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Our Maternal

Brown

Family Ancestors

 

An Introduction

Origins of the Surname

Variations of the Surname

Direct Ancestors

Family Location Information

Source Documents

Website Resources

Family Images Gallery

Contact Information

OUR Brown FAMILY

An Introduction

   

     Our Brown family line is another example of those restless Scotch-Irish pioneers who settled the newly open lands beyond the Appalachian Mountains during the early years of the Republic.   Prior to the American Revolution the Brown family lived in that area of Virginia now know as Russell and Washington counties. 

     Although not fully proven we believe that James Brown is the father of our 3rd great-grandfather Robert Brown.  This is due to the fact that Russell County tax records show James Brown and Robert Brown listed together beginning in 1790.  Also James Brown appears to be age appropriate as county records show him as an active adult at the time when the county was formed in 1785.

     Robert Brown was born in Washington County in 1772.  He probably married his first wife Sarah around 1793.  To this union at least 5 children were born between c.1794 and 1809.    Robert Brown appears on the Russell county tax lists between 1790 and 1796.  As such it is probable that he migrated to Kentucky around 1797.   This premise is supported by Russell County land records showing Robert Brown and wife Sarah, purchasing 80 acres of land in Russell County on the Clinch River near Little Cedar Creek in July of 1794. They then sold this property on October 24, 1797.

     After Sarah wife died in Kentucky sometime between 1810 and 1815 he married Jemima Walker on February 18, 1816 in Floyd County, Kentucky.  Robert was 44 years old at this time and was probably residing in the locality of Floyd County where the Beaver Creek joins the west branch of the Big Sandy River, aka Levisa River.

     Around 1826 Robert moved his family from Kentucky to Edgar County, Illinois where he is recognized as one of the original settlers of Paris Township.  He lived in that location up until the early part of 1851, where upon he removed to Osage County, Missouri and died the next year at the age of 80 years.

     Our family lineage continues through Robert and Jemima’s daughter Lydia Ann, born 1834.  Lydia Ann married John Moreland 1853 at Crawford County, Missouri.  She and her husband resided in Maries County for 50 years, where four known children were born between 1855 and 1866.  One these   children was Jeremiah Moreland (1858-1901) from whom we are descended.

    Some time in 1907 John and Lydia moved from Maries County, Missouri along with the families of their grandson John Alton Jones and granddaughter Martha O. (Jones) Cox.  They settled in the Voorhees Twp. area of Stevens County, Kansas with plans to farm and grow watermelons to sell the seed.  During the winter of 1913 Lydia contracted pneumonia fever.  Several weeks later, in March, she passed away at the home of her granddaughter Martha O. (Jones) Cox.  According to her obituary a large crowd attended her burial at the cemetery in Barden, Oklahoma.  Apparently Lydia was loved and respected by all who knew her, ever doing a kindness where she could.  Had she lived until May, 1913 she would have been 79 years old.

 

Brown

Origins of the Surname*

     The Brown surname is English, Scottish, and Irish in origin.  Originally this name would probably have been a nationlistic or tribal nickname for a person with a brown complexion or hair, although it may also have referred to someone who habitually wore brown clothing, such as a monk or cleric. Middle English br(o)un, from Old English brun or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brun as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brungar, Brunwine, etc. As a Scottish and Irish name, it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn. As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.   Recorded in many spellings this ancient and prolific surname derives, from a pre 7th century Germanic and Anglo-Saxon word "brun" or the Olde Norse personal name "Bruni". The baptismal name as Brun or the latinized Brunus, was a popular name in the period up to the introduction of surnames in the 12th century. 

