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Show Who Are You? & The Romance of Your Name By RUBY HASKINS ELLIS A Bryan ? THE meaning of this name is "dignity or honor," taken from the Gaelic word "bri" and people In every generation and country who have borne the name have lived up to the responsibility Imposed Im-posed upon them. There were many Bryans to come to this country during the early days of colonization and also at later la-ter periods. Most of these settlers were Irish but there Is record of one Alexander l',ryan who came from England and settleu In .Water-town, .Water-town, Mass., in 1GGS. lie first located lo-cated in Milford, Conn., where he served as governor's assistant. George Bryan (1730-91), son of Samuel Bryan, of Dublin, Ireland, settled In Philadelphia. He was a prominent figure In the Revolutionary Revolution-ary period, being an active member of the Stamp Act congress, chief lawmaker of Pennsylvania and father fa-ther of the Pennsylvania constitution constitu-tion of 1776. He was an ardent agitator agi-tator of the emancipation of the negro slaves ; served as president of the executive council and justice of the Supreme court. There were also Irish Bryans who were descendants of the nobility, living In Virginia earlier than 1700. Also Joseph Bryan, of England, who married Jeannette Cochrane and came to America In 1700 and settled in South Carolina. There are many descendants of these Bryans in the Southern states today. No attempt Is made to connect the lineage of the families given In so short a sketch but It is probable that they were remotely related. There have been many Bryans In public life in recent times, who have and are still maintaining the "dignity "dig-nity and honor" of the family name, both In their private lives and In public achievement. The late William Jennings Bryan, one of the best known public figures fig-ures of modern times, was a worthy bearer of this splendid name; a living exponent of the Bryan motto, "fortis et fidelis." The arms shown above were granted to George F. Bryan, of Albany, Al-bany, N. X., in 1S76. A Peyton? THE first known person who used the name of Peyton was Reginald de Peyton, who lived In Bozford, England, in the Twelfth century. Following him,, there was several generations of Peytons In this section of England, who distinguished distin-guished themselves for their deeds of valor and positions of honor. One of them was the crusader, Sir John de Peyton, who lived In the latter part of the Twelfth century. A later la-ter descendant, In 1498, was Sir Robert de Peyton, high sheriff of Cambridge, England. He married Frances Caithorpe and through them the Peytons claim royal lineage. line-age. Sir Christopher Peyton was Auditor Audi-tor of Ireland during the reign of James L Major Robert Peyton, a son of Thomas Peyton, of Roughan county, coun-ty, Norfolk, England, wa3 one of the first Peytons to land on American Ameri-can shores. He came to Virginia In 1070, where he settled, and called his estate "Iselham," from the family fam-ily home In Cambridge, England. Major Robert was a loyal supporter of the colonies and was the founder of the Gloucester county (Virginia) Peytons. Colonel Valentine Peyton, also a distinguished Virginia Peyton, Pey-ton, was tlie founder of the West-morelands West-morelands and Stafford county I branches. Public Ledger, Ino. WNTJ Servlo. |