Tombstone Tuesday: Hannah Bryan (1770 - 1841)

Since I voted today in a Primary election, I figured I'd start my Tombstone Tuesday posts with this one because it was one that lead me to my Presidential relation, President Lincoln.

New grave marker for Hannah Bryan

Obviously, this grave marker isn't from 1841.  I'm not certain when this one was installed but according to Find A Grave their original stones were trodden on by cows and so their ancestors replaced them.

Photo of original headstone for Hannah McDaniel

Hannah is the daughter of Benjamin Bryan and Lydia Lincoln (Lydia was the sister of Abraham Lincoln - the grandfather of the President of the same name).  So, through Hannah, President Lincoln is my 2nd cousin 6x removed.  Which I find pretty cool.

But, besides that fact, I find that the life of Henry and Hannah very interesting.  One of my goals this year is to trace more of their life.  They were both born in Virginia and Henry fought during the Revolutionary War (it's also the anniversary of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse - which Henry participated in and his company stayed behind to help with the wounded).
They were married after the war and lived for a while in an area of Virginia which is now West Virginia before moving up to Ohio around 1810.  The Gallia County Genealogical Society lists Henry as one of the First Families since they were living there before 1821.

I actually got to visit this family cemetery a few years ago when we were travelling to a friends wedding up in Michigan.  We just happened to pass through Gallia county and the name rang a bell and so we stopped back through on the way back home which was really kind of cool (I didn't realize it at the time but my great-uncle still lives in Galliopolis).

We also quickly stopped by the library and found a folder/book full of genealogical research someone had done on this family that we were able to scan - I'm still going through all of that information!  Make sure to stop by libraries in the areas where your ancestors have lived because you never know what might be squirreled away in archives or in their genealogical sections.

McDaniel's Crossroads - Walnut Township, Ohio