James Brown       1739 - 1784?

 

 

Born:   Baptized March of 1739 in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Died:   March 18, 1784 or 1827 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. 

 

 

Spouse:          Mary (Potter) Brown married on April 16, 1769, with intentions published on April 11, 1768. 

Children:         Mary “Polly” (Brown) Dane 

                        James Brown, he was b January 12, 1772 and d April 8, 1779

                        Elizabeth (Brown) Shaw, b January 12, 1773, m Zebina Shaw, d September 14, 1850 (more below)

                        Abigail (Brown) Shaw, b October 19, 1774, m 1st  Joseph Shaw and 2nd Zachariah Chipman, d September 22, 1853 (more below)

                        Bethia (Brown) Bain, b April 23, 1776, (see below)

Priscilla Brown, bp September 10, 1780

                        Sarah (Brown) Jenkins, b May 21, 1781, m James Jenkins, d July 26, 1851

                        Anne Brown, b November 9, 1783 and d March 20, 1784

(As per Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Genealogies, Transcribed from the Yarmouth Herald, by George S. Brown, Genealogical Publ. Co., 1993.)

 

Father’s name:          Nathan Brown, Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts.

Mother’s name:         Elizabeth (Knowlton) Brown, Ipswich, Essex County, Massachusetts.

Siblings:         Elizabeth Brown

                        Nathan Brown

Jeremiah Brown

                        Hannah Brown

                        Susanna Brown

                        Nathan Brown (See below for more info.)

                        John Brown

                        Abraham Brown                   

 

           

James Brown:  It is uncertain when he was born, an LDS contributor says it is “about 1743”.  There is an entry in the “Tan Book” , an index of Ipswich, MA Vital Records (Available online at: http://www.ma-vitalrecords.org/EssexCounty/Ipswich/ ) which shows a James Brown, son of William Jr. and Elizabeth, baptized November 30, 1746.  (William as the father is likely wrong.)  Nathan Brown, husband of Elizabeth Knowlton is generally considered to be James’ father, so there is some controversy here.  Is there a clerical error in the entry?  James married Margaret “Mary” Potter on April 16, 1769 in Ipswich, MA, with intentions being noted April 11, 1768.  James died March 18, 1784 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.  However, there is some debate regarding this date.  A note in the Francelia Nagel Collection in the Yarmouth County Museum & Archives gives the year of his death as 1827, but 1827 is generally regarded as the year for the death of wife Mary.  I have seen a record of a sale of land between James Brown and son-in-law Thomas Dane occurring in 1786. 

 

James’ brother is Nathan Brown.  Nathan was married June 15, 1772 to Sarah Soames or Somes, daughter of Capt, Isaac Soames of Gloucester, Massachusetts, who died at sea in 1755.  This marriage is noted as the first marriage performed at the earlier church at Cheboque by the Rev. Jonathan Scott.  Isaac Soames was the son of Timothy and Eunice Somes and Timothy was the son of Timothy and Elizabeth Soames.  Nathan and Sarah had 5 children:

                        Mary Brown, b April 12, 1773, d December 27, 1779

                        Lydia Brown, b October 17, 1775

                        Nathan Brown, b December 9, 1778

                        Mary Brown, b May 14, 1781

                        James Brown, b August 8, 1783

            Nathan died in Ipswich, Massachusetts on January 10, 1823.

 

According to a variety of Nova Scotia history resources, James and Nathan’s father was William J. Brown and he only had the two children.  (William as their father is likely wrong.  The note of having only two children is also wrong.  What is generally accepted is that their were two sons yet living.)  James and Nathan Brown were early settlers in the Yarmouth area, coming from Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1767.  James had settled at Chegoggin at the head of a salt pond which became know as Brown’s Salt Pond.  Nathan Brown settled in Cape Ann, but later returned with his family to Massachusetts.  They are both mentioned in the Yarmouth Township Grant dated April 7, 1767.

 

Many of the details regarding the Brown family is from the George Stayley Brown book Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Genealogies: Transcribed from the Yarmouth Herald; Genealogical Pub. Co., Baltimore, MD, 1993.

 

The compilation Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867, Volumes 1 and 2, by retired Col. Leonard H. Smith Jr. (Genealogical Pub. Co., Baltimore, MD, 1992) mentions a James and Nathan Brown coming from Ipswich to Yarmouth in 1766, and they are both the sons of Nathan and Elizabeth.  These and other sources do not help us reach a consensus.

 

Another Dane family researcher, Gretchen Dane Burdick, makes reference to a letter dated June 8, 1773 from a Nathan Brown in Ipswich to several men in Yarmouth talking about a disagreement between his two sons Nathan and James.  She says that she has confirmed the Brown lineage using several sources as James 5, Nathan 4, John 3, John 2, John 1. 

 

The following is the text of a letter found in an artifact, a journal, at the Yarmouth County Museum & Archives.  It was written by James’ daughter Mary “Polly” Brown just after her marriage to Thomas Dane in 1788.  What’s interesting, and awkward, are her references to her sisters Mary, Susan, “N”, and Mercy.  “N” most likely is for Nancy.  It seems like my above listing of children may be wrong, so I’ll keep digging.   I have not begun to try and discover who the possible Uncle Polly addressing may be, but Yarmouth Genealogies claims that James Brown only had one sibling, a brother named Nathan, so I’ll assume it is him for now.  I have found a suggestion for a cousin Abigail Brown, who died a year later in 1789.  She had married Edward Walden, becoming Mrs. Abigail Walden and thus possibly is the cousin A.W.  This journal also shared ownership with a Eunice Brown in 1788.   So I have the challenge to find a family that accommodates all these names.

