A Leaf on the Family Tree: Drury Bridges -- The First Bridges in Trigg County

Drury Bridges was born on August 30, 1765 on a plantation in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. He was the oldest of the six children born to William Bridgers and Jemima Hobby Bridgers. William and Jemima were natives of Halifax County, North Carolina. Drury had a sister named Priscilla Bridges and a sister named Sylvias Bridges, also a third sister and two brothers whose names are not known.
Drury met Charity Cohoon in Edgecombe County and they were married in late 1789 or early 1790. The exact date cannot be determined because the marriage bonds of Edgecombe County are missing for years 1774 through 1798. Charity was the daughter of John Cohoon and Pricilla Flowers Cohoon of Edgecombe County.

Drury, Charity and their family migrated from Edgecombe County to Christian County (now Trigg County), Kentucky in 1804. They traveled over 600 miles overland by oxen-drawn covered wagon across North Carolina to East Tennessee and through the Cumberland Valley of Tennessee into Western Kentucky where the family settled in western Trigg County. Drury acquired 85 ½ acres of land on Beechy Fork Creek in an area now known as Maple Grove, where he built a log cabin for the family home. The cabin that Drury built stood until 1907 when it was torn down to build a modern home by his grandson. Over the years, Drury acquired more than 700 acres in the Maple Grove community.

Drury and Charity were the parents of seven children. One child died in North Carolina, four traveled with the family from North Carolina and two were born in Kentucky. These children were Jemima Bridges, born in 1795 and married Allen Sholar; Piety Bridges, born in 1797 and married Noah Brunk; Selethia Bridges, a twin, born in 1797 and married Joel Futrell; William Bridges, born in 1800 and married Mary Thomas; Orren Dates Bridges, born about 1802 and died in childhood; Elizabeth Josephine Bridges, born in 1804 and married Perry Thomas; and Mary Bridges, born in 1807 and married Starkie Thomas.

William Bridges was Drury’s only son to grow to adulthood and the Bridges family name in Trigg County lives through William. William and his wife, Mary Thomas, daughter of James Thomas were the parents of twelve children, nine of them were sons. It is through five of these nine sons that the Bridges name was well established in Trigg County.

The seven children of Drury and Charity had a total of 53 children. These 53 had 221 children. The third generation produced 884 children and by the fifth generation, Drury and Charity had over 3,500 descendants. The majority of these descendants also claimed James and Mary Thomas as their ancestors.

In 1820 Trigg County was officially formed out of the western section of Christian County and Drury took a prominent part of the political, religious and cultural affairs of the newly formed county. Drury’s formal education is unknown but it is believed he was well educated for a person of his time, apparently acquired at schools in Edgecombe County. While living in Kentucky, he was often called upon to help his neighbors and others in his community for help with their business affairs. He was among the 27 charter members who organized the Donaldson Creek Baptist Church in 1814.

In his later years, Drury was disabled by a stroke which required him to use crutches for the remainder of his life. Drury died on June 13, 1840 at the age of 74 at his home on Beechy Fork Creek. Chairty outlived Drury by 12 years and died on October 16, 1852 at the age of 81. Both Drury and Charity were buried in the family cemetery located about 100 yards from their home, now aptly named the Drury (Drewry) Bridges Cemetery.