Thomas Brown of Lynn

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Thomas Brown Sr.
Born 1628 in Englandmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling%28s%29 unknown]
Husband of Mary (Newhall) Brown — married 15 Jun 1651 in Lynn, Essex, Massachusettsmap
DESCENDANTS descendants
Father of Thomas Brown Jr., Mary Brown, Sarah Brown, Joseph Brown, Sarah Brown, Jonathon Brown, John Brown, Mary (Brown) Norwood, Jonathon Brown, Eleazer Brown, Ebenezer Brown, Daniel Brown, Ann Brown, Grace Brown and Daniel Brown
Died 28 Aug 1693 in Lynn, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Baymap
Profile manager: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree Find Relationship private message [send private message]
Brown-3024 created 7 Feb 2011 | Last modified 28 May 2021
This page has been accessed 5,223 times.
The Puritan Great Migration.
Thomas Brown Sr. migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1620-1640).
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Contents

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1 Disputed Origins
2 Biography
2.1 Marriage and Children
2.2 Death
2.3 Will
2.4 Burial
3 Research Notes
4 Sources
Disputed Origins

The origins and parents of Thomas Brown are disputed; no reliable source has been made viewable that concludes he was the son of Nicholas Browne and Elizabeth (Leids) Browne; please see Research Notes below for further explanation.

Biography

Thomas Browne was born about 1628 (in a deposition taken 1 July1668, he calls himself "ae 40 yrs or thereabouts")[1] He was a dishturner and was said to be of Grawton [Groton], Middlesex in June 1663, when he deeded land to William Longley of Lynn.[2]

Marriage and Children

Thomas Brown married Mary Newhall about 1652, based on the birth of their first child estimated to be in 1653.[3] [4][Note that Mary's first appearance in the records is not until 1658. Her name last appears on records April 21, 1701.[5]]

Children: [6]

Thomas Brown, Jr., b., Lynn, Massachusetts abt Jan., 1654; m. Lynn, Massachusetts, Feb. 8, 1677, to Hannah Collins, daughter of John Collins, of Lynn. They soon after removed to Stonington, Conn.
Mary, b. Feb. 10, 1655; d., Lynn, May 18, 1662.
Sarah, b. Aug. 20, 1657; d. Aug. 1, 1658.
Joseph, b. Feb. 16, 1658; m., Jan. 22, 1680, Sarah Jones.
Sarah, b. Sept. 13, 1660; d. Apr. 2, 1662.
Jonathan, b. and d. Apr. 12, 1662.
John, b. 1664; m. Elizabeth Miner
Mary, b. July 26, 1666; m., Aug. 24, 1685, Thomas Norwood.
Jonathan, b. Feb. 11, 1668.
Eleazer, b. Aug. 4, 1670; m. Ann Pendleton
Ebenezer, b. Mar. 16, 1672; d. 1700.
Daniel, b. Apr. 24, 1673; d. young.
Ann and
Grace, twins, b. Feb. 4, 1674; both d. Feb. 7, 1674.
Daniel, b. Feb. 1, 1676. He bought out the rights of his three brothers, who removed to Stonington, and lived and died on the old Brown homestead in Lynn.
Of this couple's fifteen children, only six survived to adulthood: Thomas, John, Mary (2nd) , Eleazer, Ebenezer, Daniel (2nd).

Death

Recorded at Lynn: August 28, 1693.[7]

Will

Note: The following is a copy of the orally declared last will and testament of Thomas Brown, senior, of Lynn, Mass.: His widow was appointed Administratrix of his estate October 9, 1693,[8]

