Thomas Browne (abt. 1609 - 1688)

Born about 1609 in Lavenham, Suffolk, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 3 Nov 1688 at about age 79 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Thomas Browne migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 46) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Thomas Browne was born about 1609 in Lavenham, Suffolk, England, son of Edmund Browne (<1576 - 1640).^{[citation needed]}

His brother may have been Edmund Browne (<1606 - 1678).^{[citation needed]}

Thomas married Bridget Unknown^[1] (~1606 - 1681) in 1642. Their children were:^{[citation needed]}

1. Boaz Brown^[1] (1641 - 1724)
2. Jabez Brown (1644 - 1692)
3. Mary (Brown) Gove (1646 - 1700)
4. Dea. Eleazer Brown (1649 - 1720)
5. Thomas Brown (~1651 - 1718).

Thomas was a husbandmand and planter and was one of the founders of Sudbury, Massachusetts in 1638. In 1640, he moved to Concord, where he likely married. Thomas and his family lived in Concord until 1680, when his wife died. He then moved to Cambridge, where he spent his final years.^[1]

Thomas died on 3 November 1688 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony aged ~79.^{[citation needed]}

Many of Thomas' descendants dropped the "e" from the Browne surname.^[1]

Thomas Browne and his Brothers

Thomas Browne's origin is a bit murky. Some sources ^[2] claim that his birth was in Lavenham, Suffolk, England, 10 Jan. 1605. Whether or not he was a brother or at least a relative of Edmund Browne and possibly of William Browne is not certain, but here are several arguments for it:

They all came from Suffolk, England, to the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1637. All were granted land in the first divisions in the new town of Sudbury, Massachusetts. The three are the right ages to be brothers.

Dr. Henry Bond, himself a descendant of Abraham Browne of Watertown, states that it is not improbable that they are related to one another and to Richard and Abraham Browne of Watertown and hence to Christopher Brown of Bury St. Edmunds, England, whose lineage has been traced extensively back to John Browne of Stamford in the 14th century. This has not been verified. ^[3]

Many local historians, such as William Sereno Hudson, ^[4] claim that the three Browns were generally held to be brothers by the people of Sudbury.

A Thomas Browne was a witness to Edmund Browne's will. [actually it needs to be ascertained whether this is Thomas the presumed brother or another of the many Thomas Browns in the family.]^[5] William Browne voted for Thomas in Sudbury at Town Meeting in 1654 ^[6] since Thomas had moved to neighboring Concord, MA shortly after the town was settled (his first son, Boaz Browne, was born in Concord in 1641/2. ^[7]) William was caring for land given to Thomas :"[William] shall quietly enjoy the land which he hath now fenced in, which is the second division of upland formerly granted to Thomas Brown." ^[8]

William named two of his children Thomas and Edmund. (Though these were common names at the time-- this is not conclusive.)^[9]

Both Thomas and William were awarded fairly large land grants because of the money invested into the voyage to Mass Bay Colony on their behalf by a woman named Ann Harvey. She is referred to as William's aunt in Sudbury records, though the relationship is not mentioned in Thomas' case. She gave both men the same amount of money (25 pounds.) ^[10]

Edmund Brown's will mentions his "kinsman in Bury. St. Edmonds"^[11] though he was baptized at Lavenham . Powell ^[12]says Thomas and William were probably born in Bury St. Edmonds, Suffolk. Burke claims Lavenham is the birthplace of all three.

Wife and Children

Thomas' wife was certainly named Bridget, though Concord records never indicate her maiden name ^[13] Possibilities are Bateman and Fitch, but no conclusive evidence or sources for this seem to exist. According to a map of early Concord reconstructed from land records and other local sources, ^[14]Thomas Browne and Thomas Bateman were neighbors, (near the North Bridge and what is now Liberty St., Concord) but this is not proof that Bridget was a Bateman. No child named Bridget related to Thomas Bateman can be found in Concord records. As far as I know the only suggestion that she is a Bateman is that Thomas Bateman called Thomas Brown "my brother" in a town record^{[citation needed]}

