Frances (2nd wife) Brown

Not the same as Frances Bourne

Marriage: after 1656

Disambiguation

Due to a transcription error in Austin's 1887 The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, it was generally thought that Frances married second Nicholas Brown. The record instead reads "Frances Bowrn", which was probably a misspelling of "Bourne". Instead of Nicholas, she likely married second Jared Bourne.

Family

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Brown-22586

Nicholas Brown married at least twice. First he married an unknown woman, probably about the time he arrived at Portsmouth in 1638. The order of his children is taken from his will, and the ages are approximate guesses. William was presumably the youngest, as his children are mentioned last in Nicholas' will. He was at least 21 in 1669 when he was a freeman. Presumably Nicholas Jr. and Abraham were both over 21 when they settled in Shrewsbury. It's probable that some or all of them were a year or more older then below listed:

1. Nicholas, eldest son, b. say 1642, settled in Shrewsbury, N.J. 1665
2. Abraham, b. say 1644, settled in Shrewsbury, N.J. 1665
3. Jane, b. say 1646, m. James Babcock (b. 1641) bef. November 16, 1694
4. William, b. abt/bef. 1648, freeman 1669, d. bef. March 1681

It does not appear that Nicholas married second Frances (unknown) Parker, the wife of George Parker. See notes below.

Notes

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Brown-22586

Many genealogies also claim that Nicholas married second Frances (Unknown) Parker. This stems from a mistranscription of "Brown" instead of "Bowrn", which seems to be a phonetic spelling of "Bourne". It seems instead that Frances married Jared Bourne. See Research Notes below, the Research Notes on Frances' page and the G2G discussion.
https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/995033/did-frances-unknown-parker-marr...

From what I can tell every genealogy (published or posted online) uses (whether credited or not) Austin's Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island (1887), p. 143, which says about the Joseph Parker (son of George and Frances):
1669. Dec. 28 He deeded land to Nicholas Brown, calling himself oldest son of George Parker, and mentioning his mother as Frances Brown
Notably in my research of the primary sources, Nicholas "Brown" is usually always referred to as "Browne" as that was the common spelling at the time, suggesting Austin's transcription was not faithful to spelling.
I can't find any other reference to Frances (Unknown) Parker marrying Nicholas Brown(e) - just this deed record.
Since there is no other evidence I can find that Nicholas married Frances (I haven't looked deeply at all for Jared), it looks like this may be the only source that Frances married again. The points above can be summarized as:

• "Bowrn" is probably a phonetic spelling of "Bourn(e)" rather than a transcription error of "Browne"
• The townclerk seemed to have copied spelling faithfully
• Both George Parker and Jarred Bourn(e) held offices and seemed to have been educated; Nicholas Brown(e) was illiterate and held no office, suggesting that Frances may have married another prominent man rather than a farmer.
• Joseph Parker required the consent of his mother to transfer his late father's land to Nicholas Browne

What are your thoughts on this issue?

References

• Torrey's New England Marriages has George Parker of Portsmouth married to "Frances" (last name unknown, possibly Johnson). She married Nicholas Brown as her second husband. Here's the entry from Torrey: PARKER, George (?1614, ?1612-1656?) & Frances ____/JOHNSON?, m/2 Nicholas BROWN 1656; by 1656?, [by 1660]; Portsmouth, RI {TAG 20:54; McIntire Anc. 76; GDMNH 383; Austin: GDRI 91, 143, 181; T. Cooke 12; Hall (,5) 135; French Anc. 58; Parker (,5) 20, 37