BROWN-L Archives

Archiver > BROWN > 1997-12 > 0881166793


From: sjohnson <>
Subject: RESEND: Isaac BROWN of Guilford, VT, 1777 & descendents
Date: Wed, 03 Dec 1997 11:33:13 -0500


All-

Posting again. I am interested in hearing from anyone who is connected to
the below line. I have worked on this line for some time, and have not
seen it published anywhere else. I do know a little bit about some of the
connected lines but did not include in the interest of trying to keep
focused on the BROWNS.

Sarah

What I (Sarah Johnson) know of Isaac Brown (1736?-1803) of Guilford, VT and
some of his descendents:

1. Isaac Brown m. Elizabeth –
2. Isaac 1762-1834 m. Mary WEATHERHEAD 1764-1837
3. Abraham
4. Jacob
5. Samuel b. about 1776 m. Rachel JONES of Buckland, MA 4/27/1798
6. John (b. 1780) m. Sylvalla JONES of Buckland, MA 6/15/1802
7. Susannah m. Edmund(?) SATTERFIELD
8. Phebe m. (1?) Levi SMITH 2/17/1807, (2) Wm. JONES of Buckland, MA, (3)
Joshua TOTMAN of Colrain 10/4/1815 (I think he lived on Catamount Hill)
9. Mary m. Abner LAKE
10. Lydia m. Jonathan SPRAGUE of Buckland 11/22/1790 (they lived on
Catamount Hill, Colrain, MA, then removed to Spragueville, NY with many
others.)
11. Sarah (Sally) m. Wm. FRANKLIN 6/21/1795
12. Elizabeth (Betsy?) m. James BROWN 2/1/1816 (unrelated as far as we know)
13. Joseph

note: the above children are not in birth order because I don’t have birth
dates for most of them. Sources: records in the family folder in Colrain
library, vitals, and Elizabeth Brown’s will, dated 1813.

2. Isaac Brown and Mary WEATHERHEAD had at least one son, Isaac, who m.
Delinda KEEP. Their known children:
Emla Keep b. 5/4/1518
Hanna D. b.4/26/1817
Mary M. b.3/12/1819
Isaac Emerson b. 4/6/1821, d. 11/1/1833
Agusta b. 1824, d. 1875
George R. b. 1829, d. 3/26/1849
Alfred b. 1831, d. 1893. m. Mary MILLER, d. 1903
Isaac(?) d. 1831 buried next to Alfred S. may have been a twin brother
who did not survive?

5. Samuel (Catta) BROWN m. (1) Rachel JONES of Buckland, MA 1798, (2) Mrs.
Rhoba/Phoebe COOLIDGE (d. of Josiah and Tabitha FULHAM COOLIDGE) of Colrain
4/22/1815. Samuel’s known children:
14. Samuel Jr. b. 1804 d. after 1865
15. John 1807-1877
16. Malona (Lonnie)1816-1879
17. Abraham
18. Sylvalla (Suzy?)
19. Martha?
20. 3-5 more?

14. Samuel Jr. BROWN m. Abigail HASTINGS, (b. 1804, d. of Zebina and Sarah
HASTINGS) of Charlemont, MA. Not sure of marriage date. Their known
children:
21. John L. b. 1825 m. Jerusha M. CLARK 1848 (she b. 1831 to Adam and Sarah
CLARK of Buckland, MA)
22. Alonzo R. (1836-1893) m. Elvira MINER(1841-1912) 1860 (she d of Benj.
and Almira MINER of Leyden, MA)
23. Caroline L. b. 1840 m. Jerah C. MINER 1860 (he b. 1835 to Randall and
Hannah BAKER MINER of Leyden, MA)
24. Henry b. 1843
25. Harriet b. 1846

15. John BROWN m. (1) Minerva EDSON of Buckland, MA 1829. Their known
children:
26. Horace (1831-1894) m. Orcelia SPRAGUE
27. Windsor (1833-1913) m. Juliette ? (d. probably in Albany, NY)
28. Mary (1834- after 1903) m. Louis HEATON 1853. rem. to Tarma Co., Iowa
29. Edwin (1836- bef. 1877?) m. Abigail ? rem. to West Jersey, Stark Co.
IL. Think they might have moved back to New York.
30. Harriet Minerva (1838-1919) m. - HEATH, rem. to Presque Isle, MI..

(2) Elizabeth MARCY BROWN (1816- 1847) 1845. (she was the widow of John’s
cousin, Chandler BROWN. John and Chandler’s fathers were brothers (John
and Samuel) and their mothers were likely sisters (Rachel and Sylvallah
JONES, both of Buckland.) Chandler d. in 1845, leaving Elizabeth with
three children: Irving, Almon/Elmond, and Charles.) Known child of
Elizabeth and John:
31. Chandler Eugene (BROWN) SMITH 1847-1929 m. Sarah GATES
Note: Chandler was left with a childless minister and his wife when a
baby. John took his other children and moved to Spragueville, NY.
Chandler was adopted and settled in Leominster, MA. He stayed in touch
with his siblings, and met them in 1924/5. His descendants still live in
the same house in Leominster.
(3) Priscilla EDSON SHIPPEE (1808-bef. 1856) in 1848. (she d. of David and
Polly BELDING EDSON of Ashfield, MA.) Priscilla was sister to John’s first
wife, Minerva EDSON, and widow of Josiah SHIPPEE, who died in 1848 in
Spragueville, NY. She was lift with 6 children: Francis, Orin, Samuel,
Thurston, Suzannah, and Electa. She and John are not known to have had any
children.
(4) Fidelia GILLETT (1826-1892) 1856. (she d. of Norris and Martha Ann
HAUKE GILLETT). Norris was descended from Jonathan GILLET, who came to
Dorchester, MA on the Mary and John in 1630 and settled in Windsor, CT in
1635. Known children of Fidelia and John:
32. Minerva Culbertson 1857-1949? m. Louis HEATON (her sister’s widower)
33. Curtis b. 1859
34. Franklin Edwin (1860-1925) m. Wilhelmina Bancroft (d. 1925) (she d. of
George and Eliza Jane ROOD BANCROFT) They lived in Glen Park, NY.
35. Malona (May) (1867-1952) m. - WYETH

