Individual Details

In 1860, Austin T. Bryant was born in the English Creek Community of Cocke County near Newport, Tenn. He was a son of William C. and Elizabeth (Sisk) Bryant.
When Austin was 2 years old, his father, William, left to serve the Confederacy during the Civil War. William, soon captured, spent the next 2 years in a Union prison camp in Indiana.
After he returned from the war, William began campaigning for a public school in the English Creek Community. Prior to that, young boys in the community, including William, had attended a local church school. Sardis, the first public school in that area, was built in the late 1860s on land from the Bryant farm. Austin was one of its first teachers. (After Sardis School burned in the 1930s, it was rebuilt as English Creek Elementary School.)
In the mid-1880s, when William and Elizabeth decided to take their family and join William's half-brother, Aaron Bryant (spelled "Aron" on his grave stone), and his family in Collin County, Texas, Austin remained in Tennessee to work on the farm and cut timber. He also taught school a few months out of the year at Sardis.
In 1888, Austin decided to join other members of his family in Texas, where he also taught school. In his late 20s, he enrolled in medical school. He practiced medicine for 28 years.
In Texas, he married Lizzie Crouch. They had two sons, Summa and Lewis. In their retirement years, Austin and Lizzie also cared for a foster son, Roger Parker.

Dr. Bryant's obituary as published Feb. 12, 1942 in the "Daily Courier Gazette" of McKinney, Texas listed his middle name as "Taylor," but his middle name was "Tarlton," his grandfather’s name. The obituary also listed Austin's maternal great grandfather as Capt. John Sisk, whose name was Bartlett Sisk.
The following is the text of that obit:
Dr. Austin Taylor Bryant, 81 years old, prominent physician of McKinney and a resident of this city and county since 1888, died at 3:25 o'clock, Wed. afternoon at his home, 914 South Chestnut Street. He suffered an attack of acute indigestion about 1 o'clock in the afternoon. His death was sudden and unexpected and was a great shock to his family and friends.
Funeral services were conducted at 3 o'clock, Thursday afternoon at the Crouch Funeral Chapel by Dr. R. A. Clifton and Rev. W. S. Milten and interment followed in the Pecan Grove Cemetery.
Pallbearers were Burton Douglas, Ward Worthy, Fred Denton, Will Bryant, Robert McMinn and Earl Ragsdale.
Dr. Bryant was born near Newport, Tennessee, September 10, 1860. He had a vivid recollection of some of the colorful events of the Civil War and grew up under the trying but character-forming days of the Reconstruction. 
He was the oldest child of the late William Bryant and Elizabeth Sisk Bryant, both of whom passed away in McKinney, one in 1918, the other in 1919. 
Elizabeth Sisk Bryant was born near Newport, Tennessee, a daughter of Lawson Sisk and granddaughter of Captain John Sisk, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. 
She was married to William Bryant, also of Newport in 1859, who served in the Confederate Army, Company F, Fifth Tennessee Cavalry. 
After the war he helped establish the public schools of his county (Cocke).
To this union were born Dr. A. T. Bryant of McKinney, Dr. W. C. Bryant of Anna, deceased, Mrs. Sallie Denton of Mt. Olive, deceased, Mrs. Ida Henson of Van Alstyne, deceased, Allen G. Bryant of Anna, deceased, Jas L. Bryant of Prosper and Dr. T. H. Bryant of McKinney. 
Dr. Bryant spent his early life in working on the farm and in lumbering, getting what education was available. Later, he taught in East Tennessee schools. He came to Texas in 1888, worked on the farm and taught school, teaching the first school held at Franklin. Later he went to St. Louis to study medicine at Marion Sims Beaumont College, now the University of St. Louis, he finished his medical education at Memphis Medical College and Hospital, now the University of Tennessee College of Medicine.
He returned to Collin County and began practicing medicine in 1890, retiring in 1918. He was married to Lizzie Crouch in 1898. 
He spent much of his life as a public servant and always stood for everything that was for the best public good as he saw it. Many years he was engaged in business affairs and had an active part in helping establish the livestock industry in Collin County. He had an active part in helping establish the Continental Bank in McKinney, which later became the Central National. He served for many years as a director of the Continental Bank and Trust Company of Fort Worth. Dr. Bryant was a member of the American Jersey Cattle Club and was well known throughout the Southwest as a breeder of Jersey cattle.
He joined the First Baptist Church under the pastorate of Dr. E. E. King. He became converted under the preaching of Dr. George W. Truett and joined the church while Dr. George W. McDaniels was holding a meeting in the old First Baptist Church on South Tennessee Street.

Birth	10 Sep 1860	Newport, Cocke County, Tennessee
Census (family)-shared	1880	(William Carson Bryant and Elizabeth Adaline Sisk) English Creek, Cocke County, Tennessee
Marriage	3 Mar 1898	McKinney, Collin County, Texas - Elizabeth Crouch
Death	2 Nov 1942	McKinney, Collin County, Texas
Burial	3 Nov 1942	Pecan Grove Cemetery, McKinney, Collin County, Texas

Spouse

Elizabeth Crouch (1877 - 1971)

Father	William Carson Bryant (1832 - 1919)
Mother	Elizabeth Adaline Sisk (1836 - 1919)
Sibling	Dr. William Carson Bryant Sr. (1866 - 1935)
Sibling	Allen Garner Bryant (1866 - 1933)
Sibling	Sallie Bryant (1868 - 1918)
Sibling	James Lawson Bryant (1870 - 1951)
Sibling	Leona Vetta Bryant (1872 - 1958)
Sibling	Dr. Tilman Howard Bryant (1874 - 1953)
Sibling	Ida Cathleen Bryant (1876 - 1936)

Notes