James Brown, of Hatfield

James Brown of Hatfield

• M, #27, (circa 1655 - 8 July 1711)
• Appears on charts: Descendants of Henry/1 Burt
• Last Edited 2 Mar 2008
• http://www.tributaries.info/p3.htm#i27

James Brown, of Hatfield, MA, was born circa 1655.1,2 He married, 7 Jan 1674 at Springfield, Remembrance/2sf Brooks of Springfield, daughter of Sgt. Samuel/2 Wright and Mary/2 Burt.3 8 Feb 1678, he took the oath of allegiance at Hatfield.4 1697, James Brown of Deerfield sold land "off his own ffree Will & alsoe with ye Consent approbation and good likeing of Remembrance Brown his Well beloved Wife."5 They were still at Deerfield, 3 May 1698.6 They removed to Colchester, CT, where he died 8 Jul 1711.7 In 1713, Remembrance Brown, widow of James Brown of Colchester, and her son James deeded land in Deerfield.7

"... James Brown perpetrated a particularly long 'train of abuses' before coming to Deerfield. In September of 1674 Brown went to court for his 'gross miscarriages in Breaking up ye House & seller of Thomas Meakins, Sr.' and stealing nine gallons of 'strong liquors and doing other damages.' For this crime Brown had to pay triple damages, plus £3 in court costs, and, gravest of all, he and his partner were 'Branded on their fforheads for their Burglary with ye letter B.' Yet even this failed to settle Brown down. At the very next court session, in March of 1675, he was 'complained of' by Hatfield's John Graves 'for breach of ye Peace—beating him about ye head and face' while Graves was that winter in the meadow loading his sled with wood. At the same court session he was further accused of 'Prophaning ye Sabath Laughing and Sporting in ye time of Publique Ordinance,' for which he spent four hours in the Northampton stocks. In light of all this, a 1684 debt action against him seems minor, almost an 'improvement.' By 1688 Brown had settled in Deerfield.
"While these actions yield no clear conclusion, the fact that nearly one-quarter of [Deerfield's] men were convicted of some crime in the county court is significant. Between inappropriate dress and sins of the flesh there emerges a picture of a young town, a frontier outpost, that was a refuge for valley people who had previously gotten in trouble with the law…."8

Family

• Remembrance/2sf Brooks b. s Jan 1654

Children

• Mary/3sf Brown9 b. 26 May 1677
• Abigail/3sf Brown9 b. 8 Sep 1678
• Thankful/3sf Brown9 b. 1 Jun 1682, d. 20 May 1759
• Sarah/3sf Brown10 b. 14 Dec 1683
• James/3sf Brown11 b. 9 Apr 1685
• Mindwell/3sf Brown+12 b. 20 Nov 1686
• Hannah/3sf Brown13 b. 1 Jun 1688
• Mercy/3sf Brown14 b. 4 Jan 1689
• Elizabeth/3sf Brown6 b. 3 Aug 1693, d. 3 May 1698
• John/3sf Brown15 b. 10 Feb 1694/95

Source Citations/Notes:

• [S28] Warner-Harrington Ancestry, 82: c. 1655.
• [S1077] Hartmann, citing Boltwood, Hadley Families (1862).
• [S929] Pynchon BMD Record Index, 17, Remembrance Brook/James Brown m.
• [S743] Wells & Wells, Hist. Hatfield, 106.
• [S233] Richard I. Melvoin, New England Outpost, 155.
• [S20] Deerfield VR, 36, Elizabeth Brown b.; 269, Elisabeth d.
• [S639] Henry M. Burt, Springfield, 2:535-536.
• [S233] Richard I. Melvoin, New England Outpost, 138.
• [S1077] Hartmann, citing Boltwood, Genealogies of Hadley Families (1862).
• [S20] Deerfield VR, 37, Sarah Brown b.
• [S20] Deerfield VR, 36, James Brown b.
• [S20] Deerfield VR, 37, Mindwell Brown b.
• [S20] Deerfield VR, 36, Hannah Brown b.
• [S20] Deerfield VR, 36, Marcy Brown b.
• [S20] Deerfield VR, 36, John Brown b.

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not a known child of John Brown, of Duxbury & Phebe Browne

• Genealogies of Connecticut Families. (2017). Google Books. Retrieved 18 January 2017, from page 234
• Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers of America. (2017). Google Books. Retrieved 18 January 2017, from page 63

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GEDCOM Source

@R453394710@ Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=157463155&pi...