The following was taken down in writing this day, being ye 7th of October, 1693:
Memorandum - About two years since: though in ye last sickness of Thomas Brown, hereinafter named, he declared the following sentences as his last will and testament, who died about six weeks ago.
Thomas Brown, of Lynn, Sen., being of proper memory and good understanding, declared what his last will and testament should be, in the presence of Jeremiah Shepard, John Newhall senior, and Mary Shepard.
After some serious discourse with Mr. Shepard about his spiritual condition, he earnestly desired Mr. Shepard to be helpful to him in settling his temporal estate, and said he was very apprehensive of the decay of nature, be reason of many bodily informities that did weaken him, and therefore could not put long continuance in this world. So he thought it meet to take the present opportunity of expressing his mind concerning his last will and testament; and desired Mr. Shepard to draw it up that he might read it and subscribe to the same. And having committed his spirit to God, and his body to the dust, wishing a decent interment thereof, suitable to his rank and quality, he did thus, fearlessly, freely, and voluntarily and deliverately express himself:
My will is, that after my honest debts and funeral charges are paid my home and homestead, with all my land in Lynn, as also my cattle and moveables, with doors, I give and bequeath to my son Ebenezer, who hath been very careful of me and my family, and whom I have betrusted with the management of my outward affairs, only my will is that my son Ebenezer provide for my wife, that she be comfortably maintained out of my estate.
I give and bequeath to my wife all my moveables within doors, pewter, brass, bedding, &c., to be at her absolute disposal.
I give to my eldest son Thomas, my long gun, which I value at forty shillings.
I give to my son Joseph twenty shillings, having already bestowed some lands upon him.
I give to my son Johyn twenty shillings.
I give to my son Daniel five pounds.
I give to my daughter Norwood twenty shillings.
My will is that my loving wife should be executrix, and my son Ebenezer executor.
To this, my last will and testament, I constitue my brother John Newhall, and Robert Potter, senior, to be my overseers.
Thomas Brown did thus express his mind, in reference to his last will and testament, in presence of us.
JEREMIAH SHEPARD,
MARY SHEPARD,
JOHN NEWHALL, SEN.
Before ye Honored Bartho Gedney, Esq., October 9th, 1693, Mr. Jeremiah Shepard and Mary his wife, and John Newhall, Sen., made oath that what is within as above contained in this paper was expressed by said Thomas Brown as his last will and testament; and that said John Newhall and Mary Shepard, add that he also gave to his son Eleazer five pounds.
Sworn to ye day aforesaid.
Attes: STEPHEN SEWALL, Register
Burial

Thomas Brown, Sr. is presumed to be buried in Western Burial Ground in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts. [9]

Research Notes

There are several claims-- online and in print-- that Thomas Brown was son of Nicholas Brown. However, researchers (including one who detracted his previous claim) have concluded he could not have been for the following reasons:

Cyrus Brown, who initially believed Thomas to be son of Nicholas, wrote in 1915:[6]:
"Note — The compiler spent much valuable time in research to establish whether Nicholas Browne was the father of Thomas Browne, of Lynn. He found much about Nicholas Browne, and had written it out in full, only finally to come to the conclusion that he was not the father of Thomas. Other historians of recent date are of the same opinion; although I had so stated in my first volume, which I here positively contradict.
"At a good deal of trouble and expense I got a copy of the will of Nicholas Browne (which is kept in East Cambridge, Mass.) to publish here, and found that Thomas Browne was not mentioned, while his children by his wife Elizabeth were all particularly mentioned. Thomas is not referred to in any probate of Nicholas; nor can I as yet get any note referring to any gift from Nicholas of rights in Lynn.
"Mary, the wife of Thomas Browne in 1701 (record vol. IV, p. 93) was alive, in Stonington, when she, with her son Thomas, ]r. (2) sold rights to his brother Daniel.
"Thomas was of the right age to be a son of Nicholas, but the proof is lacking that he had any link to Thomas Browne referred to as dish-turner and constable of Lynn."
In 2003, Robert Charles Anderson addressed the association of Thomas and Mary Browne of Lynn and "John Hawcks" who was described as their cousin.[10] Anderson identified Mary (Newhall) Browne as the daughter of Thomas Newhall[11][12] and stating that "Thomas Browne first appeared in Lynn in the mid-1650s without apparent antecedents."[13] Anderson added: [12]
The claim has been made that [Thomas Browne] was son of Nicholas Browne {1638, Lynn} ..., but Savage doubted this ... and the will of Nicholas Browne, dated 9 March 1672/3, did not include a son Thomas.
Those who believe Thomas was son of Nicholas discount Thomas' absence from his father's will and cite:

