John and Hannah Brantley

   Among the many Brantley kinsmen living in their time, there were none more prolific than John and Hannah Brantley of Chatham County, N.C. They are the ancestors of perhaps 20% of all American Brantleys living today. Perhaps all of the Washington County, Georgia Brantleys are descendants of John and Hannah.  Washington County, itself was the most populated county in America for Brantley households from about 1825 through 1930. John was born ca 1710 in Isle of Wight County, Va. He married Hannah __?_ about 1730 in Isle of Wight County. By 1750, he and his brothers Lewis and Joseph had located in Granville County, N.C.  John became a judge. He would spend the reminder of his life near the Rocky River in an area, which became Chatham County, N.C. Two of John and Hannah's children and many grandchildren went from Chatham County into Georgia soon after the Revolutionary War. Others went into Tennessee. Five sons were mentioned in the will of John Brantley in 1777/1782. They were Joseph, Benjamin, John, William and Phillip Brantley. Benjamin and Phillip went to the area of Wilkes/Warren County, Georgia about 1784. Descendants of John Jr and William would soon follow. There were no daughters mentioned in the will, but a deed clearly identified a daughter as Priscilla Brantley. She married Daniel Hidgon. Another daughter was found to be Mary, who married Sugan Jones. Other daughters are suspected. 

    In one DAR application, we noted in 1987 that the name Harper had been written in as the maiden name of Hannah.  It was obviously an added entry. I talked with the lady who applied to the DAR with the application and she stated that she did not make the Harper entry. We speculated never the less that Hannah could be Harper. Others have declared her as a Harper based only on this unknown addition. Since the finding, we reviewed our entire records of Va and NC. There is NOT ONE record with a Harper and Brantley mentioned together. We cannot find enough evidence to support the entry made by this unknown person.  

    Among the many descendants of John and Hannah, are Dr Wm Theophilus Brantley (noted clergyman), Lt Col Hattie Lamar Brantley (decorated WWII prisoner of war) Newby Odell Brantly (inventor), Jeff Brantley (leading National League relief pitcher) and Adam Medows (Offensive Tackle- Indiana Colts). I am a descendant of this couple as well as foremost researchers, William Kizziah, William Timothy Brantley, and the late Gene Doyle Brantley. 

Ken Brantley

See the study of John & Hannah in our 15th Report.  See also Report #2, Report #5, Report #8, and the Video Documentary.