Household #105: Williams, Bryant

Back to the 1900 Census & Household Index

In the 1900 Barney census, Bryant Williams headed an 8-person household. The table below preserves the exact names, relationships, ages, birthplaces, and occupations recorded for the household.

Household Snapshot

Bryant Williams headed an 8-person household in the 1900 Barney census with 1 spouse or marital partner, 3 children, and 3 extended-family members.

Bryant Williams's listed occupation was Farmer.

All listed household members were reported as born in Georgia.

Newspaper and Public-Record Trail

This section flags public-record leads separate from the census table. The detailed discussion stays in the family narrative, research status, and source citations below.

1900 Census Household

Children and Later Trails

This section is reserved for later-life child evidence. No later spouse, death, burial, obituary, probate, separate household, or descendant-line identification has been added here yet from direct records.

Family Narrative

• Children in household: John B. Williams, Stacy Williams, Winnie Williams
• Other household members: Jane Pike, mother-in-law; Mattie Joyce, cousin; Platt Joyce, cousin

This household can be followed from 1900 through 1940 with a solid census trail. In 1900 Bryant Williams appears in Barney with wife Elizabeth, three young children, Elizabeth's mother Jane Pike, and two cousins whose surname can now be read as Joyce rather than Joyer. A Brooks County marriage record shows B. M. Williams married Lizzie Pike on 22 December 1889, which fixes the Pike connection before the first census appearance. In 1910 Bryant M. Williams remains in Barney with wife Lizzie, children John B., Stacy, and Winnie D., and mother-in-law Jane J. Pike. In 1920 B. M. Williams is still in Barney with wife Lizzie, daughter Winnie Davis Williams, and mother-in-law Jane Pike. By 1930 Bryant is gone, and Lizzie P. Williams appears as a widowed head with daughter Winnie W. Waters and granddaughter Elizabeth J. Waters. In 1940 Lizzie Williams remains in Barney as a widowed head with Winnie Waters and Elizabeth Waters.

The death records fit that census arc. Georgia death index entries show Bryant M. Williams died on 21 June 1929 in Brooks County under certificate number 14660-K, and Elizabeth Williams died on 22 January 1944 in Brooks County under certificate number 4556. Find A Grave memorials place both at Camp Ground Cemetery Mount Zion Church in Morven. Elizabeth's memorial agrees with the state index. Bryant's memorial gives a different death date, so the state index is the better source unless the full death certificate shows otherwise.

The Pike side of the household is much clearer now. Jane Pike appears as Bryant's mother-in-law in 1900, 1910, and 1920, and the marriage record shows that Bryant's wife was Lizzie Pike. Jane Pike's 1923 death certificate adds the key correction. It identifies her as Jane Pike, wife of John J. Pike, but also gives her maiden name as Jane Joyce and names her parents as Jackson Joyce and Elizabeth Wells. That record directly places the Pike line inside the Joyce family network. Earlier records point in the same direction, though not all of them reconcile cleanly yet. In 1850 a sixteen-year-old Jane Joyce appears in Lowndes County in the household of James J. Joyce and Elizabeth Joyce. That is a plausible earlier record for the same woman, but the parents in that census do not fully match the death certificate and should not yet be treated as settled. In 1870 Nancy Pike appears in Brooks County in Jane Pike's household, and in 1880 Nancy E. Pike appears in Quitman in Jane J. Pike's household. That sequence suggests that Lizzie Pike may have been the same woman as Nancy E. Pike, but the point still lacks a direct linking record.

The most important correction in this entry concerns the two Joyce cousins. Mattie Henrietta Joyce and James Platt Joyce can now be identified as children of John Wesley P. Joyce and Catherine Harrington Joyce, the household treated elsewhere as HH#91. Jane Pike's death certificate explains why the two children could be described as cousins in the Bryant Williams household, because it identifies Jane herself as born Jane Joyce. That does not yet supply every intermediate generational step, but it does explain the family connection in a way the older draft could not.

Mattie can be followed forward with good confidence. In 1910 Mattie Joyce and Willie Joyce appear in Barney in the Plety Davis household, listed as nieces. In 1920 Mattie appears in Morven in the household of J. E. Elliott and Willie Elliott, listed as a sister-in-law, with Plety Davis also present as an aunt. In 1930 she appears in Brooks County as a single lodger. In 1940 she appears in Quitman as a single head of household. In 1950 she is still in Quitman, now sharing a household with brother J. Platt Joyce. Her 1952 obituary identifies her directly as the daughter of John Wesley and Catherine Harrington Joyce and names her surviving brother as J. Platt Joyce.