A history of the Walter Palmer family of Stonington, Connecticut. Ancestry.com subscribers only link[14] showcases family bibles of allied families that show his parental relationship to Nicholas Brown.
NOTE: Please include a publicly-viewable link to this document.
Mackenzie, George Norbury. Colonial Families of the USA, 1607-1775 for Thomas Browne Colonial Families of the United States of America, volume II (1911): Newhall Family, pg 555. Showing that Thomas Brown's father is Nicholas Brown. Note: This is a family lineage for the Newhall family; no source is provided to support the claim, and a subsequent researcher (see Cyrus Brown above) attempted to prove the link, without success.
Ancestry.com subscribers only link.
FamilySearch.org link
Sources

↑ Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1636-1686 (The Essex Institute, 1914) v 4,Page 32.
↑ "Massachusetts Land Records, 1620-1986," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99Z7-G8S7?cc=2106411&w... : 22 May 2014), Middlesex > Deeds 1649-1670 vol 1-3 > image 472 of 645; county courthouses and offices, Massachusetts. Vol 3 Pages 161-3.
↑ Savage, James. Genealogical Dictionary of New England Settlers. Boston, 1862.
↑ Torrey, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700, Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. vol. 1, p 226; link for NEHGS members, link for Ancestry.com subscribers
↑ Breed Family Association #16 (March, 1963), Charles B. Newhall et.al.; : p. 163
↑ 6.0 6.1 Cyrus Henry Brown, Brown genealogy of many of the descendants of Thomas, John, and Eleazer Brown: sons of Thomas and Mary (Newhall) Brown, of Lynn, Mass., 1628-1907, The Everett Press, Inc., 1915. Page 13 (Google Play).
↑ Vital records of Lynn, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1849.;; Salem, MA: The Essex Institute, 1906 in Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/i/7738/443/141580908
↑ Probate File Papers, 1638-1881.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. Essex County, MA. AmericanAncestors.org (free registration required) (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives.) Images of original will.
↑ Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com : accessed 6 June 2016), memorial page for Thomas Brown, Sr. (1626–1693), Find A Grave Memorial no. 42308150, citing Western Burial Ground in Lynn, Essex, Massachusetts; the accompanying photographs by Lawrence Whiting only provide an overall image of the cemetery and do not provide a legible image of the inscribed data.
↑ Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1636-1686 (1914) 4:32 Archive.org as cited in Anderson, The Great Migration v III 255-256, "Adam Hawke: Associations."AmericanAncestors.org link for subscribers.
↑ Smith, Dean Crawford. The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton, 1878-1908 (NEHGS, Boston, 1996), vol 4, pages 506, 508. Archive.org.
↑ 12.0 12.1 Anderson, Robert C. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England 1634-1635 Vol. III: G-H (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Great Migration Study Project, Boston, 2003) 255-256 Citing Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton AmericanAncestors.org (by subscriptions)
↑ Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1636-1686 (1912)" 2:157 archive.org, cited in Anderson, Great Migration, v III" p 256
↑ Rozanski, Verna R. Sanders.. A history of the Walter Palmer family of Stonington, Connecticut : and a supplementary history of Mrs. John Leland (Achsah Palmer) Sanders and her descendants. Assumption, Ill.: Daughters of the American Revolution, Illinois Society, Peter Meyer Chapter, 1968.
See also
Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).Ancestry.com subscribers only Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988. [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Nancy Ann Norman, "New England, Irish, Scotish, Isle of Man," entry for Rootsweb.Ancestry.com Thomas Brown ID I90; online family file, WorldConnect : accessed 2014.
Genealogical and Biographical Record of New London County, Conn.;
Bible Records (film 862,766, Vol.10, page 9;
Founders of Early American Families;
NEHGR, v78, p85;
A. Witter Family History by Edwin D. Witter Jr. (1988);
History of the Town of Stonington;

          A history of the Walter Palmer family of Stonington, Connecticut.

