First Generation1. William Iley Brian1,2,3 was born on 2 May 1735 in County Cork, Ireland.1 He died in 1808 in Cheraw District, Darlington County, South Carolina.1 "William Brian (Jr) was born in Ireland on May 2, 1735 and emigrated to South Carolina in the early eighteenth century, settled on the Great Pee Dee River in the Darlington District, and in 1754 married the widow Crocker, whose maiden name was Sarah Williamson, originally from North Carolina. (The Plains and the People, by Virginia Lobdell Jennings). "Revolutionary War records show William and Hardy, his son, owned land in Craven County, North Carolina during the first part of the Revolution. They fought first with units from North Carolina and then later with South Carolina units. "The British overran their farm, destroyed their home and ruined the crops. In spite of the devastation, William and Sarah returned to their home in northern South Carolina after Cornwall is retreated. It was there they lived the remainder of their lives and there they were buried." "The name as we spell it is a rare family name in America but quite common in Ireland and Scotland for the past several hundred years. Webster gives it as the name of early Irish kings who migrated to Scotland and settled there in the early days, and students of family names list it as a Scottish word in spelling and pronunciation. There is some foundation for this theory in the history of our family. The Brians are notoriously clannish, proud of their family, their blood and their name. This trait has reached out among the sons and daughters of the family until quite often you find a Hastings, an Aynesworth, a McQuiddy, or a Jones much more interested in the family tree of his or her mother than they are of their father's side of the family. There is a driving urge for this fact the history of the family in whatever locality is the history of that community's political and professional life. Professional men have dominated every branch of the family and few branches fail to produce doctors, lawyers, teachers, and ministers, with a sprinkling of scientists and philosophers. Such a man was Hardy Lee Brian (son of Benjamin Franklin Brian, a half-brother of Iley Marion Brian). Hardy was possessed of one of the most brilliant minds of the past decade and a photographic memory. He made it his business all of his living days to improve that great gift in the search after truth, and died with a man's greatest obtainable possession: a knowledge that he understood at least a portion of that divine wisdom it is give to few mortals to know. The history of the family is also closely bound into the building of America. Their love of country and patriotism is a legend that is put into effect as a matter of course. Every war, from Washington to Roosevelt, has claimed their abilities and as far as I know every Brian who was ever on a military roll was a volunteer. We have it that: Three Irish brothers settled in the Carolinas before the Revolutionary War. One of them (our direct line sire) fought with General Marion (the famous "swamp fox" ) and named his first son Marion (hence the name Marion has been handed down through the family for generations). It was the second name of our father, Iley Marion Brian. The last of the family to bear it is Francis Marion Brian, Jr., son of Francis Marion Brian, M.D., and grandson of Nathaniel Moreland Brian, M.D. "It is thought that one of the brothers settled in South Carolina as the name, without corruption, is still fairly common there today. It is possible that the descendents of another brother migrated into the mountains of Tennessee, and it is possible that the Bryans are our mountain cousins. It is possible that William Jennings Bryan was a cousin of Iley Marion Brian, our father. They met in Alexandria, Louisiana, in the early part of the century and their resemblance and mannerisms were so similar that it was remarkable. Iley arrived first and the crowd, including the master of ceremonies, mistook him for William Jennings Bryan who was to be the speaker. William Jennings was quite pleased and he and Iley exchanged family histories at the time. "Be that it may it is an interesting sidelight and mentioned here as such and not as a claim to greatness. Our family has enough of that. There is no dearth of prominent men among us." William Iley Brian and Sarah Jane Williamson were married on 21 June 1754 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.1,4 Sarah Jane Williamson was born on 8 October 1727 in Darlington County, South Carolina.4 She died in 1810 in South Carolina.1,4 Gwendolyn Walker has date of death as 15 Mar 1780 in Society Hill, Darlington County, South Carolina. William Iley Brian-1819 and Sarah Jane Williamson-1820 had the following children:
| ||||||||||||