Needham Bryan was born in Bertie County, North Carolina on October 31, 1726. A resident of Johnston County, North Carolina, Bryan was a local justice of the peace and also served in the North Carolina Colonial Assembly from 1760 to 1769. From 1775 to 1776 he served as the colonel of the Johnston County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia. He died in Johnston County in about May 1777. According to a 1780 trial document, Bryan's death was brought about by poisoning, perpetrated by Jenney, an African American woman enslaved by the Bryan family.