Disputed Origins

Seen as son of Nicholas Brown of Lynn & Reading & Elizabeth Brown

Cyrus Brown, in his work of the descendants of Thomas Brown, Vol 1, page 9 (1907), stated that Thomas was the son of Nicholas, and added subsequent text stating that Thomas was a dish turner, and the he had removed from Lynn to "Grawton."

However, in Vol II, page 8 (1915) of the Brown Genealogy, Cyrus Brown indicates that he no longer considered any of this to be true. He had done extensive work on Nicholas Browne, including reviewing a copy of his will, in which Thomas Browne is conspicuously absent.

In W.C. Simmons "From the Landing..." oft cited in Geni profiles, which appears to have been published near 1951, he repeats the assertion that Thomas was the son of Nicholas, a dish turner by trade, and had relocated to Grawton. However, this just seems to be a close paraphrasing of Cyrus Brown's Vol I, thus ignoring Brown's later refutation.

No other accurate sources are provided in this profile, that I can ascertain, and what there is here is mostly repeating of the same information from different family trees. (Steven Ferry, February 8, 2019.)

Family

https://mathcs.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr03/rr03_497.html#P2664

”Mary Newhall married Thomas Brown. Born ca 1628. Thomas died in Lynn, MA on 28 Aug 1693. It is unlikely that Thomas was a son of Nicholas Brown of Reading and Lynn. Nicholas’ will of 1673 mentions five sons, a daughter, and a wife, but there is no Thomas listed among his children.”

Their children include:

• i. Thomas Brown (ca 1654-27 Dec 1723)
• ii. Mary Brown (Died young) (10 : 12 m : 1655 [10 Feb 1656] -18 : 3 : 1662 [18 May 1662])
• iii. Sarah Brown (Died soon) (20 : 7 m : 1657 [20 Sep 1657]-1 : 7 m : 1658 [1 Sep 1658])
• iv. Joseph Brown (16 : 11 m : 1658 [16 Jan 1659]-28 Feb 1723/4)
• v. Sarah Brown (Died soon) (13 : 8 m : 1660 [13 Oct 1660]-11 : 2 m : 1662 [11 Apr 1662])
• vi. Jonathan Brown (Died soon) (say 1662-12 : 7 m : 1666 [12 Sep 1666])
• vii. John Brown (ca 1664-Aug 1733)
• viii. Mary Brown (28 : 6 m : 1666 [28 Aug 1666]-bef 14 May 1757)
• ix. Jonathan Brown (24 : 11 m : 1668 [24 Feb 1669]-)
• x. Eleazer Brown (4 : 6 m : 1670 [4 Aug 1670]-30 Nov 1734)
• xi. Ebenezer Brown (16 : 1 m : 1671/2 [16 Mar 1672]-ca 1700)
• xii. Daniel Brown (Died young) (29 : 9 m : 1673 [29 Nov 1673]-bef 1679)
• xiii. Anne Brown (Twin, died young) (4 Jan 1674-7 Jan 1674)
• xiv. Grace Brown (Twin, died young) (4 Jan 1674-7 Jan 1674)
• xv. Daniel Brown (1 Feb 1676-12 Jun 1761)

For more information about the descendants of three of the sons of Thomas Brown, see the Brown genealogy of many of the descendants of Thomas, John, and Eleazer Brown by Cyrus Henry Brown416, Everett Press, Boston, 1907. Three volumes

• http://archive.org/details/browngenealogyof00brow
• http://archive.org/details/browngenealogyof02brow
• http://archive.org/details/browngenealogyof03brow

  ---

Reference UPDATE:

A history of the Walter Palmer family of Stonington, Connecticut
Brown source link which states Thomas Browns parental lineage:

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/23652/images/dvm_G...

The Brown lineage source above. Thomas is the son of the Nicholas Brown who happens to be the son of "Edward Brown & Jane Leids" as specified in many sources:

Please see: Colonial Families of the USA, 1607-1775 for Thomas Browne Colonial Families of the United States of America, Volume II Newhall Family, pg 555. which states Thomas Browns parental lineage Source link :

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61175/images/colon...

