John Adam Brown (1821 - 1907)

Born 1 Dec 1821 in Preble, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Frances A. (Wiles) Brown — married 9 Mar 1847 in Daviess County, Missouri

Descendants

Died 12 Jan 1907 at age 85 in Daviess, Missouri, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jeffrey Scott [send private message]

Biography

The following information is based on John Adam Brown's Record written for his children, after 1894 and before his death in 1907. It was typewritten by Pearl Cole Swisher, and notarized by Ruby Brown in Page County, Iowa on July 4, 1936.<2> A copy of the typewritten record is included in the images for John here on wikitree. This record was printed in the Armfield Newsletter, June 2011 courtesy of Ethyl M. Taylor.<3> (Small editing changes were made in this text to address historical inconsistencies observed by Allen Brown and the editors of the Armfield Newsletter, improve punctuation and grammar, and also in an attempt to make the narrative easier to follow. The voice of John Brown's writing is virtually unchanged. A discussion of the major changes follows the narrative. You may observe the record as it was printed in the Armfield Newsletter, including their footnotes.)

John Adam Brown was born December 1, 1821 to Solomon Brown and Lydia Adams. His parents were married New Year's Day 1813 in North Carolina. They moved to Preble County, Ohio in 1814.

My father lived ten years in Ohio, had five children born there. (I was the fourth.) The oldest, Matilda, was born in Carolina. They sold out and settled in Henry County, Indiana. He lived there ten years and died on the 8th of June 1834 of milk sickness. His father and mother broke up housekeeping in 1826 in Ohio and moved out and lived with us until their deaths; hers in 1827 or 8, and his in 1831 or 32. Mary Armfield Brown died of consumption in her 69th year. He in his 77th from the kick of a horse. They were buried at the Quaker cemetery on Flat Rock, my father by their side.

My father settled in Henry County, Indiana, in November 1824, in the green woods. He had gone before and built a round log cabin with clapboard roof, held on by weight poles, and puncheon floor. It was four miles west of us to the nearest settlement. The land was all vacant and continued so for ten or twelve years. The woods were filled with wolves, wild cats, deer, raccoons, and wild hogs. The land was covered with heavy forest trees, consisting of beech, sugar tree, walnut, hickory nut, hackberry, white and red elm, white burr, red and pin oak, poplar, black, gray and blue ash, linn, and buckeye. It took labor to make a farm at that time. It generally wore a man out to do so.

My father and mother had ten children born unto them, three girls and seven boys. The oldest, 1) Matilda, in North Carolina on the 16th of January 1814; 2) the next, a boy, born dead; 3) Lewis, on the 3rd of April 1817; 4) Polly in 1819; 5) myself, John Adam in 1821; 6) Jacob, 7) an infant son in 1824, who died of croop when three weeks old; he was the first person buried at the old Flat Rock graveyard; 8) Rachel was born on the 14th of February 1828; 9) J. Read in August 1830 and 10) B. Franklin in January 1832.

On the 8th of September, 1841, I left home and came to Missouri; first to Andrew County, and the same fall, to Daviess County on the 18th of November. I wrote to my Mother and the rest of the family that winter to sell out and move here, which they did the following season. I went back to assist in moving. The balance of our history you have learned from conversations that you have heard me have with you and others. Mother lived until the 3rd of April, 1861.

On the 12th of October, 1894, a few of our friends and relatives met at the cottage house in Jameson, Daviess County, Missouri to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of my father's birth. I drew up a short sketch of the early history and traditions of the family at that time. Several of the descendants requested a more full account to be written.

I now proceed to narrate some of the early events connected with our family as I learned from conversations I have heard between my father, Solomon Brown, and grandfather, Jacob Brown.

Our ancestors were Quakers and they were obnoxious to the ruling powers of England at that time (1680). William Penn, a leading spirit at that time, gained the goodwill of King Charles and got a grant of land in the new world. The colony of Pennsylvania was established. Our family soon joined other Quakers in Pennsylvania.

There were three brothers left there in the first half of the 18th century who settled in the Shenandoah valley area of Virginia. My great grandfather, Thomas Brown, and Margaret (Moon), his wife, then emigrated to the old North State, though just a colony at that time. There my grandfather, Jacob Brown, was born in 1755. His older brother, also named Thomas, at an early date moved to the north west part of the colony, when it was infested with hostile Indians. The early settlers had to build a blockhouse to protect themselves from the Indians.

