Members of Chapter Gilbert Marshall gathered to honor the Revolutionary War soldier, Benjamin Bryant. Bryant received military pension for his serving as a Private in the New Jersey Regiment.
Pvt. Benjamin Bryant
“A Story of Two Patriots”
During the American Revolution, at the age of 23, Benjamin Bryant served as a Private in the New Jersey Regiment. Serving alongside him was Pvt. Asher Bagley. Bryant and Bagley were on the muster roll of Captain Aaron Ogden in the spring of 1783. At the end of the war both men received 100 acres of bounty land for their service. All records indicate that the two men migrated to the Arkansas Territory by the late 1820’s and were lifelong friends. Bryant and Bagley received military pensions for their Revolutionary War service while living in Pulaski, Arkansas Territory. After the formation of the State of Arkansas in 1836,
Bryant and Bagley both lived in what became Saline County. Asher Bagley died on Nov. 11, 1840 and is buried a few miles up the road at Union Cemetery. Bryant’s pension record indicates he died on May 2, 1842. Little is known of Bryant’s family. A marriage record dated March of 1834 for Benjamin Bryant and Elizabeth Cochran has been located in Saline County. Information also indicates Benjamin had a son, Samuel, born in 1835. No other information has been found on Benjamin’s family and no descendants have claimed Benjamin Bryant as a Revolutionary War Patriot.