The NewHall Family is of Noble lineage. The Brown lineage is the lineage of SwanHall.

North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 for Thomas Brown,K Kennan Genealogy of the Kennan Family Source link: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61157/images/46155...

Mrs. Sussanna Hawkes daughter of Edward Browne & Jane Leids is the same exact family who knew the Newhall family referenced again, in many sources: Reference which leads to the SwanHall Brown family: Anne Hawkes (born Brown) Brown 1605–1669 (whose lineage is also questioned) has an actual birth certificate as well to Edward Brown father of Nicholas Brown: source listed here, family of Thomas Brown, she is important because she married into the Hawke Family to whom Thomas was associated: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Browne-548, Shows a birth certificate to both Edward & Jane from England. Source :https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/163277768/person/2...

In one reference, it was stated that Mary Browne writes that she is the cousin of Johne Hawkes, son of Adam Hawkes...please note the family relationship which SHOULD NOT BE DISMISSED BY ANYONE EXPERT OR NOT. which mentions the family relationship in a deposition provided by Thomas Brown of Lynn.

New England, The Great Migration and The Great Migration Begins, 1620-1635 Great Migration, Vol 3, G-H, pg 255- about Adam Hawkes lineage father of John Hawkes (The Family connected to Nicholas Brown, the father of Thomas Brown of Lynn) with the mentioned deposition. This same family is connected here to the rightful Brown Family of Nicholas:

Reference Source link: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2496/images/42521_...

The Browns, The Hawkes, The Newhalls are the exact same family who knew each other in America. Adam Hawkes of Saugus, Mass., 1605-1672: The First Six Generations in America, by Ethel Farrington Smith, pg 8 It states that Adam Hawkes father (or his son's Grandfather) was lord of the Manor at "Groton" in Suffolk England. Source Link: https://books.google.com/books?id=h6VRAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvo...

Here we see the mention of Nicholas wife Elizabeth and brother in his father Edwards will and the mention of Thomas's parentage once again: North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 for Edward Brown. S.Straats,Genealogy of the Straats Family:

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61157/images/46155...

Also mentioned here Lamont-Eldredge family records,Lamont-Eldridge family records via Cyrus Brown, pg 166: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/11929/images/dvm_G...

Full Brown lineage at: http://www.hullhome.com/brown.gen.htm

I am Melissa and I am the direct descendant of Melissa Jerusha Brown, direct fully sourced to Thomas Brown & to Sussana Hawkes daughter of Adam Hawkes and widow Ann Hutchingson (maiden name Browne). I am connected either way but, I feel strongly that after seeing 6 published sources connecting Thomas Brown to Nicholas and family relationships that he is being falsely disconnected because he wasn't mentioned in a "will" and I can not say with certainty what the Experts were thinking when they decided to doubt his relationship other than the "will". I do not know if they even viewed all these other family published source bibles of colonial families stating otherwise. I have to view all the evidence I find since I am related despite what others "opinions" are because they can be wrong. Family bibles from Colonial times may be all we have left to go off of, and who is to say that more than several published colonial family bibles are not correct. Also it makes sense that Thomas Brown was born in England in 1628 and traveled with his family to America in 1630. Most families traveled together when coming to America because of the hard voyage. It would be quite ODD for two different Brown families to travel together at the same point in time and end up together in the same location with very scant families in the early 1600s. Also I believe that Thomas Brown may have been named after a Great Grandfather Thomas Browne, of Hawkedon Brown of 1533 of Hawkedon, Suffolk, England with a lineage that went like this: Thomas Brown of Lynn, Father Nicholas of Lynn, Edward Brown, Thomas Brown of Hawkedon. Anne Browne (ca 1595-4 Dec 1669). Married 1) Thomas Hutchinson 2) Adam Hawkes is also my Grandparents so as a member of the Great Brown Family, I thought I would share my thoughts to claim my own family. I hope that a birth certificate of Thomas Brown of Lynn born in England shows up to link him once and for all. (note all sources are linked directly to my public family tree published sources-free public ancestry accounts can view)