     The Brown surname is first found in Cumberland and Northumberland, where this family was seated from very early times, having been granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.  Amongst the early surname recordings are those of Hugh Bron of Stafford, England, in the year 1274, and Hugo Brun of Erfurt, Germany, in 1407. The first recorded spelling of the family name anywhere in the world is probably that of William le Brun, which was dated 1169, in the Pipe Rolls of the county of Northumberland, England. This was during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The church builder", 1154 - 1189.  Irish name holders derive from 12th century Norman sources. In the west the Browne's are the descendants of a knight called " Hugo le Brun", amd form one of the ancient "Tribes of Galway", as recorded in the "Annals of the nine kings". The Browne's of Killarney form a separate branch and are descended from a later Elizabethan settler.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4 Family Facts (Ancestry.com)

Source: SurnameDB: Free database of surname meanings

 

Christopher Browne is recorded as being one of the very first settlers in the new American colonies. In the very first listing of the colonists of New England he is shown to be "living in Virginea, on February 16th 1623".  Other first American settlers of this name or some of its variants were: Abigail Brown, who settled in Maryland in 1668; Alex Brown, who immigrated to Boston in 1763; Richard Brown, who came to Maryland in 1774; Hugh Brown and his wife Margory, who emigrated from Scotland to Philadelphia in 1775.

 

*Although the Domesday Book compiled by William the Conqueror required surnames, the use of them in the British Isles did not become fixed until the time period between 1250 and 1450.  The broad range of ethnic and linguistic roots for British surnames reflects the history of Britain as an oft-invaded land. These roots include, but are not limited to, Old English, Middle English, Old French, Old Norse, Irish, Gaelic, Celtic, Pictish, Welsh, Gaulish, Germanic, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. 

     Throughout the British Isles, there are basically five types of native surnames. Some surnames were derived from a man's occupation (Carpenter, Taylor, Brewer, Mason), a practice that was commonplace by the end of the 14th century.  Place names reflected a location of residence and were also commonly used (Hill, Brook, Forrest, Dale) as a basis for the surname, for reasons that can be easily understood.  Nicknames that stuck also became surnames.  About one-third of all US surnames in the United States are Patronymic in origin, and identified the first bearer of the name by his father (or grandfather in the case of some Irish names).  Acquired ornamental names were simply made up, and had no specific reflection on the first who bore the name. They simply sounded nice, or were made up as a means of identification, generally much later than most surnames were adopted.

 Source: http://www.obcgs.com/LASTNAMES.htm

Brown Variations of

 the Surname

The complexity of researching records is compounded by the fact that in many cases an ancestors surname may have been misspelled.  This is especially true when searching census documents. Spelling variations of this family name include: Spelling variations of this family name include: Brown, Broune, De Bruyn, Brauner, Bruni and Brunet.

 

The Soundex system was developed in an effort to assist with identifying spelling variations for a given surname. Soundex is a method of indexing names in the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 US Census, and can aid genealogists in their research.   Soundex Code for BROWN = B650. Other surnames sharing this Soundex Code: BARHAM | BARNEY | BARON | BARONE | BARRON | BERNA | BIRNEY | BIRNIE | BOOROM | BOREN | BORN | BOURN | BOURNE | BOWRON | BRAIN | BRAME | BRANN | BRAUN | BREEN | BRIEN | BRIM | BRIMM | BRINN | BRION | BROOM | BROOME | BROWN | BROWNE | BRUEN | BRUHN | BRUIN | BRUMM | BRUN | BRUNO | BRYAN | BURIAN | BURN | BURNEY | BYRAM | BYRNE | BYRON | BYRUM |

Source: Surname Resources at ROOTSWEB

Searching for more Information about this and other surnames?

Then take a look at our:

SURNAME LOCATOR RESOURCES WEBPAGE

Brown

Direct Ancestors

Additional information about our DIRECT ANCESTORS and their

families may be reviewed by clicking on the name LINK(s) below.

NAME

BIRTH / DEATH / LOCATIONS

BROWN, James, (??)

b: ABT 1746 in Virginia

BROWN, Robert

b: 30 DEC 1772 in Washington County, Virginia

d: 29 DEC 1852 in Osage County, Missouri

BROWN, Lydia Ann

b: MAY 1834 in Paris Twp., Edgar County, Illinois

d: 15 MAR 1913 in Voorhees Twp., Stevens Co., Kansas

The following LINK will take you to a complete listing of individuals with this surname.

MMPS Surname Locator

Free Genealogy Surname Search Help from Google

This free genealogy site to help you get the best genealogy searches from Google™ by using your family tree, for your research. It will create a series of different searches using tips or "tricks" that

will likely improve your results. The different searches will give you many different ways of using Google and the Internet to find ancestry information about this or any other Surname. 

