William Bryant
William Bryant lived in Halifax County, North Carolina, in the low country along the Roanoke River. His birth and parents are not known. He married Jean Andrews, a daughter of William Andrews of the same county. Their children were Jesse, William, Penelope, Sally and Catharine.
On 13 March 1762 he made his will. He wrote that he was "sick & weak of body but in perfect mind and memory, thanks be to Almighty God for it." He gave his son Jesse Bryant "all my wearing clothes." To his son William he left "my house land & plantation & still where I now dwell," and also "my land called crooked white oak containing 200 acres." A still was the copper pot and coil for making brandy or whiskey from the farm's fruit and grain, and it was worth naming in a will.
He lent "my well beloved wife Jean Bryant" the home plantation and all his goods and chattels, "both within doors and without doors," for her widowhood or her life. At her marriage or death the estate was to be divided equally among Jesse, Penelope, Sally, Catharine and Will Bryant Junior. He named his brother-in-law Jesse Andrews and his son Jesse Bryant as executors.
Three people witnessed the will: William Hill Andrews, who was Jean's brother, his daughter Penelope Bryant, and Thomas Weathersbee, who signed by his mark. William died within three months. At the June court of 1762 William Hill Andrews swore to the will, and Jesse Bryant took the executor's oath. Joseph Montfort, the clerk, ordered it recorded.
His son Jesse is very probably the Jesse Bryan, born in 1736, who farmed in Martin County until his death in 1786. Martin County was cut from Halifax and Tyrrell in 1774, and Conoho Creek, where Jean's father had his plantation, fell inside it. That Jesse named two of his own daughters Sarah and Penny, the names of two of William's daughters.
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Cite: Heirology, "William Bryant (d. 1762)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/william-bryant-1762-2a0a8c.