Augustus Jackson “Gus” Bryan, son of Andrew Jackson and Frances Emma Ham Bryan, was born September 13, 1894, at Brannen’s Crossroads in Coffee County. He was educated in rural Coffee County. In 1913 the family moved to Opp although Mr. Bryan retained his business in Elba — a pressing club he owned and operated.
Mr. Bryan joined the Enterprise National Guard and served in the Mexican War in 1916. Upon the Guard’s return to Montgomery, the unit was mobilized as regular army and sent to serve in World War I. A member of the famed Rainbow Division, he received a leg wound while engaged in front-line fighting in France. In 1919, he was discharged and returned to Opp.
Mr. Bryan was first employed at Benson Hardware Company. He later operated Opp’s first movie theater, The Crown, which showed silent films. The theater was located on the corner of Whaley Street and Covington Avenue. In the early 1920’s Mr. Bryan, along with his brothers Alcus and Alton, formed a partnership to operate Bryan Brothers Hardware. In 1923-24, he bought “The Opp Messenger” and was later associated with Arnold Woodham in that business. He and his brother, Alcus, also owned and operated a men’s haberdashery located next to what was then the First National Bank. He was in this business when in 1925 he married Ruby Richards.
Mr. Bryan was engaged in several ventures after his marriage. These included Bryan Auto Supply Company, “The Big Pep Station” (a WoCo Pep Service Station), Bryan’s Chevrolet Company, Southern Chemical Corporation, Auto Supplies Mfg. Company, GFA Peanut Association, Opp Telephone Company, Kaiser-Frazier Automobile Company and Superior Gas and Appliance Company. Lastly, he was owner and president of the Oil Well, a successful gasoline distributorship serving South Alabama and Northwest Florida. He re-entered the business world after his retirement to form the Bryan Oil Company (Blue & Gray stations) with Louie Grimes, Sr.
Mr. Bryan was very much aware of those less fortunate and many of his acts of kindness were never known publicly. After his death in 1975, it was learned that he had anonymously provided Christmas gifts for needy children with a “Santa Claus” to pass out the gifts. His interest in children also provided the impetus for building Opp’s swimming pool, which, was spearheaded by Opp’s American Legion of which he was commander.
Ruby Richards Bryan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Oscar and Susanna Milam Richards of Nixburg, was born
September 23, 1901. Her family came to Opp around 1911, with her father, a merchant and cotton buyer. She graduated from Opp High School in 1919 and attended college at Montevallo for one year. At that time, she began teaching fourth grade at Straughn School and later taught at River Falls School for about three years. After this, she traveled to Wyandotte, Oklahoma, where she taught school for one year at a federally owned Creek Indian school. She returned to marry Gus Bryan, whom she had been engaged to for five years. They had two children, Evelyne Bryan Thomas and Marilyn Bryan Sibley.
The Bryan family lived in Denver in 1940-41 and later moved to Montgomery. When the Bryan’s returned to Opp, Mrs. Bryan first worked with her husband and then resumed her teaching career as a fourth-grade teacher at Fleeta. She and Mrs. Edith Stephens coached Fleeta’s Junior High Boys’ Basketball Team to a Covington County Championship. In the 1950’s, Ruby completed her bachelor’s degree at Troy State College.
All her married life, Mrs. Bryan was interested in genealogical research. She served the Alabama Genealogical Society, was a founding fellow of the Southern Society of Genealogists. For a number of years, she served as genealogical chairman for the Old Three Notch Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Andalusia; her specialty was preparing lineage records for membership applications. She was a founding member of the Opp Garden Club, a member of the Sesame Literature Club and a charter member of the Opp Historical Society. She was active in all phases of the First Baptist Church, having begun teaching Sunday School classes at age 13. She began assisting her husband in tracing his family lineage and they both began collecting information about early Covington County and its families.
Most of the information published in the Opp News Historical Edition, still stands today as the second largest history of a county ever published in the state, was compiled by the Bryans. After Mr. Bryan’s death in 1975, a manuscript for “The History of Covington County, 1821-1976,” written by the Bryans, was turned over to the Opp Historical Society and published in a hardbound edition. Mrs. Bryan died in 1982, but her name still appears on the Internet, as present-day researchers refer to her work in genealogy
The contributions of Ruby and Gus Bryan to Opp and Covington County are almost immeasurable. A great treasure was given to the citizens of this area because of the Bryan’s love of their community and the interest they had in recording the history of this county. They were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.
