Elizabeth "Jennie" Letson was born on April 9, 1874, in Griffins Mills, New York. She was the only child of Augustus Franklin Letson (1841-1900) and Nellie Webb Letson (1850-1924). Her mother was an 8th-generation direct descendant of Puritan colonist William Bradford, who came to North America on the Mayflower.[2][3]
At the age of 18, Bryan started working at the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences in 1892, where she would remain for 17 years.[3] At first, she volunteered to clean the museum and arrange the library.[4] She eventually rose to the position on Director of the Museum of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences in 1899. Elizabeth married William Alanson Bryan on March 16, 1909, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Buffalo, New York. They moved to Hawaii in May 1909, where her husband was a professor at the College of Hawaii. She worked as the librarian at the college. While living in Hawaii, she continued to collect marine shells and assist her husband with his research publications.[3]
^ abc"Dr. Elizabeth Letson Bryan, Former Buffalonian, Noted for Scientific Work, Dies in Hawaii". The Buffalo Evening Times. March 22, 1919. p. 9.
^Walker, Bryant (February 1901). "A New Amnicola". The Nautilus. XIV (10): 113–114 – via BHL Biodiversity Heritage Library.
^ abPilsbry, Henry (1917). "Marine Mollusks of Hawaii". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. LXIX: 207–333 – via BHL Biodiversity Heritage Library.
^Letson, Jennie (July 1897). "Sinstral ampullaria". The Nautilus. XI: 33–34 – via BHL Biodiversity Heritage Library.