USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume I > Part 57
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1 4 Brown
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lumbermen in the country, without doubt hav- ing explored more timber lands than any other man in the state of Maine. His explorations covered much of Oxford, Kennebec, Franklin and other counties in Maine, Coos county and many others in New Hampshire, Cape Breton Island, where in 1896 he covered over seven hundred thousand acres of timber land, and one hundred and fifty miles of a chain of lakes in the province of Nova Scotia. In 1876 Mr. Brown purchased stumpage in Grafton, Maine, and sold it in the log in the open mar- ket at Umbogog lake and Androscoggin river. In 1886 he went into the Bear and Cambridge river districts of Maine, where he cut much lumber which he floated down the river to market, and in addition to this bought cattle of the farmers and sold them in the markets. He remained on the old home place until 1893, owning the same until a few years ago, and then removed to Rumford Falls where he built a house, being one of the first to build on the opposite side of the river; he resided there about seven years. In 1894 he explored the northern woods for the purpose of discov- ering timber fit for the use of the Rumford Falls Paper Company's mills, with which he was connected for five years, serving in 1899 in the capacity of general manager. In the same year he purchased thirty-five million feet of timber on the stump on the Dartmouth College grant in New Hampshire, which he cut during the following five years and sold to the Burling Mill Company and the Diamond Match Company. In 1898 he purchased Mount Abram in company with R. L. Mel- cher, and this they sold to Boston parties who failed to cut off the timber and thus forfeited their contract, and later the tract was sold to L. L. Mason, of Portland. For the past six years Mr. Brown has dealt heavily in timber land in Maine and New Hampshire, manufac- turing dimension lumber and spool wood at various points in Maine. His success in busi- ness has been marked, and his profits have been invested to some extent in agricultural lands. He is the owner of the Robinson farm in Sumner-five hundred acres-on which he raises hay, grain and potatoes; a tract of seven hundred acres of timber in Dixfield; a tract of five thousand acres in Oxford county, and for many years was the proprietor of a tavern. In politics Mr. Brown is independent, casting his vote for the candidate who in his opinion is best qualified for office, irrespective of party affiliation. He is a member of Blaz- ing Star Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Bethel, and of Mount Abram Lodge, No. 31,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Bethel. Euthalius I. Brown married, at Norway, Maine, October 13, 1885, Alfreda W. Small, born at Danville, 1854, daughter of John and Mary (Eveleth) Small. Children: I. Mary Euthalia, married Samuel Annis and they are the parents of one child, Alfreda Evangeline Annis. 2. Claude Irving. Mr. Brown mar- ried (second) Elizabeth Margaret Dagneau, born in Lewiston, June 20, 1881, daughter of Edward A. and Lucy (Hunnewell) Dagneau.
Among the many different fam- BROWN ilies by the name of Brown liv- ing in his country, few have a longer or- better record than the line originat- ing in Concord, Massachusetts, where several generations, most of them including a Thomas Brown, have fulfilled their duties as citizens of that ancient and famous town. One of the modern and most distinguished representatives of the family is Miss Helen Dawes Brown, born at Concord in 1857, graduated from Vas- sar College in 1878, subsequently a teacher there, and now a noted lecturer in New York City. She is the author of several books, among them, "Two College Girls," "Little Miss Phebe Gay," "The Petrie Estate" and "A Civilian Attaché."