Thomas and Bridget were the parents of Boaz, Eleazer, Mary, Thomas, and probably Jabez. Only Boaz, Mary, and Eleazer are listed in Concord Vital records, but Thomas (Jr.) is clearly his son (inferred by land transactions, wills, and a multitude of Concord records--Thomas Jr. was the town Clerk for many years.) A good case can similarly be made for Jabez from wills and other connections. Mehitable, Ebenezer, and Ichabod were not their children, though Pope claims so. ^[15] Burke attributes these three (and a daughter Mary) to Thomas Browne and Martha Oldham of Cambridge, MA ^[2]. Cambridge, MA Vital Records show Thomas Browne marrying (1st) Martha Oldham, w. of Richard deceased, 7 Oct. 1656 and (2nd) Mary Hall on 23 May 1681^[16] and Cambridge records also show Mary, d. of Thomas and Martha, b.5 Apr. 1658, "Mehettabell" b. to Thomas and Martha 13 May 1661, Mary (2) to Thomas and Martha 1 Nov. 1663, Ebenezer, to Th. and M. 15 Jn 1665, "Icabod" to Th. and M. 5 Sept. 1666, and Martha, to Th. and M. 19 Oct. 1668. ^[17] So unless Thomas of Concord was bigamous (or very talented) he and Bridget would not also be the parents of Mehitable, Mary , Ebenezer , Martha, and Ichabod.

Apparently Thomas moved to Cambridge after Bridget died, perhaps to live with his daughter Mary who was living there with her husband John Gove.^[15] His death is believed to be in Cambridge in 1688. ^[18]He is not buried in Concord. This may explain some of the confusion between Thomas of Cambridge and Thomas of Concord.

Other Thomas Browns

Genealogical Dictionary of New England

THOMAS, Concord 1638, perhaps br. of Rev. Edmund, being among orig. proprs. of Sud- bury 1637, freem. 14 Mar. 1639, by w. Bridget had Boaz, b. 14 Feb. 1642; perhaps Jabez, 1644; Mary, 26 Mar. 1646; Eleazer, July 1649; and Thomas, 1651. His w. d. 5 Jan. 1681, and he rem. prob. to Cam-bridge, d. 3 Nov. 1688.

The Wilson Family Descendants of John Wilson, Mariner Together with an Account of the Brown Family by Gerald James Parsons, (1970) M.S.L.S. pg. 61.

Thomas Brown (or Browne), the first of this family in America, came from England to New England prior to 1640 and settled in Concord, Middlesex Co., Mass., where he supposedly died 3 Nov 1688. He married Bridget _________, who died 5 mar. 1681, in Concord.

Most authorities say he was the Thomas Brown who came in 1637; was made a freeman 14 Mar. 1638/9; was a proprietor of Sudbury, Mass., where lands were assigned to him in 1640; and removed to Concord soon after. This seems likely for the Thomas Brown of Sudbury had left that settlement before 1646. [His son Boaz was born in 1641/2; the birth is listed in Concord records. Some authorities state also that he was a brother of the Rev. Edmund Brown(e) of Sudbury, but I have seen no proof. Pope in The Pioneers of Massachusetts states that Thomas Brown of Concord was the same man of the name who lived in Cambridge, but this can easily be disproved by a search of Concord and Cambridge records. The Thomas Brown of Concord was married 7 Oct. 1656, Martha Oldham, who was mentioned in his will dated 23 Nov. 1690; while the wife of Thomas Brown of Concord was named Bridget and lived until 1681 in Concord.

A Thomas Browne of Concord served in King Philip's War in 1675 and 1676 and was wounded. [Bodge, G.M., Soldiers in King Philip's War... (3d ed., 1906), pp. 171, 172.] This may have been Thomas Brown, Sr., but it seems more likely it was Thomas Brown, Jr. who so served. "Thomas Brown, sen." was a tithingman in Concord 24 Feb. 1679. [The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 5:173.] Savage and Potter state that Thomas Brown died 3 Nov. 1688, but this record does not appear in printed vital records of Concord.

There were a number of men named Thomas Brown who lived in early colonial New England. Notes will be placed here to try and separate them.