The hoe, at that time, was the main implement used in raising corn. The men would go out in companies to hoe their corn, taking their guns with them to protect themselves from the Indians. On one of those occasions, it was drizzling rain, so they put their guns in a large hollow tree about the middle of the field to keep their powder dry. They were ambushed by the Indians, who fired on them from the brush, Luckily, no one was hit.

The Indians dropped their guns, leaped over the fence, tomahawks in hand and made swift pursuit. Our boys made for the hollow tree. Thomas Brown, my father's uncle, was said to be very swift on foot. He got to the tree first, shot three of the redskins before they could get out of their reach.

It was common at that time for the men to wear their hair long, and plait it and let it hang down their backs. In the race to the hollow tree, when my great uncle got to the Indians, one of the Indians was so close to one of the settlers that he was reaching to catch him by his long plaited hair. The crack of the deadly rifle stopped him in his careening rush and saved the settler. The Indians, finding that the whites had their guns, fled.

Thomas, my great uncle, was a regular "Daniel Boone" of a man. He was used to all the hardships of frontier life. He soon after took the small pox and died. His youngest brother was named Moses. He went to the new settlement on the Yadkin River, to take care of his brother's family. He did not seem to understand Indian tactics as well as his brother. One time they came around the field and hollered like a crow. Moses, not suspecting anything, went out with his gun to kill the crow and was waylaid and shot. They ran into scalp him. A negro man and two bull dogs came to the rescue and chased them off.

Soon after this event, the Indians became so troublesome that the people from the lower part of the state went up to guard the settlers to the older settlement. My grandfather, Jacob Brown, went up to help move his sister-in-law and children back to the older settlements. The families were living in a blockhouse. Their stock was running on the range. The young men were sent out for the horses, grandfather with them When they returned, each one riding and leading a horse down the lane leading to the blockhouse, they were fired upon by the Indians concealed in the corn on each side of the lane.

They immediately faced about and retreated as fast as their horses could carry them, letting go the horses they were leading. They continued their flight until they considered themselves out of danger, then held a council of war. They did not know the force of the Indians, nor the fate of the people at the blockhouse. It was decided to make a circuitous route and strick the road leading from the settlement, which they immediately did.

When they got to the road they saw that the people of the blockhouse had just passed, as the sand was still dropping in the wagon tracks. It was a great relief to them to find that they had made their escape. They were not molested again until they came to the Yadkin River.

They had formed a company that went up to guard them back. It was formed into the van and rear guard. The wagons and women and children formed the center between the two guards. Just as the vanguard crossed the Yadkin, the Indians fired on them and ran in with whoops and yells common to savages penetrating to the center of the procession occupied by the women and children. The rear guard rushed up to their protection where they had a hand to hand fight for some minutes. They could not use their guns on account of the women and children. One big stalwart Indian, that seemed to be a leader, came into contact with an equally large stout settler. The white man could clinch with him and throw him to the ground, but the Indian was nearly in a nude state, with his body greased, and when we would let go with one hand to get his knife to dispatch him, the Indian would get up. While this was going on, he had just thrown the Indian down, when another Indian ran up and ran a spear in the white man's back. (He died later that night, the result of this wound.) Just at hat moment another settler punched that Indian in the side with his rifle and fired. The Indian jumped up high in the air and fell dead on the spot. No wonder they sought every opportunity to kill and drive them from the country.

Such was the situation of affairs at that time. About this time, the vanguard recrossed the river and the Indians fled. They were not molested anymore on their journey to the settlement. The next event that I will note took place sometime after this. Grandfather had moved up to the new settlement and was married to Mary Armfield. They had a cabin and a small field cleared in the woods. The settlers would go out to their cabins or fields in the daytime and return to the blockhouse at night for protection against the Indians who still infested the country. This seemed to be their hunting ground and they came back in small squads for the sake of the game. No wonder they were terribly enraged to find the white man appropriating it to their own use. Grandfather and grandmother went out to their farm to labor as usual in daytime and returned to the blockhouse at night. Grandfather proposed to his wife to stay at the cabin that night, not thinking she would do so. But, she told him she would stay, if he would. It would not do for him to back out then, so they agreed to stay. They both regretted it before morning. Soon after dark, the dogs barked, someone was prowling about--they could easily imagine Indian intruders. They went up in the loft with gun in hand, intending to see out as clearly as possible. Jacob opened places in the roof to shoot through, while Mary cut bullet patching and measured out charges of powder on her apron, spread across the floor to facilitate the firing. Thus, they spent the night, watching and waiting. No Indians came, they very agreeably disappointed. But, it was the last night they stayed out at the blockhouse during the Indian troubles.

