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 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
Bryan County Estate Settlement (Barber)
Enslaved People Named: Sophia On November 18, 1854, the heirs and distributees of the estate of Isaac Barber, Bryan County, agreed among themselves that “the
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Smith/Sims)
Enslaved People Named: Handy On March 24, 1851, H.A. Smith, Bryan County, sold to Jacob Sims, Bryan County, for $1000 “a certain negro boy named
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Perry/Hines)
Enslaved People Named: Jane On August 1, 1854, Isaac Perry, Bryan County, and Little Berry [alt: Littleberry] Daniel and Nicholas J. Clark, Liberty County, as
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Maxwell/Champion)
Enslaved People Named: August, Nanny, Patty, ? Petter ? On March 15, 1854, John Pray Maxwell, Bryan County, used as collateral on a promissory note
Bryan County Estate Settlement (Rogers/Harden)
Enslaved People Named: Albert, Jane On March 7, 1853, in Chatham County, Henrietta S. Rogers, widow of David M. Rogers, relinquished to his sister Seamour
Bryan County Marriage Contract (Mann/Quarteran)
Enslaved People Named: Rachael [alt: Rachel], Molly, Charity, Grace, Davy, Abraham, Joshua, Charlotte On December 22, 1853, Sarah Eliza Mann, “spinster” of Bryan County, and
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Mell/Hines)
Enslaved People Named: Phoebe On March 30, 1853, John P. Mell, Newton County, sold to John P. Hines, Bryan County, for $100 “a negro woman
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Perry/Hines)
Enslaved People Named: Hetty On February 8, 1854, Isaac Perry, Bryan County, sold to Jno. [John] P. Hines, Bryan County, for $800 “the following property
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Shuman/Shuman)
Enslaved People Named: Sally, Luke On March 27, 1854, Phereby Shuman, Bryan County gifted to Wm. H. Shuman, son of Phereby Shuman, same place “the
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Shuman/Shuman)
Enslaved People Named: Pompey, Rose On October 29, 1853, Feriby Shuman Senior, a widow, Bryan County, gifted to her son Elijah Shuman “the following two
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Jones/Shuman)
Enslaved People Named: Bina On January 9, 1853, John Jones, Bryan County, sold to May Shuman, guardian of minors of Martin Shuman, deceased, Bryan County,
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Smith/Smith)
Enslaved People Named: Orilla, Godfrey, Jasper, Cyer, Hannah, Ella, Milton, Henry, Rufus, Robert On October 3, 1853, Joshua Smith, Bryan County gifted to Alfred Bird
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Cody/Cody)
Enslaved People Named: Mary On May, 1853, in Savannah, Patrick Cody, Chatham County, sold to James Cody, Bryan County, for $500 “one certain negro female
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Blitch/Smith)
Enslaved People Named: John On May 3, 1853 Thomas Blitch, in charge of the estate of James Hunt of Effingham County, sold at auction “a