(I) Thomas Browne, the ancestor of the following line, was one of the earliest immi- grants of the name to the New World. He lived at Concord, Massachusetts, but where he was born or when he died we have no means of knowing. Such information as we have been able to gather has been gleaned, bit by bit, from the scattered references in the town histories and from the vital statistics. The first clue obtainable consists in the reference to the birth of his son, Boaz, whose sketch follows in the next paragraph. From this date we infer that Thomas Browne was born in England about the beginning of the seven- teenth century. The historic and famous town of Concord was founded in 1635. As was natural in a primitive settlement, no vital records were kept during the first year or two, but in September, 1639, the general court ordered that every birth, marriage and death should be recorded in the jurisdiction, and placed on file in Boston. In the office of the city registrar of that metropolis, there is now preserved a register "of the berths & burialls in Concord from the yeare 1639 vntill the first month 1644 according to or account," the same being returned by Simon Willard in 1644. Consulting this ancient volume, we find on the first page : "Boaz the sonne of Thomas
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Browne was borne the 14° ( 12º) 1641." This entry is the eighth in the book, though several records of 1640 are subsequently given, show- ing that Mr. Thomas Browne was evidently proud of the birth of his son, and anxious to comply with the new law. There is no further record of the progeny of Thomas Browne in this volume ; but in the Middlesex county reg- · isters preserved in the office of the clerk of the courts at East Cambridge, we find "Con- cord Births : Delivered in, 1650." The thir- teenth and fourteenth entries in this volume evidently refer to later children of our Thomas Browne. "Mary the daughter of Tho: and Bridget Browne, the (26) I mo : 1645. Eliezer the sonne of Tho: and Bridget Browne, the (5) mo 1649." Among other rec- ords we find that in 1655, Thomas Brownc, one of the proprietors of Concord, owned fourteen lots, containing one hundred and eighty-six acres. He was evidently a man of good judgment, for on May 21, 1660, he was one of the committee to decide the boundaries of the thousand acre tract belonging to Major Willard. He took part in the Narragansett campaign in King Philip's war, and in the famous swamp fight, which culminated in the attack on the Indian fort at Kingston, Rhode Island, December 19, 1675. Thomas Browne was one of the eleven men marching from Concord, Massachusetts, and he was one of the two from that town who were wounded. The battle resulted in the loss of eighty white men, and three hundred Indians.
(II) Boaz, eldest child of Thomas and Bridget Browne, was born at Concord, Massa- chusetts, the fourteenth day of the twelfth month (which probably meant February), 1641. On November 8, 1664, he married Mary Winchat, and among their children was Thomas (2), whose sketch follows. Boaz Browne must have married a second time, for in book II of the Concord register we find this entry: "mr Boaz Brown husband to Abi- gail his wife Died April ye 7th: 1724." This record is supplemented by a statement on the gravestone, saying that he died in his eighty- third year, which establishes his identity with the husband of Mary Winchat. In the as- signment of the proprietors' lots Boaz Browne is credited with the ownership of six lots or eighty-six acres.
(III) Thomas (2), son of Boaz and Mary (Winchat) Browne, was born May 12, 1667, at Concord, Massachusetts, and died there May 13, 1739. In the death record he is writ- ten as the husband of Rachel, but her maiden name is not given. This Thomas seems the
most prominent of the early generations. He must have been a man of education, for he served as town clerk of Concord from 1689 to 1701 and again from 1704 till 1710; and he began book Il of the Concord registers. On February 11, 1699-1700, he was one of the committee to decide the bounds between Con- cord and Billerica. He probably saw some military service, for we find that on May 9, 1710, Ensign Thomas (2) Browne was one of the committee to decide about some matters connected with the burying-ground, probably the ancient one fronting the old meeting- house on the square. On June 24, 1735, Ephraim Browne drew Lot 8 in Narragansett township for his father, Thomas Browne. This land is in what is now the township of Templeton, Massachusetts, and may have been a grant for some military service. Among the other children of Thomas (2) and Rachel Browne was Thomas (3), whose sketch fol- lows.
(IV) Thomas (3), son of Thomas (2) and Rachel Browne, was born at Concord, Massa- chusetts, December 24, 1707, but his death is not recorded. On May 26, 1748, he married Mary Flint, of Concord, Rev. Daniel Bliss of that town officiating. Five children are rec- orded: Hannah, born November 15, 1750; Jonas, whose sketch follows; John, July 28, 1755; Ephraim, March 27, 1758; and Charles, October 13, 1760.
