Hi Fran, Many thanks for your most interesting post! Unfortunately, I don't think we connect in our Bryans/Bryants/Harrises lines. The father of my ancestor John Bryan/Bryant was William Bryan (this is how it reads on his tombstone in Patrick Co, VA), born 15 October 1760 in either North Carolina or Ireland (it reads both places in several different censuses). William and his wife Sarah A. had the following children: Polly, William, Abner Johnson, James N., my ancestor John, Louisa, Jane, Henry L., Sarah A., and possibly Alexander. I have no documented knowledge of my Bryans ever living in Buckingham or Albemarle Co....I suspect that William, Sr lived for at least a time in Halifax Co, VA where he was closely associated with the Lawson family of that county and Stokes Co, NC (William deposed in the Revolutionary War pension records of Moses Lawson, whom he referred to as his cousin, and William also stood up for Moses in his 1788 Caswell Co, NC wedding to Elizabeth Bradley -- bot! h Moses and Elizabeth are stated to have been of Halifax Co, VA). William also was on the 1790 and 1820 Stokes Co censuses as well as the 1840 Patrick Co census next to his sons John and Abner and suspected kinsman David Crews. As you see, John Bryan's family seems to have pretty much stayed in that southern VA/northern NC region, and John himself appears on all Patrick County censuses from 1840 to 1880 (his first wife Nancy Massey had died by 1838 as this is the year that John remarried to Frances Jones). So, I don't think this is the same man as your John A. O'Brien who was living in Buckingham Co in 1850. However! I do have another ancestor named Elias Bryan/Bryant who has proved to be as elusive as the William Bryan line, and interestingly, his daughter Nancy Bryant and Warren Massey of Patrick Co are purported to have been the parents of John Bryant's first wife Nancy Massey. Yet, I have been unable to find any blood connection between Elias and William, so Elias' roots at this point are pretty much wide open in my book. I do think it is noteworthy that Elias married Susannah Smallman whose sister-in-law was a Hollandsworth and James Harris (who provided surety for the marriage of John Bryant and Nancy Massey) was the son of Samuel Harris and Sarah Elizabeth Hollandsworth. I am intrigued by your 4th g-grandfather William Harris, who was born in Cumberland Co, VA and lived in Patrick Co for at least a time. Do you know the years in which he was residing in PCVA? Could he be kin to the William Harris-Sarah Steele line of Buckingham Co? From what I have been able to tell, it looks as if at least several of their children spent time in Patrick Co before migrating elsewhere. And the naming of a Harris descendant in KY of Henry Massey/Massie Harris is especially intriguing to me. At this point, the only other known surnames I have associated with the William and John Bryan line are Lawson, Massey, Harris, Gibson, Bridges, White, Rorrer, Foley, Jones and Stanley/Standley. The known surnames I have for the Elias Bryan line are Harris, Cox, Smallman, Massey, Lewis and Price. Do any of these names look familiar to you? (Apart from Harris, of course. :) ) I hope this post makes sense! The bottom line I guess is that I feel it may be unlikely that my William Bryan line connects to your O'Briens, but it is possible that my Elias Bryan line may connect back there somewhere -- at this point he is almost a total mystery to me. Thanks so much again for writing, Fran! Best regards, Rebecca Olenchak jjbb343@earthlink.net Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.