• Thomas Brown of Newbury, Massachusetts. Born about 1606; died 8 January 1686/7 in Newbury. Proven origins from Christian Malford, Wiltshire, England. Married Mary Healy 20 August 1632 in Christian Malford. Immigrated on the James in 1635. Four known children only Francis, Mary Isaac and Nicholas. ^{[19] [20]}

• Thomas Brown, servant of Thomas Antrum on the passenger list of the James. He is not the same as Thomas Brown of Newbury who also arrived on James. Per Anderson, he is not identified with any of the other men named Thomas Brown, and there is no record of him in New England. ^[21]

• Thomas Brown of Lynn. Born about 1628; died 28 Aug. 1693 in Lynn. Married Mary Newhall. 16 children all born in Lynn.

Thomas Browne was born about 1609 in Lavenham, Suffolk, England. He passed away in 1688 Cambridge, Middlesex, MA.^[22]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Brown, Keith F. "The Wives of Boaz Brown, Sr., of Concord, Stow, and Dedham, Massachusetts." in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Boston, MA: NEHGS, Vol. 140, Oct 1986, p. 317. AmericanAncestors.org($).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Burke, Bernard, Sir, Burke's American families with British ancestry : the lineages of 1,600 families of British origin now resident in the United States of America, (Baltimore : Genealogical Pub. Co., 1975), p. 2584. (Available on Ancestry.com by $ubscription)

   Thomas Browne, of Lavenham, Suffolk, and afterwards of Sudbury, Massachusetts, whiter he went with his brother, Edmund, bapt. at the Church of St. Peter and Paul, Lavenham, 10 Jan 1605.

   Father - Edmund Browne, of Lavenham, Suffolk, probably of the same family as Thomas Browne of that place, who entered his pedigree at the visitation of 1664, as the son of Robert Browne, and bore arms, Argent on a bend sable, three eagles displayed of the field. Edmund Browne was bapt. at Somerton, Suffolk, 4 Nov 1576; m. at Lavenham, Aug. 1603, Anne Woder, and was father of 1. Thomas (above) 2. Rev. Edmund, went to Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1638, Minister at Sudbury, Mass., 1640-1678, bapt. at Lavenham, 28 Oct 1606, matric. Emmanuel Coll., Camb., 1624; m. 29 June, 1639, Anne, dau. of Anthony Whiting, of Dedham, and widow of John Lovering, of Watertown, Mass., and d. 22 June, 1678.

3. ↑ The Genealogies of the First Settlers of Watertown, including Waltham and Weston, by Dr. Henry Bond
4. ↑ Hudson's History of Sudbury
5. ↑ Middlesex County Probate records
6. ↑ Sudbury Mass. early town records
7. ↑ Concord Vital Records
8. ↑ Col. Records, I, p.291-292.
9. ↑ Mass Vital Records
10. ↑ Mass.Colony Records, Vol. 1., p. 307; Col. Records, Vol. 2, p. 266;Mass. Col. Records, Vol, 4, p. 527.
11. ↑ Middlesex County Probate Records, 1640-
12. ↑ Puritan Village, by Sumner Chilton Powell. 1963: Wesleyan University Press, p. p. 165
13. ↑ Torrey's New England Marriages, p. 226.
14. ↑ Concord, MA Library Special Collections
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} The Pioneers of Massachusetts, by Charles Henry Pope. Boston:1900
16. ↑ Cambridge Marriages, Vol 2, p.55
17. ↑ Cambridge births, Vol. 1, pp.97-99.
18. ↑ Genealogies of Some Old Families of Concord, Massachusetts, Volume 1 edited by Charles Edward Potter
19. ↑ New England Historical and Genealogical Register, vol. 152 no. 4 (October 1988):347-352. Thomas¹ and Mary (Healy) Brown of Newbury, Massachusetts, and Their Family, by George Freeborn Sanborn.
20. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume I, A–B. (Boston: NEHGS, 1999): 435-438. AmericanAncestors.org LINK
21. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume I, A–B. (Boston: NEHGS, 1999): 438-439. AmericanAncestors.org LINK
22. ↑ "The History of Sudbury, Massachusetts, 1638- 1889."

See also:

• Parsons, Gerald J., The Wilson Family Descendants of John Wilson, Mariner Together With an Account of The Brown Family.
• Savage, James: "Genealogical Dictionary of the Early Settlers of New England"; Volume 1, page 276
• Shattuck, Lemuel: "History of the Town of Concord", Appendix III, Notes on Early Settlers and Distinguished Men; page 365 - presence in Concord, in 1640, later move to Cambridge.