The Bryant Family
The Bryant family was one of the
first to settle in the Pacolet area. It is believed that
the first of the Bryant family came to the Pacolet
vicinity about 1770.
The early Bryant home was still standing until recently
in Central Pacolet. It was said to be the oldest
structure in Pacolet. At one time, the house was used as
the Post Office for the area and the vicinity around it
was called Bryantsville. The early Bryant family was
related by marriage to the Tollesons that started Tolleson’s Tavern. The family
thrived and expanded and there are many Bryant
descendents in the Pacolet area today. There is still a
Bryant Family Cemetery in Central Pacolet just off
Spruce Street.
One of the family, Reuben
Bryant, was involved in bringing the rail road to
Pacolet and helping start the town of Pacolet Station.
The Civil War and Reconstruction were not kind to the
Bryant family. James Richardson and two of his sons,
Roland and George, served in the Confederate army. James
and Roland were in Company E of the 13th Regiment of the
South Carolina Infantry. Roland was killed at the battle
of Gettysburg and James died of sickness in Richmond.
George survived the War and lived to return home to
Pacolet.
James left his surviving widow and a houseful of
children at his farm in Pacolet. Not long after the War
the family, led by the George, decided to leave the
Pacolet area and go west for a better life. This
migration happened in 1867. Many other local Pacolet
families joined the group. One of George’s sisters,
Missouri Texana (Annie) Bryant, remembered this trip. At
the time of the trip, she was 12 years old. She told it
to her daughter when she was an old lady. The daughter,
Beulah O’Neil Foster, wrote the story her Mom told her
and it was called “Little Tex” - after Texana. The story
can be read on this website at “Little Tex”. The story
is very interesting in that it tells about conditions in
Pacolet before the trip as well as the details of the
trip. The story goes on to tell Annie’s life story along
with many of her relatives. The story shows how fragile
and difficult life could be back in that time. People,
particularly children would die of many diseases easily
cured today.
Some of the Bryant family members remaining in Pacolet
after the War had a hard time. The Pacolet area and
several of the surrounding counties were a hot bed of Ku
Klux Klan activity during reconstruction. At one time in
1871, the Klan took over and controlled the town of
Union, less than 20 miles away. As a result of the
Klan’s violent actions, the Federal Government declared
Military Law in Upstate South Carolina and sent soldiers
to occupy it and to try to suppress the Klan. A
Congressional Investigation Committee held hearings to
obtain information about what had gone on. Both Reuben
and his brother, William, were required to testify
before this committee.
William Bryant was called to testify about his knowledge
of a Ku Klux Klan incident. However, the Congressional
Committee got side tracked by the detail of a month long
trip that William had taken, alone, to North Carolina
with his 19 year old single sister-in- law. At least one
half of the Committee questions relate to this trip with
the young woman. You can read his testimony at:
William Bryant’s
Appearance before the U.S. Congress Joint Select
Committee in 1871.
Reuben Bryant was also required to testify before the
Committee about Klan activity. However, since his
testimony did not involve traveling for a month with a
19 year old girl, the transcript of his testimony is
much shorter. However, there was a much darker tone to
Reuben’s testimony. It is hard to imagine such a thing
happening today in the peaceful Pacolet Community.
However, it was not always so peaceful. As you can see
from Reuben’s testimony, at one time, the Ku Klux Klan
was a force to be reckoned with in the Pacolet area and
the rest of Upstate of South Carolina. You can read his
chilling testimony at:
Reuben Bryant’s Appearance
before the U.S. Congress Joint Select Committee in
1871.
These records are used courtesy of the Pacolet Museum.
The transcripts originally are from the Piedmont
Historical Society and were submitted to them by Glenna
Kinard.
Over the years, the Pacolet branch of the Bryant family
and those who went to Missouri lost contact. Before the
telephone and modern travel it was very difficult to
keep in touch. However, in the 1950’s some of the
Missouri Bryants decided to renew the family connection.
The story of what happened is told in articles in the
Spartanburg Herald that can be read at Bryant Family
Reconnects.
Very recently, Marilyn Saenz, the granddaughter of
Maggie Bryant, who made the trip back to Pacolet in the
1950’s decided to find out more about her Bryant family
in Pacolet. Marilyn grew up in Missouri and now lives in
Nevada. As part of her search, she contacted the Pacolet
Memories website. She has furnished us the Herald
newspaper clippings about the reconnection of her
Bryant family. If you think that you might be related to
Marilyn, send us an email at this website and we will
forward it to her.
This web site has
been started as a public service to share the story of
Pacolet.