(V) Ensign Jonas, eldest son of Thomas (3) and Mary (Flint) Brown, was born at Concord, Massachusetts, December 15, 1752, and died at Temple, New Hampshire, July 31, 1834. He had a notable revolutionary record that is so interesting that we give it in his own words. The statement was made August 17, 1832, before the court of probate, then sitting at Amherst, Hillsborough county, New Hampshire. Mr. Brown was seventy-nine years of age at the time, and the statement was made to enable him to secure a pension, according to the act of congress, passed on June 7 of that year. Mr. Brown stated that he entered the service of the United States : "That is to say, from the Ist of January, 1775, to the Ist of May. I was enlisted as a min- ute-man (being a native and resident of Con- cord, Mass.), under Capt. Buttrick, of the Militia, and trained twice a week, and with the rest of the company, kept guard most of the time over the public stores, roads and bridges in Concord. Early on the 19th of April, an alarm was given that the enemy were coming from Boston to Concord, and our company was paraded about daylight, and
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kept under arms most of the time, until the enemy arrived, and destroyed military stores and provisions, and set a guard at the Bridge, and I was ordered with others, to rout them, which we did, when several were killed on both sides, and the enemy retreated, and we pursued to Menotomy (West Cambridge), had various skirmishing on the road, and I returned to Concord. Capt. Buttrick went to Cambridge, and several times sent for his com- pany. I went twice or three times and re- turned next day. On the Ist of May, 1775, I entered the service as a corporal, under Capt. Abisha Brown, in the regiment com- manded by Col. Jno. Nickson, Lt. Col. Thomas Nickson, and Maj. Jno. Buttrick in the Massa- chusetts Line, and served eight months at Cambridge, Charlestown, &c; was in the battle of Bunker Hill, on the 17th of June, and was dismissed Ist of January, 1776. Again the militia was called for, and on the Ist of Feb., 1776, I enlisted a volunteer for two months, under Capt. Asel Wheeler, in the Regiment commanded by Col. Jonathan Reed, in the Mass. Line, in the Brigade destined for Can- ada, in which Regt was Lt. Col. Brown, and Major Fletcher. I marched from Concord to Keene, N. H., thence by way of Charlestown, N. H., Otter Creek, and Shrewsbury, Vt., where we took boats and went down Lake Champlain, to Ticonderoga, and joined the army under Gen'ls Gates, Arnold, and Water- bury, and Gen. Brickett of Mass. was there. I was at Ticonderoga when Arnold and Wat- erbury went down the Lake with a fleet of gondolas (flat-boats) which were mostly de- stroyed. I remained at Ticonderoga until about the middle of Dec., 1776, when I en- tered my name to serve during the war, as a Lt. under Capt. Monroe, of Lexington, Mass., and had leave to return to Concord, until called for. I did so, and about the middle of March, I was called upon to take my appoint- ment as Lt. I obeyed the call, and went to the Capt., who told me there were others who would like to take my chance, and I resigned it, and was excused from any further service, making eight months in which I was under orders as an Ensign."
It is gratifying to know that the old vet- eran received an annual pension of $117.33, rated from March 4, 1831, though he lived only three years to enjoy it. Ensign Jonas Brown moved from Concord, Massachusetts, to Temple, New Hampshire, in 1780, and the latter town was his home for more than half a century. August 10, 1784, Jonas Brown mar- ried Hannah, second daughter of Major Eph-
raim and Sarah (Conant) Heald, who was the first female child born in Temple, New Hamp- shire. Her birth occurred December 2, 1761, not long after that of her cousin, Peter Heald, son of Deacon Peter, who was the first male child born in Temple. The Healds were long time residents of Concord, Massachusetts, being descended from John Heald, who came from Berwick, England, and settled in Concord as early as 1635. Ephraim Heald was a noted scout, hunter and explorer of the wilderness in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Eight children were born to Ensign Jonas and Hannah (Heald) Brown: I. Jonas, July 18, 1785, removed to Oppenheim, New York, in 1838. 2. Charles, August 16, 1787, married Lydia Woods, and removed to Batavia, New York. 3. Ephraim, July 13, 1790, married Sarah King, of Wilton, New Hampshire, where he died in 1840. 4. Lucas, September 17, 1792, moved to Norridgewock, Maine. 5. John, whose sketch follows. 6. Polly, Febru- ary 17, 1798, married Jeremiah Cutter, of Sebec, Maine. 7. Cyrus, December 21, 1800, married Harriet Weston, and moved to Ban- gor, Maine. 8. Thomas Buckley, March 16, 1803, married Martha Farnham, and moved to Bangor, Maine.
