The They Had Names website is normally dedicated to Liberty County records. However, Bryan County neighbors Liberty County and throughout its history, there has been overlap in the population. Some people enslaved in Bryan County wound up in Liberty County, and vice versa. While Liberty County is rich in antebellum records, most antebellum records for Bryan County no longer exist.
The shining exception is the Bryan County Superior Court deed records, which name enslaved people in bills of sale, deeds of gift, marriage settlements, chattel mortgages, and occasionally estate inventories and wills. These records can be found on both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. I am reading through all these deed records starting from 1795 through 1865 (Deed Books A-G), and adding abstracts of any deeds that name enslaved people. You can find the abstracts I have created so far below.
Because this site does mainly focus on Liberty County, you need to use a different search technique to find a name in only Bryan County records. To find the name “Flora,” for example, in the Bryan County deed records (and ignore the references in Liberty County), use this search term: Flora “Bryan County”. Be sure to put the quotation marks around “Bryan County.” Otherwise, the search will pull any records that have both Bryan and County in them, not just the ones with Bryan County.
If you are researching Bryan County, you may also be interested in other deed records, which are mostly about land. In 1929, Caroline P. Wilson created abstracts for Deed Books A-D for the Lachlan McIntosh Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution Savannah. These abstracts are now on the Genealogy Trails page for Bryan County. Unfortunately, they do not give page numbers (and mostly do not name enslaved people) but are very useful for identifying that a deed of interest to you does exist.
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Morgan/Bird)
Enslaved People Named: Sam On April 18, 1857, Matthew M. Morgan used “a certain Negro fellow named Sam of dark complexion about twenty seven years
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Maxwell/Harden)
Enslaved People Named: Bess, Molly, Jackson, Billy, Peggy, Isaac, Catharine, Joe, Silvy, Samuel, Lucretia, August, Nanny On January 28, 1857, John P. Maxwell, Bryan County,
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Baley/Baley)
Enslaved People Named: None On August 6, 1856, John W. Baley, Bryan County, gifted to his mother, Elizabeth Baley, as well as for the sum
Bryan County Estate Settlement (Bayly/Bayly)
Enslaved People Named: None On July 16, 1856, Edward M. Bayly [alt: Baily], Bryan County, satisfied his $2500 debt to the estate of John Bayly,
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Elarbee/Bragg)
Enslaved People Named: Tom, Phillis, Sarah, Frank On January 1, 1856, Elijah Elarbee, Bryan County, sold to Benjamin Bragg, Bryan County, for $2100 “the following
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Maxwell/Burroughs)
Enslaved People Named: August, Nancy, Peter, Catharine, Joe, Silvia, Samuel, Lucretia On May 31, 1856, John Pray Maxwell, Bryan County, used as collateral on a
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Delegal/Bacon)
Enslaved People Named: Silvia, Mary, Bob On November 4, 1848, Elizabeth Delegal, gifted to the lawful issue of Rebecca Bacon by her present husband Nathaniel
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Hines/Crabtree)
Enslaved People Named: William, Bella, Peggy, Sarah, Dinah, Betsy, Tyra, Sally, Minda, Hector, Stephen, Dublin, Amos, Hetty, Petter, Emick, Grace, Jennette, Abney, Lizette, William, William,
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Law/Law)
nslaved People Named: Prince, Joe, Elsy, Rose On March 31, 1856, William Law, Chatham County, used as collateral to secure a loan of $1260 to
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Clay/Hines)
Enslaved People Named: Clarinda On April 1, 1856, Eliza C. Clay, executrix of Thomas S. Clay, Bryan County, sold to Euterpia A. Hines, Carol [Carroll]
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Bourquin/Baker)
Enslaved People Named: George On March 3, 1856, S.W. Bourquin, Bryan County, used as collateral on a promissory note to Barbary A. Baker, Bryan County,
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Hines/Hines)
Enslaved People Named: Tom, Mary, Daniel April 14, 1856, Euterpe [or Euterpia] A. Hines, Carroll County, sold to John P. Hines, Bryan County, for $1600
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Shuman/Gray)
Enslaved People Named: Sharlotte, Moe, Prince, Isaac On January 18, 1855, Phereby Shuman, Bryan County gifted to William Dickinson Gray, her grandson and the only
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Downs/Hagin)
Enslaved People Named: Sampson On July 16, 1855, Sarah Downs, Bryan County, sold to James E. Hagin, Bulloch County, for $500 “one old negro man
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Lond/Clark)
Enslaved People Named: Susan On March 7, 1855, “a certain negro woman slave named Susan…aged about eighteen years” was put up for auction at the
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Shuman/Shuman)
Enslaved People Named: Delila On April 28, 1855, Phereby Shuman, Bryan County, gifted to her son Wm. [William] H. Shuman “a negro girl named Delila
Bryan County Equity Case (Wells/Wells)
Enslaved People Named: Clarisa, Jack, Cyrus, Samson, Silvy During Bryan County Superior Court’s April term, 1855, Mary Wells, the complainant, as represented by her next
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Maxwell/Maxwell)
Enslaved People Named: Melissa, Esther, Jim On February 1, 1855, William A. Maxwell, Lee County, used as security on a promissory note to Mrs. Ann
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Mell/Hines)
Enslaved People Named: Richard On March 18, 1854, John P. Mell, Cobb County, sold to James C. Hines, Chatham County, for $350 “the following property
Bryan County Marriage Contract (Lightsey/Barber)
Enslaved People Named: None On November 16, 1854, Isaac Lightsey and Caroline Barber, both of Bryan County, entered into a marriage contract with William Blitch,
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Oneal/Mattox)
Enslaved People Named: Frank On September 23, 1854, William Oneal, Bryan County, used as security to Hiram W. Mattox, Bryan County, in return for acting