Hostilities became general. The Indians raised in large numbers to exterminate the whites or drive them from what they believed to be their hunting ground. The whites from the older settlements came up in large numbers to be there for protection. They rallied their forces and went into a general engagement. The Indians, contrary to their general custom formed their line of battle and marched boldly up to the engagement. I heard grandfather tell of the battle, as he was engaged in it.

He said he saw one large painted Indian with feathers in his hair. He did not march in a straight line, but skipped from side to side. He took him to be the chief. When he had orders to fire, he aimed right at him. That was the last he ever saw of him. After a few rounds, the Indians fled, carrying off their dead and wounded. This closed his Indian fighting. He never had any love for them as long as he lived. Whenever they were mentioned, he would lose his temper. He had no good word for them. The murder of his brother, Moses, and the many atrocities they committed on the frontier in his younger days embittered his whole life against them. Such is life.

The foregoing events took place about the commencement of the Revolutionary War. Grandfather was a Quaker and their religion required them to oppose war; still he fought the Indians, but refused to volunteer to fight the British. They drafted him and took him into the regular service. He was under General Green when he fell back from South Carolina to Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina. That was in an adjoining county to where he lived (which was Surry). Grandmother, hearing that General Greene was retreating north, in company with another lady who had a husband in the army, prepared such clothing and provisions as their limited means would permit and the women started on horseback to meet their husbands. When they came to the Yadkin River, it was up. They did not know whether it was fordable or not. Grandmother rode in to see. As soon as she was fairly in, her horse began swimming and commenced plunging throwing her into the river. She held onto the bridle reins, the horse swimming around her. Her companion screamed with all her might. Two men travelling on the road, heard the screams at the river, and came up as fast as their horses would carry them.

One of them threw off his outer clothing and dove into the river to rescue grandmother. His companion begged him not to go in, telling him she would likely drown him in the process. The man gave no heed, but followed the promptings of humanity, swam to where she held the reins in a death grip. He tried to get the reins out of her hands but could not. He had to cut them and let the horse swim out. He swam to shore with her in an unconscious state. Thus, he saved her life. Alas, she lost the clothing and provisions she was taking to her husband.

This took place a few days before the Battle of Guilford Courthouse between the British commanded by Lord Cornwallis on one side and the Continental Soldiers commanded by Generals Greene and Morgan. Grandfather and grandmother were both there at the time, one as a soldier, the other on a visit.

My grandfather had one sister that moved to the State of Georgia, whose descendants live there to this day.

There was another brother named Samuel who settled in Preble County, Ohio, in the neighborhood where I was born. I have seen two of his sons and one of his daughters there, Samuel and Thomas. Their sister married a man by the name of Robert Thompson. I have been to his house. Grandfather lived and raised a large family, seven sons and five daughters. Their names are as follows: 1) Jane or Jean, married Isaac Carter, she did not live long; 2) Moses; 3) Thomas; 4) Ann, who married John Hopris; 5) Jacob, 6) Polly, married James Mendenhall; 7) Rachel, married William Adams, parents of William and Joel; 8) William, he died before he was grown, 9) Solomon; 10) Isaac; 11) Margaret, married John Mendenhall, brother to James; and 12) Jonathan, the youngest. <2>

Discussion about changes of potential significance:

1. Original: John Brown wrote: "William Penn, leading spirit at the time, gained the goodwill of Charles and got a grant of land in the new world, that took his name as the colony of Pennsylvania. Our forefathers came with him and settled in that colony at the date given above.." It was changed to, William Penn, a leading spirit at the time, gained the goodwill of King Charles and got a grant of land in the new world. The colony of Pennsylvania was established. Our family soon joined other Quakers in Pennsylvania.

Discussion: No proof has been found of the Browns coming with William Penn. However, the Moon ancestors were in Pennsylvania by the 7th day : 8th month : 1682. Current research suggests the first Brown in this family line to arrive in the colonies may have been Thomas Brown born 1691 in England. A young Thomas Brown left England as a fifteen year old indentured servant to George Battersly in 1706.<9> However, no record of George Battersley has been located in the colonies. The first verifiable source for Thomas Brown appears in the home of Jacob Holcombe in the 1722 Tax Records for Bucks County.<6> Thomas and Jacob Holcombe then appear in Quaker records from the Buckingham Meeting of Quakers in 1722. Jacob's family is also associated with the Abington Meeting in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Thomas married Ruth Large according to Quaker custom in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1723. Thomas and Ruth were parents of Thomas Brown, Jacob Brown's grandparents. Their children were born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. In 1741, they moved to Frederick County, Virginia and settled there. The Thomas Brown house was placed on the National Register as an architecturally significant example of a one and a half story log cabin. It is the oldest residence in modern day Berkeley County, West Virginia, near Inwood.