(VI) John, fifth son of Ensign Jonas and Hannah (Heald) Brown, was horn at Temple, New Hampshire, August 13, 1795, died at Exeter, Maine, July 29, 1839. About the time of his first marriage, in 1820, Mr. Brown moved to Bangor, Maine, where he was a con- tractor and builder, and also a dealer in lum- ber. He was also city marshal of Bangor for a few years. In the spring of 1839, a few months before his early death, he moved to a farm in Exeter, Maine. He was a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Universalist church. In 1820 John Brown married Cynthia Barker, born 1800, died August 17, 1831. Children : Nancy, Cynthia, Amanda and John. John Brown married (second) January II, 1832, Sarah Crosby, born March 2, 1813, died 1865, daughter of John Wheeler, of Hampden, Maine. Children : I. Charles B., see for- ward. 2. Hiram, January 17, 1834, went to California with the Argonauts of '49, and from there to Mexico where he owned valu- able mines ; it is thought that he was killed by the Indians. 3. George I., December 8, 1836, enlisted in Company B, Second Maine Regi- ment, having the rank of lieutenant; he was wounded in the leg in the Seven Days' fight and taken prisoner; he was afterwards re- leased and given crutches by the Confederates, perhaps because he was a Mason ; he now lives
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near Katalidin Iron Works, Maine. 4. Henry L., 1838, lived in Louisiana until 1861, when he moved to Wisconsin where he died ; he was an editor of a paper in Darlington, Wisconsin. 5. Wesley, August 12, 1839, enlisted in Com- pany B, Second Maine Regiment, in 1861, and was shot at the second battle of Bull Run ; he lay on the field twenty-four hours before being removed, and died from exhaustion soon after- ward.
(VII) Charles Buckley, eldest of the five sons of John and Sarah C. (Wheeler) Brown, was born at Bangor, Maine, October 4, 1832, died January 19, 1909. He was educated in the local schools of that place and taught in the winter schools. After his father's death he was made an apprentice to a carpenter, where he served for three years. In 1856, being twenty-four years of age, he went into business for himself as a contractor and builder. He soon acquired a reputation, and was entrusted with large undertakings. Some of his more important contracts include the Morse-Oliver building (one hundred and fifty thousand dollars), the Pickering, Treat and Dale buildings (one hundred thousand dol- lars), the Granite Block, all of Bangor; the Fogg Memorial at South Berwick, Maine; the famous Kineo House at Moosehead Lake, Maine; several of the state college buildings at Orono; Bangor Opera House; Islesboro Inn at Islesboro, and Stewart Memorial Li- brary at Corinna, Maine. In 1903, after near- ly half a century of active life, Mr. Brown retired from business. He was a Republican. in politics, and a member of the First Baptist Church. He belonged to Rising Virtue Lodge, A. F. and A. M., and also to the Odd Fellows. On June 8, 1855, Mr. Brown mar- ried Araminta, born July 5, 1830, daughter of Colonel Isaac and Mary Allen, of Auburn, Maine ; she was a teacher. Children: I. Ida J., born November 12, 1856, graduated from Wellesley College in 1879; retained as teacher one year, but relinquished same when called home by death of sister; taught one year in Bangor high school ; for last twelve years pro- fessor in Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina. 2. Effie May, January 24, 1859, died May 23, 1880. 3. Alice Belle, July 31, 1861, for several years a highly successful teacher in Bangor high schools ; in 1891 taught in Georgetown, Colorado; for last twelve years in charge of intermediate department and assistant in higher grades in Miss New- man's private school, Bangor, Maine. 4. Sarah Nourse, January 6, 1864, graduated from Emerson College of Oratory, Boston,
also postgraduate year; taught oratory in Co- lumbia Female Institute, Tennessee ; Denver University, Denver, Colorado; in Willamette University, Salem, Oregon ; is dean of college of Oratory in Willamette University ; married, June 25, 1896, Mark H. Savage; child, Dor- othy Odell Brown Savage, born November 16, 1899. 5. Bertha Louise, August 12, 1868, A. M., graduated from Colby College, 1888, with Phi Beta Kappa honors; 1889-90-91 taught in high school, Georgetown, Colorado; 1892-93-94 in 'high school, Somerville, Massa- chusetts ; 1896-1908 assistant in Miss New- man's private school, Bangor, Maine.
