GEN-MEDIEVAL-L Archives

From: John Brandon <>
Subject: Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2008 07:28:02 -0800 (PST)
References: <68d53e09-7af9-45d5-ae29-f986e1a3e863@d21g2000prf.googlegroups.com><a142d0dd-b0f5-4412-89e1-6b8dc174f522@e25g2000prg.googlegroups.com> <fbe6a665-c7b6-49ec-844c-e902fe15a7f5@c49g2000hsc.googlegroups.com> <cd78f217-bb46-4c66-9c7c-1059a1080524@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com> <b7ee1d88-411c-4431-b9ed-3c8d987b547e@e10g2000prf.googlegroups.com>

1634 (William Brown)

CHILDREN:

With second wife

...

vi BENJAMIN, b. by 1648 (witnessed a 1662 deed [ELR 3:8]; m. by an
unknown date ____ ____ (in his will of 8 November 1708 he referred to
"my dear late wife" [NEHGR 63:361-62]). (Secondary sources claim that
Benjamin married at Charlestown in 1686 Mary Hicks, but no record of
such a marriage can be found in Charlestown, nor is there a Hicks
family there.)

I can explain the basis for the claimed marriage to Mary Hicks, and
think it probable. The sources for this claim are two statements by
bookseller and writer John Dunton. In his _Letters Written from New-
England, A.D. 1686_, Dunton wrote:

In the same ship with Mr. [Charles] Morton came over one Mrs. Hicks,
with the valuable Venture of her own fair Person, which went off at an
Extraordinary Rate, having married a Gentleman worth L40,000, as is
reported [John Dunton, _Letters Written from New-England, A.D. 1686_,
ed. W. H. Whitmore (Boston: Prince Society, 1867), pp. 297-298].

In a later publication, Dunton repeated this statement almost
verbatim, but noted that the husband was a merchant, not gentleman,
and was worth 30,000 pounds (not 40,000):

John Dunton, _The Life and Errors of John Dunton, Citizen of London_
(London, 1818; reprint, New York: Burt Franklin, 1969), vol. 1, p.
124:

In the same ship with Mr. [Charles] Morton came over one Mrs. Hicks,
with the valuable Venture of her beautiful person, which went off at
an extraordinary rate; she marrying a Merchant in Salem worth thirty
thousand pounds [John Dunton, _The Life and Errors of John Dunton,
Citizen of London_ (London, 1818; reprint, New York: Burt Franklin,
1969), 1:124].

An article on the very prominent Brown family of Salem in _The Essex
Antiquarian_ states that Benjamin Brown died "Dec. 7, 1708, leaving an
estate of thirty thousand pounds."

http://books.google.com/books?id=cG4uxPajveIC&pg=PA160&dq=benjamin+browne+salem+hicks

With such a fortune, Benjamin Brown must have been one of the richest
New England merchants (if not *the* richest) of his day. John Dunton,
who had returned to England shortly after 1686, probably kept up a
correspondance with some of his New England friends, and at any rate
would have had no trouble discovering the precise value of Benjamin
Brown's estate after his death in 1708; hence the redacted text in his
second description of the beautiful "Mrs. Hicks."

This thread:

• Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>

  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>

  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by wjhonson <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>
  • Re: A few additions and corrections to the _Great Migration_ volumes by John Brandon <>