Katherine West Brown

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Almy-23 created 7 Feb 2011 | Last modified 5 Feb 2022

Katherine (Almy) Brown (bef. 1629 - abt. 1703)

Katherine "Catharen, Catherine, Katherin" Brown formerly Almy aka Almey, West

Born before 18 Mar 1629 in South Kilworth, Leicestershire, England [uncertain]

Daughter of William Almy and Audrey (Barlowe) Almy

Sister of Anne (Almy) Greene, Christopher Almy, John Almy and Job Almy

Wife of Bartholomew West — married 1652 (to before 1675) [location unknown]

Wife of Nicholas Brown — married 1675 (to 1703) [location unknown]

Mother of Stephen West, William West, John West and Anne (West) Wooley

Died about 1703 in Shrewsbury, Monmouth, Province of New Jersey

Biography

To Be Worked

"Katherin Almey the daughter of Will[ia]m Almey and... baptized the [18?] day of March in the year 1628[/9]."[1] This baptism was located after the publication of Anderson's PGM entry on her father.

"Catherine, b. say 1630; m. about 1652 Bartholomew West"[2]

In her father's will of 28 February 1676/7, "Catharen" was willed the "cattle and moveables" with her sister and two brothers (after the death of her mother). He gave to "'my grandchild Bartholomew West' £20 when he comes to age."[2]

"Nicholas Brown, son of Nicholas, was of Shark River, where he died about 1714. He took the Oath in 1668, and was appointed Ensign by the Dutch in 1673. In 1683 he brought an action against Captain Christopher Almy. He was three times married. The name of his first wife has not been recovered. Katherine Almy, widow of Bartholomew West, became his second wife, and she dying in 1703, Mary daughter of John and Mary Chambers." (Hornor) From Anderson's Great Migration.[3]

In a letter of estimated date 23 May 1650 to John Winthrop Jr., Roger Williams, in describing the activities of the crew of a French prize vessel, reported that "one of them (having lain with Mr. Amie's daughter of Portsmouth) is like now to marry her. The parents and the English are troubled greatly." This cannot be daughter Annis, who had married John Greene by 1649, so, unless there is a third daughter otherwise unrecorded, this record must refer to daughter Catherine. She does not appear on the 1635 passenger list with her parents and two siblings. If she was born in New England, then, it could be no earlier than the latter half of 1635, which would make her no more than fourteen at the time of the incident noted above. The probable resolution is that Catherine was born in England just before or after her brother Christopher, and either was omitted from the passenger list or came at a later time. We therefore estimate her date of birth as about 1630, although a date around 1634 would also be consistent with the other evidence.

Furthermore, if this record does apply to Catherine, then she could not have been married to Bartholomew West in 1650. Pending more detailed investigation of the family of Bartholomew West, we estimate that the marriage took place about 1652.
Land Records

The following can be retrieved from the New Jersey State Archives; PDFs are available for most.[4]

Anno 1675
2 November: a warrant to the Surveyor Generall to lay out for Stephen, William, and Adey West in or about ye limits & bounds of the towne of Shrewsbury to each of them sixty acres of upland & meadow in proportion and ??? a certificate there of ????? ye secretaries' office and etc
"Ditto. A warrant to lay out for Katherin Browne the late widow of Bartholomew West within the limits and bounds of the towne of Shrewsbury for right of her deceased husband and her selfe from ye yeare 1666, 180 acres of upland & meadow in proportion and etc.
In 1679, Katherine Brown was listed as a neighboring landholder in deeds of Judah Allen, Francis Borden, Joseph Parker, Stephen West, John Chamnis, and John Havens.[5]

Death and Legacy

Katherine owned land in Shrewsbury, Monmouth County, and her husband was a resident of Shrewsbury when he wrote his will in 1711, so this is likely her place of death.

Per Horner, Katherine died before 1703; she was certainly deceased before 1710 when Nicholas Brown had a daughter with his third wife.

Sources

↑ West, Randy A. "The Baptism of Catherine (Almy) West, Daughter of William and Audrey (Barlow) Almy of Massachusetts and Rhode Island." TAG 89: 121. Citing Lutterworth, Leicestershire, bishop's transcripts, 1654-1855 [Family History Library, Salt Lake City, film #592576].
↑ 2.0 2.1 Anderson, R. C. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume 5 (A-B). (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1996-2011), 43-44. Retrieved from AmericanAncestors.org
↑ Great Migration 1634-1635, A-B. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume 1, A-B, by Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1999. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB114/i/7051/46/22074608
↑ New Jersey State Archives. Early Land Records (database). https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/EarlyLandRecord...
↑ New Jersey State Archives. Early Land Records (database). https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_ArchivesDBPortal/EarlyLandRecord...
"Marriage Record for Bartholomew West and Catharine [Almy]." Torrey, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. (Baltimore, Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004), 3, p. 1630
Sinnott, Mary Elizabeth. Annals of the Sinnott, Rogers, Coffin, Corlies. Reeves, Bodine and Allied Families (Published privately 1905)
Hornor, William S. This Old Monmouth of Ours: History, Tradition, Biography, Genealogy, Anecdotes. (Moreau, Freehold, N.J., 1932) Page 206
Chamberlain, George Walter. The English Ancestry of William Almy of Portsmouth, R.I., The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1917) Vol. 71, Page 322.
Family Search.org