The following, taken from the Bangor Daily Commercial, was written by one of the most honored citizens of Bangor: "It is fit- ting that the passing from the activities of life of such a man as Charles B. Brown should receive more than formal recognition because his life and character deserve prominence as an inspiration to the younger class of his fel- lowmen who have yet to make a record in civic virtue and professional uprightness re- enforced by intelligent kindliness and courtesy of demeanor. As a mechanic Mr. Brown was resourceful, progressive ; he felt equal to tak- ing in hand the largest building problems and he never failed to make good his contracts, whether he made money or not. His rare good judgment was frequently sought in all matters relating to construction, both by in- vestors and contractors. And yet Mr. Brown was withal the most modest of men, never ask- ing office. He exercised his calling in the most remote parts of the country and no blemish came to smirch his character, which is now a most precious legacy to his surviving fam- ily. In his home, his church, his city, in the circle of hosts of friends, the memory of this man, 'faithful to every trust,' shall long re- main an example and an inspiration. He was my friend. W."
BROWN The genealogical records some- times refer to the family below treated of as the Lynn Browns, as the ancestor first appears in Lynn, Massa- chusetts, to distinguish them from the many other families bearing the same cognomen. but of different origin. Members of the Port- land, Maine, branch of the family have taken a very prominent part in the financial, com- mercial, military and social history of the state.
(I) Thomas Brown was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1628, but who his parents were is not clear. He married Mary, daugh-
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ter of Thomas Newhall, who was born in 1637, and they had a large family. Three of the sons-John, Thomas and Eleazer-moved to Connecticut and settled at Stonington. The children of Thomas and Mary were: Thomas, Mary, Sarah (died young), Joseph, Sarah, Jonathan (died young), John, Mary, Jona- than, Eleazer, Ebenezer, Daniel, Ann and Grace (twins) and Daniel.
(II) John, fourth son of Thomas and Mary (Newhall) Brown, date of birth unknown, with his two brothers, Thomas and Eleazer, sold their interests in the paternal estate to their brother Daniel, and removed while still in young manhood to Stonington, Connecticut, where they settled, and from them have de- scended a very large progeny. John married, in 1692, Elizabeth Miner, who was born in Stonington, Connecticut, April, 1674, daughter of Ephraim and Hannah (Avery) Miner. Their children were: John, Jonathan, Eliza- beth, Hepsibah, a, son, Ichabod, Prudence, Jedediah, Mehitable and Mary.
(III) Ichabod, fourth son of John and Elizabeth (Miner) Brown, was born in Ston- ington, March 12, 1704. He married, May 30, 1731, Sarah Chapman, who was born in Stonington, November 25, 1710, daughter of John and Sarah (Brown) Chapman. Nine children were born to them: Ichabod Elias, Stephen, Sarah, Asa, Jonas, Micah, Andrew, Keturah.
(IV) Elias, second son of Ichabod and Sarah (Chapman) Brown, was born in Ston- ington, February I, 1734. He moved to Tol- land, Connecticut, and to Alstead, New Hamp- shire, in 1773. He married, June 16, 1757, Abigail Olcott, of Bolton. Children : Elias (2), Titus Olcott and Hope, all of whom moved from town except Elias (2), who occupied the first framed house in Alstead, about half a mile west of the old meeting house, and he lived in Alstead till his death in 1813. Elias (2) Brown mar- ried Rebecca Keyes, of Uxbridge, Massa- chusetts, and they were the parents of three children, two sons and one daughter. The names of the sons were Titus and Peter Ol- cott.
