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 (Johnson/Rogers)
Enslaved People Named: Dick, Kate, Violet, Frank, Jim, Jane, Bob, Abraham, Peggy, Elic On March 1, 1845, James Johnson, Bryan County, used as collateral on
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Clay/Winn)
Enslaved People Named: John On January 13, 1845, Thomas S. Clay, executor of the will of Anne Clay, Bryan County, sold to John Winn, Bryan
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Clay/Winn)
Enslaved People Named: Lucy On January 6, 1845, Thomas S. Clay, Bryan County, sold to John Winn, Bryan County, for $400 “a certain negro woman
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Clay/Clay)
Enslaved People Named: Yorick, Elizabeth On June [date blotted], 1845, Eliza C. Clay, Bryan County, sold to Thomas S. Clay, Bryan County, for $425 “the
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Harn/Habersham)
Enslaved People Named: Ben, Delia, Rinah, Barthshire On November 23, 1844, John Harn, Bryan County, used as collateral on a promissory note to Robert Habersham,
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Futch/Futch)
Enslaved People Named: Nelson On October 3, 1844, Joshua Futch, Bryan County, sold to Jesse Futch, Bryan County, for $403 “a certain negro boy slave
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Gray/Clay)
Enslaved People Named: Judy, Peter, Nanny, Braveboy, Brancer, Nelly, Emma, Nancy, Guy, Cretia, Nancy, Solomon, George, Cretia, Charles, Jean, George, Nanny, Susan, Betsy, Billa, Wanny,
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Netherclift)
Enslaved People Named: John, Rose, Paul On May 30, 1844, Elizabeth Netherclift, gifted to her grandchildren “the following named negro slaves, to wit, John aged
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Maxwell/Remshart)
Enslaved People Named: July, Mary On April 25, 1844, John J. Maxwell, Chatham County, used as security on a debt to William Remshart, Bryan County:
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (White/Collins)
Enslaved People Named: Sylvia, Sucky, Scipio On May 1, 1844, Henry H. White and his wife Elizabeth used as collateral on two promissory notes “the
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Maxwell/Rogers)
Enslaved People Named: Sampson, Hannah, Henry, Nancy, William, Margaret, Morace, Linder, Mary, John, Israel, Lisa [or Tira], Mily, Sary, Sam, Sip [alt: Scipio], Thomas, Adaline
Bryan County Trust (Maxwell/Maxwell)
Enslaved People Named: Eve, Sullivan, Phoebe On February 2, 1844, Benjamin C. Maxwell, Liberty County, sold to John S. Maxwell, Bryan County, for $400 “the
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Harden/Harden)
Enslaved People Named: Rachel On January 1, 1844, Matilda A. Harden, Bryan County, gifted to John M.B. Harden, Liberty County, “one female slave named Rachel.”
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Moye/Smith)
Enslaved People Named: Becka, Louisa On June 18, 1842, Obadiah Moye, Bryan County, used as collateral on a promissory note to Joshua Smith, administrator de
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Shuman/Futch)
Enslaved People Named: Linda On April 15, 1842, James Shuman, Bryan County, sold to Jesse Futch, Bryan County, for $400 a certain negro girl slave,
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Hines/Perry)
On May 12, 1842, John P. Hines, Bryan County, used as collateral on a promissory note to Elias Perry, Bryan County, for $1000 “the following
Bryan County Bill of Sale (Stiles/Stiles)
Enslaved People Named: Silvia, Susan, Judy On April 2, 1842, Benjamin Stiles, Bryan County, sold to Benjamin E. Stiles, guardian of Mary A.E. Donaldson, to
Bryan County Chattel Mortgage (Stiles/Clark)
Enslaved People Named: Florinda, Glascow On April 30, 1842, Benjamin Stiles, Bryan County, used as collateral on a promissory note to John Clark for $404
Bryan County Court Order (Stiles & Penny)
Enslaved People Named: None [Begin Transcript] State of Georgia, Bryan County } Whereas Zachariah M. Winkler of Savannah in said State obtained a judgement in
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Harn/Harn)
Enslaved People Named: Daphney, Jane, Peggy, Rose, Becka On November 27, 1843, John Harn, Bryan County gifted to his son John Harn Junior, Bryan County,
Bryan County Deed of Gift (Harn/Harrison)
Enslaved People Named: Clary, Hannah, Rina On September 5, 1843, John Harn, Bryan County gifted to William Harn, Bryan County, in trust for Abigail Elizabeth