THE STORY OF OUR NAME
The Needham Bryan Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was organized on February 22, 1915, and was named for Colonel Needham Bryan of Johnston County, North Carolina, one of the Revolutionary ancestors of the organizing Regent, Mrs. Harry Tutwiler Inge. In choosing a name for this Chapter it was deemed expedient to name it in honor of a patriot who was prominently connected with the Colonial, Revolutionary and War of 1812 period.
Needham Bryan was born October 31, 1725, and married Nancy Smith on February 5, 1748. His second wife was Charlotte Moore. Nancy Smith was the daughter of Colonel John Smith, a Revolutionary patriot, and Elizabeth Whitfield.
Needham Bryan was a member of the colonial assembly of North Carolina in 1762 and 1771. He represented Johnston County in the first, second, third and fourth Provincial Congresses which met in 1774, 1775 and 1776. In 1776 he was active in the Battle of Moore's Creek and the Constitutional Convention which met in Halifax, North Carolina. On April 4, the fourth Provincial Congress resolved that "the delegates of this Colony in the Continental Congress be empowered to concur with the delegates of the other colonies in declaring independence of Great Britain." The Constitutional Congress in November drew the first constitution for North Carolina. The following year Needham Bryan represented his county in the North Carolina Senate.