2. Original: There were three brothers left there in the first half of the 18th century and settled on the eastern coast of North Carolina. It was changed to: "There were three brothers left there in the first half of the 18th century who settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia ."

Discussion: The family moved from Pennsylvania to Virginia in 1741. Thomas Brown died in 1750. Ruth Brown and her sons William, Thomas and Samuel appear in Cane Creek, New Garden, and Deep River meetings in North Carolina. This is in the piedmont section of North Carolina. Ruth died in 1763. At that time, they were members of the New Garden Meeting in Orange County, North Carolina. Orange County was divided into smaller counties in 1777, their home was now in Guilford County. John A. Brown referred to his uncle, Moses Brown, who died in North Carolina.

3. Original: My grandfather had two brothers that moved in an early day and settled in the state of Mississippi near Natchez, of whom I know nothing, their wives whose given name was Lusutta. He had one brother that moved to the State of Georgia, whose descendants live there to this day. One who was appointed provisional Governor at the close of the Rebellion, was afterwards U. S. Senator a number of times. His name was Joseph, but generally went by the name of Joe Brown. It was changed to: My grandfather had one sister that moved to the State of Georgia, whose descendants live there to this day.

Discussion: No direct reference to Brown brothers moving to Natchez, Mississippi is currently known. Jacob's brothers are accounted for. Lusutta was omitted, no further reference to her has been found; the wording appears awkward. Records for Joseph Emerson Brown, Georgia governor and United States Senator after the Civil War indicate he descended from William Brown who did live in Guilford, North Carolina. However he was born in Londonderry, Ulster, Ireland, and came from a Presbyterian family. Susanna Brown, sister to William and Thomas Brown married Richard Moon. He was the brother of Hannah and Margaret Moon, the wives of William and Thomas. Richard and Susanna Moon moved to Hancock County, Georgia.

4. Original: Their names are as follows; Hannah, who married a man named Carter. She did not live long . Moses, Thomas, Ann, who married John Hopris, Jacob, Polly, married James Mendenhall , Rachel married Wm. Adams, father of Wm. and Joel. Wm. who died before he was grown, Solomon, Isaac, Margaret who married John Mendenhall, brother to James, Jonathan, the youngest. Changed to: Their names are as follows: 1) Jane or Jean (who married Isaac Carter, she did not live long), 2) Moses, 3) Thomas, 4) Ann, who married John Hopris, 5) Jacob, 6) Polly, married James Mendenhall, 7) Rachel, married William Adams, father of William and Joel, 8) William, who died before he was grown, 9) Solomon, 10) Isaac, 11) Margaret, who married John Mendenhall, brother to James, and 12) Jonathan, the youngest.

Discussion: The oldest daughter was named Jane or Jean, and she married Isaac Carter. Attempts were made to incorporate numbers and punctuation which made the relationships easier to understand.

The following information was added regarding the life of John Adams Brown. This information was not included in his record.

John Adam Brown married Frances A. Wile in Daviess County, March 9, 1847.<4>

Sources

• <1><Scott, Jeffrey, Ora Earl Scott GED.ged/>

• <2><Brown, John A., "John A. Brown Record"/>

• <3><Stenhjem, Connie, Agerton, Joyce, "The Armfield Newsletter", Volume 6, Number 4, June 2011./>

• <4><Missouri Marriages, Daviess County http://www.geocities.ws/karl_margie_s/images/a-Missourirecords.htm/>

Find A Grave Memorial

John Adams Brown in the U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current

Go to website: Find A Grave Memorial No. 16172631

• Name: John Adams Brown
• Birth Date: 1 Dec 1821
• Birth Place: Preble County, Ohio, United States of America
• Death Date: 12 Jan 1907
• Death Place: Daviess County, Missouri, United States of America
• Cemetery: Old Scotland Cemetery
• Burial or Cremation Place: Jameson, Daviess County, Missouri, United States of America
• Has Bio?: Y
• Father: Solomon Brown
• Mother: Lydia Brown
• Spouse: Mary Frances Brown

Children:

• Lewis Martin Brown
• Mary E Reed
• John F Brown
• Almira C Netherton

Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Original data: Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.

Acknowledgements

Special Thanks to Jeffrey Scott, Ethyl M. Taylor, Connie Armfield Stenhjem, Joyce Agerton, and Allen Brown for their contributions.

Object

Object: @M250@