(V) Titus Olcott, son of Elias and Abigail (Olcott) Brown, was born in Tolland, Connec- ticut, August 25, 1764, and died in Norway, Maine, February 23, 1855. In 1786, or soon after, Mr. Brown settled in Lancaster, New Hampshire, and seems to have been one of the wealthier class. He lived first on what he called "Great Brook Farm," on what is now known as Otter brook. There he raised the
tobacco that formed the first article of com- merce shipped through the White Mountain Notch road toward the seacoast from Lancas- ter. This tobacco reached the ocean at Port- land. An elm tree planted by Titus O. Brown in 1795 stands on Maine street, Lancaster, to-day. For some years Mr. Brown was one of the leading business men of Lancaster, kept a stock of goods at the south end of Main street, near the south end of the bridge on the west side of the street. The building still re- mains. Mr. Brown built a sawmill, a grist- mill and a fulling mill in Lancaster. By the terms of the lease of the water power, he undertook to build a sawmill, December I, 1792, and a grist mill "with a good bolt" key December 1, 1793, and a fulling mill, Decem- ber 1, 1794. He erected the sawmill and had R. C. Everett build a grist mill one hundred feet long and three stories high, in which was a carding and fulling mill. This mill was burned some time previous to 1800 and re- built on the same site by Mr. Brown. He is said to have been engaged also in the hotel and transportation business. He accumulated property and was able to give his children a substantial education, but meeting with some reverses, he accepted an agency of parties en- gaged in the land and lumber business, and · removed with his family through the notch into the town of Bartlett. After a few years there he removed to Gray Corner and kept the hotel at that place. His hotel was the favorite stopping place of travelers and teamsters, and his extensive acquaintance in northern New Hampshire, a large share of whose trade and travel then came down the Androscoggin to Bethel and thence through Greenwood, Nor- way and Poland by way of Gray to Portland, insured him a large share of patronage. About the year 1833, with his son-in law. Amos Pur- ington, he removed to Norway ard there bought out the hotel which they carried on until about the year 1842. Mr. Brown co- - tinued to reside in Norway till his death. Titus O. Brown married Susannah, daughter of Isaac and Susannah (Johnson) Bundy, of Walpole, New Hampshire. She was born De- cember 19, 1771, and was a descendant John Bundy, who came to Plymouth in 1642 and later resided at Boston. The children of this marriage were: Frances, Susannah, Abi- gail Hatch, Titus Olcott, Persis Hatch, John Bundy, Susan Johnson, Mary Ann, Elizabeth Fox and Sarah Adeline.
(VI) Hon. John Bundy, son of Titus Ol- cott and Susannah (Bundy) Brown, was born in Lancaster, New Hampshire, May 31, 1805,
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and died in Portland, Maine, January 10, 1881. When a mere lad he was taken by his father to Gray, Maine, where he lived until he was nineteen years of age. Alpheus Shaw, the father of Thomas Shaw, of the firm of Shaw, Hammond & Carney, was then doing a large West India business in Portland. He stopped occasionally at the hotel kept by Titus O. Brown, and to him young Brown made known his desire to obtain a situation in the city. Mr. Shaw promised him a place in his store as soon as a chance came, and when it came he wrote announcing the fact. The letter carrying this intelligence was always carefully preserved by Mr. Brown and was among his papers at his death. Mr. Brown became a clerk for Mr. Shaw and not long afterward St. John Smith also entered the same store to learn the business, and although somewhat older than Mr. Brown, a strong friendship sprang up between them, which continued till the death of Mr. Smith, some three years pre- ceding Mr. Brown's demise. About 1828 Messrs. Brown and Smith engaged in the grocery business on their own account under the name of Smith & Brown, on the site on Congress street where Morton block was years later erected. This partnership continued until 1840. The financial success of this firm was almost phenomenal. From the West Indies they imported immense quantities of sugar, molasses and rum; the sale of the latter article was recognized in those days as a legitimate branch of the grocery business. On the disso- lution of this firm, 1840, Mr. Brown went into business at the head of Merrill's wharf, in the store which in 1881, at the time of Mr. Brown's death, stood under the name of J. B. Brown & Company. While there he began to build his sugar house on the corner of York and Maple streets. Mr. Brown was induced to undertake the manufacture of sugar by the favorable representations of a Scotchman who came from Cuba and who claimed to have a thorough understanding of the business, but it proved otherwise, for after the building had been erected it was found that the Scotchman had no practical knowledge of the matter and Mr. Brown was compelled to go to New York to get a man to operate the works. It proved a success, however, and for some time Mr. Brown realized handsomely on his venture. At one time he employed over two hundred hands in the sugar house. At the time he went into this enterprise there were only two other sugar houses in the country. The great fire of 1866 destroyed the sugar house, which during the year had been greatly enlarged from the orig-
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