 

A Letter from a Niece to her Uncle    1788

Having not heard from you for a considerable time, and doubting very much you are not well, because in your last you seemed to intimate something like it, I could not rest satisfied without troubling you with these few Lines to enquire after Your health, which I shall be very glad to hear of.  My Sisters are all indifferent well.  and remember their duty to you and would be glad to hear from you; especially my Sisters Mary and Susan, whom you were pleased to promise a letter from you and which they accordingly expect.  My Cousin A.W. is dead.  To the great grief of her Father and Mother; she dyed of a Consumption.  My Sister N. and her two Sons were very well lately; and I hope are so still.  My Sister Mercy is much better than she was.  Pray give my kind Love to all my Cousins.  &C. [Etcetera]

                        Your dutiful Cousin,    M. D.  [Mary “Polly” Dane]

 

 

I’m noting In Yarmouth Genealogies that James and wife Mary both died on March 18, 1784 in Yarmouth.  However, I have not come up with any notes regarding how they died.  Was there an accident?  Add that the last daughter, Anne passed 2 days later.

 

Daughter Bethia married Capt. Alexander Bain (II) about 1797 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.  Alexander Bain (I), father of Alexander Bain (II) was born about 1753 or 1754, has the interesting history of being the survivor of a shipwreck when he was eight years old in 1762.  His parents and a sister were all lost.  The story goes that he scrambled onto a piece of wreckage and was rescued by John MacKinnon of Chebogue, Nova Scotia.  The MacKinnon family raised Alexander and he kept the Bain surname.  Alexander first married Elizabeth Scott and had five children, all girls: Elizabeth, Rebecca, Hannah, Emily, and Jane.  Secondly, he married Sarah Perry, daughter of Moses Perry, on December 12, 1774.  Alexander and Sarah had 9 children: William, Barbara, Alexander (II), Moses, John E., Sarah, Samuel, Joseph, Eleanor, Anna, and Bethia.  There is a theory that the father of Alexander (I) may have been Kenneth Bain who owned a castle in Dingwall, Scotland.  It is suggested that the castle was sold in 1762 by Kenneth Bain to a cousin named William Davidson.  Then Kenneth Bain and his family boarded a ship and headed west to the Americas, but all were lost at sea except son Alexander.  (Exerpted from an Ancestry.com message board conversation with descendant Ruth Joan Bain dated June 28, 2008.  She cites having heard the story from great aunt by my great grandmother, Mrs. Israel Bain in 1912.)  Children of Alexander (II) and Bethia (Brown) Bain are: Alexander (III), Sarah, Havileth or Havileta, Alice, Azor, Mary B., and James Brown Bain.  I do have some additional information regarding son Alexander Bain (III).

 

Daughters Elizabeth and Abigail married brothers Zebina and Joseph Shaw, sons of Moses and Ann (Phinney) Shaw.  The families settled in Granville, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, a coastal village north of Yarmouth.  The above mentioned journal does reference another Shaw son, David, probably b April 18, 1771 in Abington, Massachusetts and d February 8, 1818 in Weymouth, Massachusetts.  (I’ll be posting my transcription of the entire journal in the near future.)

 

I’ve also found a reference in an LDS record for a Mary Brown, b. abt. 1689 in Ipswich, MA and d. September 13, 1766.  She was the daughter of Nathaniel and Judith (Perkins) Brown.  Mary married John Hubbard and they had 6 children.  I do not know if this Brown family has a relationship to my Brown family.

 

Below is another source of information regarding James parents, William and Elizabeth.  From: New England Phipps Family:  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~walkersj/Phipps8.htm 

However, the additional children, absence of Nathan as a child, and various dates do not coincide with my other information, so I’m doubt if this refers to our James Brown.

ELIZABETH8 PHIPPS (JAMES7, JOHN6, JAMES5, WILLIAM4, ROBERT3) was born Bet. 1712 - 1717 in Gloucester Essex Co., Massachusetts, and died Aft. 1735.  She married WILLIAM BROWN December 09, 1735 in Gloucester, Essex Co., Massachusetts, son of JOHN BROWN and ELIZABETH SOMES.  He was born July 03, 1714 in Gloucester Essex Co., Massachusetts, and died after 1735.
 Children of ELIZABETH PHIPPS and WILLIAM BROWN are:
    i.    ELIZABETH9 BROWN, baptized October 03, 1736, Gloucester, Essex Co., Massachusetts.
    ii.   WILLIAM BROWN, baptized October 01, 1738, Gloucester, Essex Co., Massachusetts.
    iii.  ABIGAIL BROWN, baptized July 10, 1743, Gloucester, Essex Co., Massachusetts; d. November 11, 1793.
    iv.  EUNICE BROWN, baptized December 1745, Gloucester, Essex Co., Massachusetts.
    v.   HANNAH BROWN, baptized October 02, 1748, Gloucester, Essex Co., Massachusetts.
    vi.  JAMES BROWN, baptized June 03, 1753, Gloucester, Essex Co., Massachusetts; d. 1779, the Revolutionary War; m. MARY ELWELL, August 06, 1772, Gloucester, Essex Co., Massachusetts; b. July 24, 1753, Gloucester Essex Co., Massachusetts; d. September 1835.

Another researcher suggests that Elizabeth Phipps’ husband William is the son of John and Elizabeth (Somes) Brown.  If true, would this Somes be related to the above mentioned Somes?

                       

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