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Acknowledgements / Research OutlineHome > Genealogy > Surnames > Bryson > Outline I first learned of my Bryson ancestry around 1988 or so when my research and contacts lead me to this family. Growing up I had none nothing of my Bryson connections, though I knew one of my dad's first cousins had married a Bryson, but I didn't know he was also a blood relative. Of course I was familiar with Bryson City North Carolina as I had passed through there many times. I had no idea I was related to the town's namesake. Around 1988, or thereabouts, I had written to Guy Davenport (or he wrote me first, I no longer remember) and he opened my eyes to this connection. I had been following my Cathey line and he informed me that my ancestor William Cathey's wife Elizabeth was a Bryson and according to family tradition, a daughter of Andrew Bryson (1752-1835). He shared data showing Andrew Bryson was a son of William Bryson and Isabella Holmes. I didn't do much Bryson work for awhile, but I kept hearing about Lawrence Wood's book on the family. I finally got in touch with him and he shared a great deal of data with me. He shared several early Bryson family histories written in the late 1800's and very early 1900's. He also gave me a copy of his book and asked me to get it reprinted for him (which I did). I kept a copy for myself of course and sent him a new copy. (Read my commentary on this book here) In our conversations, Lawrence often mentioned Ethel Updike who had written a book back in the 60's about several families including the Brysons. I never saw this book until 1997 when Jo Fender shared it with me. (Read my commentary on Ms. Updike's book) So my primary acknowledgements must go to Ethel Updike and Lawrence Wood, both now deceased, and to Guy Davenport for getting me started on this line. In more recent years I've had many wonderful cousins and probable cousins to share varying amounts of data with me and I am thankful to them all. There are far too many names to list here so I won't try for I know I would leave out someone important. Most of these helpful cousins can be found listed on my Bryson Researcher page or on the pages of the various Bryson families that I have documented throughout my site. Thanks to all of you who have shared data with me for I certainly appreciate it and the Bryson family at large appreciates it as well. Recently our cousin Ron Bryson has written a wonderful book on the Brysons of the world. It contains a great deal of useful source data on Brysons in Europe and America through ca 1850. This book is still in print, so get yourself a copy while you can! Last Updated February 13, 2005 Bryson Page (Main) | Bryson Families | What's New? Home | Surnames | Christian Pages | Search this Site | Contact Me |
