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 (Johnston/Smith)
Enslaved People Named: Rachel, Sopha, Lydia, John On January 9, 1852, at Savannah, W.W. Johnston sold to Solomon Smith for $1350 “my negro woman and
Bryan County Marriage Contract (Hines/Perry)
Enslaved People Named: George On August 26, 1852, Thomas A. Hines, Bryan County, and Mary R. Perry, also of Bryan County, entered into a marriage
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Baley/Calder)
Enslaved People Named: Peggy, Jeffry On August 28, 1852, John Baley, Bryan County, gifted to his daughter Malinda E. Calder, wife of George Calder, via
Bryan County Estate Settlement (Shuman/McGillis)
Enslaved People Named: Milly, Stephen, Moses On January 1, 1849, in Bryan County, Henry M. McGillis, acknowledged receipt from James Shuman, guardian of the orphans
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Fergerson/Lipperman)
Enslaved People Named: Betsey On July 12, 1852, in Savannah, Charles W. Fergerson [alt: Fergurson] gave a promissory note, due the next day, for $150
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Dutton/Cox)
Enslaved People Named: Joe, Joe, Carlton, Affa, Hetta On September 7, 1852, T.C. Dutton, Bulloch County, sold to B.C. Cox, Bryan County, for $2537 “Joe,
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Barber/Newman)
Enslaved People Named: Cassander On December 31, 1851, Isaac Barber, Bryan County, sold to James Newman, Bryan County, for $362.50 “a negro girl named Cassander
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Law/Stoddard)
Enslaved People Named: William On March 12, 1852, William Law, Savannah, Chatham County, used as collateral on a promissory note of $890 to John Stoddard,
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Hines/Hines)
Enslaved People Named: Daniel In 1852, an enslaved man named Daniel who had been part of the estate of Lewis Hines, Bryan County, was sold
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Hines/Hines)
Enslaved People Named: Sulpher, Charlotte, John, Ferdy On February 11, 1852, Benjamin T. Hines, Bryan County, used as collateral on a promissory note to Charlton
Bryan County Estate Settlement (Butler)
Enslaved People Named: Lucy, Tom On January 1, 1852, the estate of the late John G. Butler of Chatham County was distributed, according to records
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Law/Stoddard)
Enslaved People Named: Jiny, Phoebe, Lizzy, Harriet, Jonas, Amanda, Peter, April, Susannah, Louisa, Scipio, Ellen, Charley, Polly, Charles, Peggy, Hannah, Morris, Sukey, Morris, Sarah, Charles
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Harn/Clark)
Enslaved People Named: Bucksheer On December 4, 1851, Thomas Harn, Bryan County, sold to Levi S. D’Lyon, trustee of Edith Rebecca Clark, wife of William
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Barber/Newman)
Enslaved People Named: An??d, Mary Ann On March 21, 1851, in Bulloch County, Georgia, Isaac Barber sold to James Newman for $900 “a negro woman,
Bryan County Estate Settlement (Harn)
Enslaved People Named: Delia On March 15, 1851, Samuel Harn, William Harn, John Harn, William Clark, Thomas Harn, John W. Harrison, and Sarah Harn, widow
Bryan County Transfer (Smith/Eason)
Enslaved People Named: Robert, Nathaniel As part of a transfer of guardianship, On September 24, 1849, Henry A. Smith, former guardian of Michael M. Mattox,
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Rogers/Rogers)
Enslaved People Named: Morris, Glasgow, Cyrus, Harry, Jim, Sam, Joe, Jacob, George, Flander [Flanders], Ceaser [alt: Caesar], Ceaser, Ceaser, Ned, Adam, old Adam, Andrew, Flander,
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Fulton/Myddleton)
Enslaved People Named: Edward, Billy, Harriet, Eliza, Tyra, Eve, Aleck, Isaac, Thomas, Hardy, Bob, Henry, Margaret, Amarintha, Nanny, Ben, Joe, Moses, Thomas On April 18,
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Bird/Swanston)
Enslaved People Named: Mary, Abram, Amelia, Paul, Riley, Silva On January 15, 1850, Eleanor Bird, Bryan County, sold to John Swanston, Chatham County, for $400
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Whitman/Carter)
Enslaved People Named: Ellen On June 5, 1849, Lewis Whitman of Effingham County, executor of the last will and testament of Mary C. Berman, sold
Bryan CountyBill of Sale (Edwards/Mattox)
Enslaved People Named: Rose On April 19, 1847, John M. Edwards, Bryan County, sold to Candace Mattox, Bryan County, for $375 “a certain negro girl