Get ready for an historical treasure hunt:
John Bryan actually set out to find the grave of his 5th great grandfather, James Bryan, "who was a vet of the French Indian War" and who served in the Revolutionary War at the age of 60.
James Bryan eventually traded his share of the Bryan family farm in Salem, Virginia, for a few hundred acres of "prime farmland" on the north bank of the Kanawha River, near Point Pleasant in what is now West Virginia:
It doesn't look like much, but it was rich farming, and the Bryan family stayed there apparently for generations:
He lived there many years. In 1814, at the age of 102, James wrote his will, leaving the 207 acre farm, including the large log cabin on it, to his youngest son, Robert Bryan, my 4th great grandfather, one of the first white kids born in Mason County, WV.
As a condition of getting the farm and cabin, Robert had to care for his mother, who was bequeathed a room in the cabin. After getting permission to enter the property, I found a local who remembered seeing the cabin as a small child, before it was destroyed by a flood.
Amazing: The "large log cabin" stood there for apparently well over a century.
The locals led Bryan to the location of the since-vanished cabin:
Eventually they found the Bryan family cemetery, "on what was the only spot of ground high enough to contain graves:"
There's no road to the spot. The locals said this was the first truck they'd seen make it to the spot, due to the railroad berm/tracks.
I believe it. Looks like this place hasn't seen much activity in a very long time:
Bryan, unfortunately, didn't find his veteran great-great-great-great-great grandfather's grave. But he did find something else:
I found an aluminum plaque with a metal detector that someone fortunately placed in the 1920s. The stones themselves were well buried.
Finding a 100-year-old historical marker that itself marks the spot of a much older historical location:
Bryan said he "immediately" recognized the name:
Jemima Clendenin (1750-1815), the wife of Col. George Clendenin, the father/founder of Charleston, WV.
Col. George Clendenin and his wife Jemima helped build Fort Clendenin, at the site of present-day Charleston (named after the Colonel's father). They eventually donated the land that would become the city.
How did she end up on Bryan's family plot? Bryan himself did the research for us:
Her daughter, Parthenia (Clendenin) married Andrew Bryan, Robert's older brother. So her daughter became a Bryan.
Jemima's husband Charles way predeceased her, dying in 1797. So she presumably went to live with her daughter and son in law, Andrew and Parthenia Bryan. When she died in 1815, she was apparently buried by the Bryan's in their family cemetery.
Bryan's 5th great-grandfather "must be there with her somewhere," he observed.
Alas, he did not find the exact spot of his ancestor's final resting place. But he did find the spot of that legendary log cabin:
Over two and a half centuries later and traces of the cabin can still be found there. Amazing.
Here's a great shot illustrating the far-flung, middle-of-nowhere location in which Bryan made his amazing discovery:
Great historical find. Hopefully the state of West Virginia does something to preserve it.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
