Sometime before the American Revolution William Brannen emigrated from Ireland. He married Elizabeth Gross of North Carolina, and they had twelve children. We have very good information for them thanks to a hand-written record that was probably begun in 1803 and continued to 1808 when the last child was born. The family settled in Screven County around 1790. In 1811 they moved across the Ogeechee River into Bulloch where they have continued to contribute to the county’s growth to this day.