Joseph Brown (1741 - 1810)

Born 14 Apr 1741 in Lexington, Middlesex Co, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Smith) Brown — married 7 May 1765 in Lexington, Middlesex Co, MA

Descendants

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Biography

Joseph Brown was born 14 Apr 1741 (baptized 19 Apr 1741) in Lexington, Middlesex Co, Massachusetts Bay Colony.^[1]

“Joseph Brown graduated at Harvard College in 1763; was ordained at Winchendon, May 24, 1769, and died in 1810.”^[2]

Joseph married Sarah Smith 7 May 1765 in Lexington, Middlesex Co, MA.^[3]

Rev. Joseph Brown was the second minister of Winchendon, Worcester Co, MA. “Mr. Brown was here in the autumn of 1768 ; he accepted the invitation to settle in the following March, and was settled in May.”^[4] He served as the minister in Winchendon for just over 30 years, ordained 24 May 1769 and dismissed in December, 1799.^[5]

In Winchendon he lived in the house now called the Richard Day House, still standing near the Old Center of Winchendon.

“One of the best houses erected in the early times was built about 1752, by Dea. Richard Day. It still stands on the high ground a little west of the south end of the Common. It is a large two story house, and by care, may be occupied by generations to come. It was at one time owned by Rev. Mr. Brown, the second minister of the town ; and at subsequent periods has been in the possession of Rev. Messrs. Malachi Bullard, John Storrs, and B. F. Clarke ; now occupied by Mr. Dunn.”^[6]

Joseph and Sarah Brown's youngest son, Amos, was born 14 Jul 1782, in Winchendon, Worcester Co, MA.^[7] (Is this the Amos Brown who married Elizabeth Bullock in Guilford, VT 18 Jan 1804? O'Dell-269 16:31, 10 February 2014 (EST))

Joseph Brown served as minister in Guilford, Windham Co, Vermont, from April 1803 to August 1804.^[8]

From 1804 to 1806 he was minister in Westminster West, Windham Co, VT:

   “Rev. Joseph Brown supplied the pulpit for nearly two years after Mr. Emerson. Of him little is remembered, only he was an old man, and somewhat absent-minded. His horse, which he was leading, slipped his halter, and went off in another direction. The good pastor did not discover the trick until he had tied the halter to the post at his door.
   He was evidently familiar with the parishioners, so much, that they felt at liberty to joke him. One Peter Hall, known by all the parish as Uncle Peter, and famous for his jokes, met Parson Brown, one Monday morning, returning from the store with a birch broom in his hand, and hailed him, ‘good luck, Mr. Brown, this morning, sold all your brooms but one, havn’t you?’ ”^[9]

Joseph died in 1810 and is buried in Old South Church Cemetery, Windsor, Windsor Co, VT.^[10]

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Sources

1. ↑ Lexington, Massachusetts, Record of Births, Marriages, and Deaths (Record of Births, page 11).
2. ↑ History of the Town of Lexington (page 410).
3. ↑ History of the Town of Lexington (Genealogical Register page 28);
   Lexington Record of Marriages (page 102).
4. ↑ History of the Town of Winchendon (page 318).
5. ↑ History of the Town of Winchendon (page 313).
6. ↑ History of the Town of Winchendon (page 46; Sketch of the Day House: page 44 1/2).
7. ↑ Vital Records of Winchendon, Massachusetts (page 18)
8. ↑ John M. Comstock, The Congregational Churches of Vermont and Their Ministry: 1762–1914 Historical and Statistical (St. Johnsbury, Vt.: The Caledonian Company, 1915), page 61.
9. ↑ Vermont Historical Gazetteer, Volume V: (1891) The Towns of Windham County with the Histories of Sutton in Caledonia County, and Bennington in Bennington County, page 643 (83).
10. ↑ Rev. Joseph Brown at Find A Grave: Memorial #118493430.

• Clapp, R. P., Staples, C. A. and Smith, G. O., editors. Lexington, Massachusetts, Record of Births, Marriages, and Deaths to January 1, 1898. Wright & Potter Printing Company, Boston, 1898.
• Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its First Settlement to 1868, with a Genealogical Register of Lexington Families. Boston: Wiggin & Lunt, 1868.
• Marvin, Rev. Abijah Perkins, History of the Town of Winchendon, (Worcester County, Mass.,) from the Grant of Ipswich Canada in 1735, to the Present Time. published by the author, 1868.
• Franklin P. Rice, Vital records of Winchendon, Massachusetts, To the end of the year 1849. Worcester, Mass.: F. P. Rice, 1909.