McCallister's McAlisters (and some other good families)

The Bright Family

I don't know a great deal about the Bright family. And this is one family of which my grandparents spoke very little if anything.

The earliest Bright ancestor I have is one John Anselm Bright, born in 1789, probably in Maryland. I am led to believe that this family was another of the Maryland Catholics who came to central Kentucky after the Revolution. John Anselm seems to have also gone by the name of “Hansen” Bright. In 1808, John Anselm married Teresa Cissell in Washington County Kentucky. Teresa Cissell was the daughter of Peter and Eleanor Cissell, who were Maryland Catholics that came to central Kentucky.

John Anselm Bright and Teresa moved to Union County Kentucky between 1813 when daughter Mary “Polly” Bright was born, and 1824 when son John H. Bright (junior) was born. Union County in those days, was very much a wooded wilderness still. They settled in the Waverly vicinity, becoming communicants of Sacred Heart Church, in an area later to be known as St. Vincent's. John and Teresa are buried at the Sacred Heart Cemetery.

Daughter Mary “Polly” Bright married 35 year old Charles Girten on 2 August 1831 in Union County. She had just turned 18 when they wed. They became the parents of thirteen children, one of whom, Josephine (1849-1911), was my great great-grandmother. Charles, Mary, and three of their youngest children all met an untimely death in 1855. Please see the Girten narrative for additional details.

The small cabin at the top of the page is very similar to what the Bright and Girten families would have used as housing in Union County around 1830. This image is from the Berea College collection of Appalchian log cabin pictures. There is no relationship to the Bright family per se.