Alpha Washtenaw Bryan (b. Feb. 27, 1824, Ypsilanti, MI; d. March 20, 1901, San Marcos, Texas) was so named by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey for being the first white child born in Washtenaw County. The son of John and Sarah Bryan, among the first white settlers of Washtenaw along with Benjamin Woodruff and Daniel Cross, Alpha was born a mere four months after his parents' arrival by ox cart in Woodruff's Grove on October 23, 1823.
Alpha and Sarah were guests of honor at Washtenaw County's 1874 semi-centennial celebration. At that time, Alpha was a schoolteacher in Tennessee; Sarah was a resident of Constantine, MI, just south of Battle Creek.
More information
- History of Washtenaw County, Michigan : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships...and biographies of representative citizens., Charles Chapman & Co., 1881. Alpha Washtenaw Bryan search in this text.
- Pioneer Women of the West, Scribner 1856
- An average American army officer: an autobiography by Roger Bates Bryan, 1914. Roger, son of Alpha, gives a family history in Ch. 1.