Platt Joyce can also be followed into adult life. A 1910 Morven census entry shows James P. Joyce as a boarder, which fits the age and place for Platt under a fuller given name. A Lowndes County marriage record shows Platt Joyce married Lellie Strickland on 26 September 1912. A July 1914 Valdosta Daily Times item places him in Quitman as a deputy sheriff. A World War I draft card for James Platt Joyce, filed in Ware County on 12 September 1918, gives his birth as 4 March 1885 and places him in Waycross as a police officer, with Jennette Joyce named as his daughter and nearest relative. A 1928 Miami city directory places James P. Joyce in Miami as a detective with wife Gertrude Joyce. A Florida divorce index entry shows J. P. Joyce and Gertrude Joyce divorced in Dade County in 1945. A 1957 obituary for James Platt Joyce then identifies him as a Brooks County native, former Miami police officer, husband of Eula Joyce, father of two daughters, and brother within the same Joyce sibling cluster already visible from Mattie's obituary. Taken together, those records make it reasonable to treat James P. Joyce and J. Platt Joyce as the same man.

The safest present reading is straightforward. HH#105 is a Barney Williams-Pike household carried from 1900 through 1940, tied to Lizzie Pike by the 1889 marriage record, tied to Jane Pike by three mother-in-law entries, and tied to the Joyce family by Jane Pike's death certificate and by the now-settled identification of Mattie and Platt Joyce as children of HH#91. The remaining uncertainties are narrower ones: whether Lizzie Pike was the same woman as Nancy E. Pike, what earlier records will identify Bryant's parentage, and what exact generational path links Jane Joyce Pike to the Joyce children living in her daughter's household in 1900.

Connections to Other Barney Families

• The 1889 Brooks County marriage record directly identifies Bryant's wife as Lizzie Pike.
• Jane Pike's repeated presence as mother-in-law strongly supports Lizzie Pike Williams as Jane's daughter or close stepdaughter.
• Jane Pike's 1923 death certificate identifies her as born Jane Joyce, daughter of Jackson Joyce and Elizabeth Wells.
• Nancy Pike in 1870 and Nancy E. Pike in 1880 are strong candidates for the earlier identity of Lizzie Pike Williams, but the link is not yet directly proved.
• Winnie D. Williams in 1910 appears to be the later Winnie W. Waters in 1930 and Winnie Waters in 1940.
• Mattie Joyce and Platt Joyce were cousins in the 1900 household and can now be identified as children of HH#91 John Wesley P. Joyce and Catherine Harrington Joyce.
• Jane Pike's identity as Jane Joyce explains the broad cousin relationship between the Pike-Williams household and the Joyce children, even though the exact generational step still needs tighter reconstruction.
• HH#106 Lucy Pike remains a comparison household because of surname, place, and proximity, but no exact kinship has been proved.

Related probate records

See the inspected probate-register entries for additional names and transactions. These are research leads; the new entries do not by themselves establish census identity, parentage, or land ownership.

Open Research Questions

• Bryant Williams still needs a reliable earlier census identification before his parentage can be stated more firmly.
• Bryant Williams still needs the full death certificate, obituary, or probate record.
• Elizabeth Williams still needs the full death certificate or an obituary, even though the Georgia death index confirms her death date and county.
• Lizzie Pike Williams still needs a direct record proving whether she was the same person as Nancy E. Pike of the 1870 and 1880 Jane Pike household.
• Jane Pike still needs to be tracked through earlier Joyce records to test whether the 1850 Jane Joyce in Lowndes County is the same woman and to reconcile James J. Joyce with Jackson Joyce in the parent generation.
• The exact generational path between Jane Joyce Pike and the children of HH#91 still needs direct proof.
• The Plety Davis and J. E. Elliott households need closer comparison to determine whether Willie Joyce Elliott was Mattie's sister and whether Plety Davis was a maternal or paternal aunt.
• The sequence of Platt Joyce's marriages still needs direct reconstruction, including the move from Lellie Strickland to Gertrude Joyce and later to Eula Joyce.
• Jennette Joyce should be followed forward to determine whether she was one of the two daughters named in Platt's 1957 obituary.
• The Miami years should be tightened with additional directory, census, or employment records.
• Death, burial, land, and probate records for Bryant and Lizzie have not yet been fully added.

