William Bryan was a resident of Craven County, North Carolina by 1762. A plantation owner, during the War of Regulation Bryan became an ensign in the Craven County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia and was shot and killed during the Battle of Alamance in May 1771. Following his death, his widow Ann Bryan successfully petitioned the North Carolina Assembly for a widow's pension to support the couple's five daughters and one son. She was awarded one hundred pounds for the purchase an enslaved individual for the family's personal use.