Brown

Family Location Information

Researching the locations where our ancestors lived has provided us with valuable evidence needed to fill-in the gaps in our family trees.  It has also led us to many interesting facts that enhance the overall picture of each family group.  The names of states and counties on the following list were derived from the known places where the persons in the “Direct Ancestors” list (see above) were born, married, and/or died.

COUNTRY

STATE

COUNTY / SUBDIVISION

UNITED STATES

ILLINOIS

Edgar

KANSAS

Stevens

KENTUCKY

Floyd

MISSOURI

Crawford, Osage

VIRGINIA

Washington (Russell)

Use this LINK to find out more about the locations listed above.

ANCESTRAL LOCATIONS

Brown

Source Documents

The documents contained herein have been located during our research of this family, and used as evidence to prove many of the facts contained within the database of this family’s record.

 

     Most of these documents can be considered as primary or secondary.  Primary evidence is usually defined as the best available to prove the fact in question, usually in an original document or record.  Secondary evidence is in essence all that evidence which is inferior in its origin to primary evidence. That does not mean secondary evidence is always in error, but there is a greater chance of error.  Examples of this type of evidence would be a copy of an original record, or oral testimony of a record’s contents.  Published genealogies and family histories are also secondary evidence.

     Classifying evidence as either primary or secondary does not tell anything about its accuracy or ultimate value.  This is especially true of secondary evidence.  Thus it is always a good idea to ask the following questions: (1) How far removed from the original is it, (when it is a copy)?;  (2) What was the reason for the creation of the source which contains this evidence?; and (3) Who was responsible for creating this secondary evidence and what interest did they have in its accuracy?

SOURCE:  Greenwood, Val D., The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 2nd edition, Genealogical Publishing  Co., Baltimore, MD 21202, 1990, pgs. 62-63

 

You are welcome to download any of the documents contained within this archive.

  Should you encounter a problem obtaining a copy you may get in touch with

 us via the contact information found at the end of this page.

Use the following LINK to view the source documents pertaining to this family.

SOURCE DOCUMENTS

Brown

Website Resources

The following search engine and websites may provide you with additional information to assist with your research about persons with this surname.

 

 

o        Search Genealogy Surnames for Brown

o        Search All-Biographies for Brown

Source: Surname Genealogy Search - SurnameWeb

Search these Sites for BROWN:

Ancestry.com  - Genealogy.com - CousinConnect.com - DistantCousin.com - MyCinnamonToast;

 

Additional Sites That We Recommend

Linkpendium Surnames - Web sites, obituaries, biographies, and other material specific to a surname.

Surname Finder | Free Ancestry Search Resource - online since 1998, providing easy access to free and commercial resources for 1,731,359 surnames. On each surname specific "finder" page, you can search a variety of online databases all pre-programmed with your surname.

Cyndi's List - Surnames, Family Associations & Family Newsletters Index - Sites or resources dedicated to specific, individual family surnames.

Free Genealogy Search Help for Google - This free genealogy site will help you use Google™ for your research. It will create a series of different searches using tips or "tricks" that will likely improve your results. The different searches will give you many different ways of using Google to find ancestry information on the Internet. 

FamilySearch.org - Family History and Genealogy Records - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

Top Genealogical Websites - These mighty roots resources compiled by “Family Tree Magazine”, will give you the power to bust through research brick walls and find answers about your ancestors—all from your home computer.

SurnameDB Free database of surname meanings - This site SurnameDB.Com contains a large FREE to access database (almost 50,000 surnames) on the history and meaning of family last names.

 

Brown

 Family Images Gallery

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a particular family.  Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of our ancestors past lives.

 

If you have any photographs or other images relating to this

ancestral family we would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Use the following LINKS to ascertain whether we have any images that pertain to this family.

FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS and IMAGES

Contact Information

Email

Snail Mail:

Fred
889 Dante Ct.
Mantua, NJ 08051

USA

Email

Pony Express:

Tom
27 Christopher Dr.
Burton, NB E2V3H4
Canada