Research Status

Further research needed. The household now has a strong census backbone from 1900 through 1940, a direct marriage record for Bryant and Lizzie, Jane Pike's repeated mother-in-law relationship, Georgia death index entries for Bryant and Elizabeth, Jane Pike's 1923 death certificate, and a much stronger reconstruction of the two Joyce cousins. The big remaining tasks are to pull the full death records for Bryant and Elizabeth, resolve whether Lizzie Pike and Nancy E. Pike were the same woman, and locate records that define the exact Joyce-to-Pike generational link behind the 1900 cousin relationship.

Sources

• 1900 United States Federal Census, Barney Precinct, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Bryant Williams
• 1900 Barney census deep-dive household extraction
• 1900 United States Federal Census household image or transcription used to read John B. Williams and the Joyer surname
• 1910 United States Federal Census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Bryant M. Williams
• 1910 United States Federal Census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Plety Davis including Mattie Joyce and Willie Joyce
• 1910 United States Federal Census, Morven, Brooks County, Georgia, entry for James P. Joyce as boarder
• 1920 United States Federal Census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of B. M. Williams
• 1920 United States Federal Census, Morven, Brooks County, Georgia, household of J. E. Elliott including Mattie Joyce and Plety Davis
• 1920 United States Federal Census, Waycross Ward 3, Ware County, Georgia, entry for James P. Joyce as lodger
• 1930 United States Federal Census, Militia District 1157, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Lizzie P. Williams
• 1930 United States Federal Census, Militia District 1199, Brooks County, Georgia, entry for Mattie Joyce as lodger
• 1930 United States Federal Census, Miami, Dade County, Florida, household of James P. Joyce
• 1940 United States Federal Census, Barney, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Lizzie Williams
• 1940 United States Federal Census, Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Mattie Joyce
• 1950 United States Federal Census, Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Mattie Joyce and J. Platt Joyce
• Brooks County, Georgia, marriage record for B. M. Williams and Lizzie Pike, married 22 December 1889
• Georgia death certificate, Jane Pike, died 14 June 1923, Brooks County, naming father Jackson Joyce, mother Elizabeth Wells, and spouse John J. Pike
• Georgia Death Index, 1919-1998, Bryant M. Williams, died 21 June 1929, Brooks County, certificate 14660-K
• Georgia Death Index, 1919-1998, Elizabeth Williams, white female, age 84, died 22 January 1944, Brooks County, certificate 4556
• Lowndes County, Georgia, marriage record, Platt Joyce and Lellie Strickland, married 26 September 1912
• The Valdosta Daily Times, 11 Jul 1914, item reporting Platt Joyce of Quitman as a deputy sheriff who left home without explanation
• U.S. World War I Draft Registration Card, James Platt Joyce, registered 12 Sep 1918, Ware County, Georgia; born 4 Mar 1885; police officer for City of Waycross; nearest relative Jennette Joyce, daughter
• Miami, Florida, city directory, 1928, entry for James P. Joyce, detective, residence 3400 N.W. 12th Avenue, spouse Gertrude Joyce
• Florida Divorce Index, 1927-2001, J. P. Joyce and Gertrude Joyce, divorced 1945, Dade County, certificate 13240
• The Valdosta Daily Times, 15 Feb 1952, obituary of Miss Mattie Henrietta Joyce of Quitman, naming brother J. Platt Joyce
• The Valdosta Daily Times, 11 Mar 1957, obituary of James Platt Joyce of Brooks County
• Find A Grave memorial #111611406 for Jane J. Pike, Camp Ground Cemetery Mount Zion Church, Morven, Brooks County, Georgia
• Find A Grave memorial #111611403 for Bryant M. Williams, Camp Ground Cemetery Mount Zion Church, Morven, Brooks County, Georgia
• Find A Grave memorial #111611405 for Elizabeth Williams, Camp Ground Cemetery Mount Zion Church, Morven, Brooks County, Georgia
• Find A Grave memorial #53835857 for James Platt Joyce, Camp Ground Cemetery Mount Zion Church, Morven, Brooks County, Georgia
• Find A Grave memorial #53835871 for Mattie Henrietta Joyce, Camp Ground Cemetery Mount Zion Church, Morven, Brooks County, Georgia
• 1850 United States Federal Census, Lowndes County, Georgia, household of James J. Joyce including Jane Joyce, age 16
• 1870 United States Federal Census, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Jane Pike including Nancy Pike
• 1880 United States Federal Census, Quitman, Brooks County, Georgia, household of Jane J. Pike including Nancy E. Pike
• 1880 United States Federal Census, Jefferson County, Florida, household of Rily and Rella Williams including Morgan Williams, reviewed as a possible Bryant candidate and rejected as an unsafe identification

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