27. Windsor BROWN m. Juliette ? . Their known children:
36. Frederick Wullen BROWN b. about 1860 in NY. d. 1893 in Atlanta, GA
37. John Holmes BROWN b. ca. 1864 in NY, d. after 1903

29. Edwin BROWN m Abigail ? about 1841. In 1860 he was listed as a
shoemaker int he Fowler, NY census. He and his sister Harriet had lived
with Jehial and Martha Gillet in 1850.. Jehial was a shoemaker as well.
Known children:
38. Idah J. b. ca. 1857
39. Charles N. b ca. 1859
40. Etta b. bef. 1877

NOTE ON SOME OF THE BROWNS LISTED ABOVE:
1. Isaac Brown Sr. He first shows up in Guilford, VT. The house where he
lived is still standing, and the farm was in the family for 220 years. It
was just sold a few years ago because of family tragedy. (It eventually
passed through marriage to the Coombs family- Mary Brown married a COOMBS-
so it was recently known as the Coombs farm). In spite of much searching,
we have not been able to figure out from where Isaac came. I think he
lived 1736-1803. Elizabeth (last name not known- if you research MA
records, Elizabeth MILLETT has been ruled out)- died in 1813 and left a
will with all of her children listed.

We do know that Isaac suddenly showed up in 1777 in Guilford and bought
land with Continental Dollars. Usually it was only Rev. War vets who had
this money. A thorough search of all MA Rev. War vets has turned up
nothing for us. He might have served in another state, or sold land to
vets elsewhere and acquired the money that way. He is our big mystery. (I
tracked down the Isaac Brown of Ashby, MA- not our Isaac).

There is some talk that our Isaac came from Dover, VT, now part of
Wardsboro. I was unable to locate him in the Wardsboro records, nor in any
of the cemeteries there. There is more work to be done. There is also a
possibility that he came from Rhode Island, because his neighbor, Philip
Franklin, came from there. The Browns and Franklins were very close (their
houses are right across the road from eachother) and so there could be a
previous connection. He could also be the Isaac Brown listed in the 1771
census in Deerfield, MA.

The Isaac Brown from Hopkinton, MA has been ruled out.

5. Samuel "Catta" Brown. He leased a sawmill from Nathan MILLET in
Guilford, VT in 1800 for 11 years. He showed up in Colrain, MA in 1810 on
Catamount Hill. We have recently identified the site of his sawmill on
Catamount Hill. He was living in Whitingham, VT in 1850, as a pauper. He
was a Methodist. Note: any descendants of this Samuel Brown are by birth
members of the Catamount Hill Association- a group which has been meeting
every five years since 1875 to celebrate the heritage of those who lived on
Catamount Hill. For more info, please contact: Prentice CROSIER, 80
Wincester Street, Brookline, MA 02146 (). Our next
meeting will be in 2000, but we have annual hikes on the hill every summer.
All who are able are welcome. (No $ solicited).

A part of a poem in the Catamount Hill Association records says:

"From there across the meadow I then went on
To where Catta Brown lived; his wife had been gone
And Martha had stayed to make herself useful
Giving Lonny and Abram of milk each a cupful
I found Abram away, he was lame to his sorrow
and had gone to Uncle Peter’s (Shippee- author’s uncle) his crutches to
borrow"

there is also the reference to the hen:

"Abram’s father said tell Susy to pick it and cook it for dinner"

I think these words were written by Fanny Bowen Shippee.

15. John Brown (Sarah Johnson’s gggrandfather). John Brown was poor his
whole life. He grew up on Catamount Hill (Colrain, MA) and then removed to
Whitingham, VT for awhile in the 1840s. He was in debt and when he went to
New York State, his creditors sent someone after him. They returned saying
that he was destitute and had nothing of value to confiscate. (1845). He
removed to Spragueville, New York shortly after to join his Aunt Lydia
SHIPPEE. The house he built is still standing- the gentle woman who lives
there still has to use the outhouse and hand pumps her water. The barn he
built was still standing straight, but was blown down in a violent storm
recently. When John Brown died, he left one dollar to each of his children.

REGARDING THE FRANKLINS:
Philip FRANKLIN came to Guilford, VT in 1777 with his family from Scituate,
RI. They lived across the road from Isaac Brown and his family. Philip’s
daughter Rachel married an unrelated Brown in Colrain, and lived to be a
very old woman. This causes some confusion when trying to trace Rachel
JONES BROWN, w. to Samuel BROWN. It is believed that Rachel Jones Brown d.
young- before 1815, since he remarried in 1815. I did not find any record
of Isaac Brown in Rhode Island yet.

Christchurch Cemetery has the following Browns buried there: (it is an
Episcopal church)

in lot #27:
Agusta Brown 1824-1875
Delinda Keep Brown 1791-1877
George R. Brown 1829-1847
Isaac Brown 1793-1870
Isaac Emerson Brown 1821-1833

in lot #48: (right next to lot #27)
Alfred S. Brown 1831-1893
Isaac Brown d. 1831 (probably an infant)
Isaac Brown 1762-1834
Mary Brown 1764-1837
Mary Miller Brown d. 1908
Abbie Aurissa Brown 1865-1867
Clara Augusta Brown 1862-1865
Mary Coombs

This thread: