that John was Shepherds father and Benjamin was his brother (there are several Johns… I, II, and III, that show up in the name index in the virtual vault as well. I haven’t gotten around to picking those apart yet) but given that I know that Shepherd was born around 1798 it’s possible that Benjamin could have been his father?
I am DNA tested but more importantly.. my Grandmother was! Shepherd was her 3rd GG – she is on Ancestry and Gedmatch. I would love to know if we match up with you and Ruth who posted above as also a descendant of Shepherd– seeing as the only adult child I have for him is my ancestor James (he and Alice had another child that died as a child. I’ve never seen proof of a surviving child of his first wife). But I’ve used DNA to find lost siblings on another of my brick wall lines so it’s always a pleasure to have DNA introduce new cousins!
I realize this comment may be a little disjointed since I’m basically knee deep in this research with nothing definitive yet. I can probably better explain it in an email so I can focus on one bit at a time. You can email me at kathleen . leo (at) gmail
I’ll look at records and get back with you! Thanks for chiming in.
From memory, I believe there was a Needham Bryan in Johnston County, NC maybe around 1780 to 1800 time frame. Possibly ancestor of the one who migrated to Lee County, GA. Just a thought for further research potential.