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James Browne (abt. 1604 - 1676)

James Browne aka Brown
Born about in Englandmap
Son of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
Husband of — married 1638 in Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay Colonymap
Husband of — married before 1647 in Charleston, Middlesex, Massachusettsmap [uncertain]
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 72 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colonymap
Profile last modified | Created 6 Jun 2011
This page has been accessed 3,048 times.
The Puritan Great Migration.
James Browne migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 1, p. 249)
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Contents

Biography

James Brown(e) was born about 1604, based on a deposition given in July 1675 that he was "aged seventy-one years."[1] His place of origin in England is unknown, although Robert Charles Anderson suggests the Colchester, Essex area of England due to a 1649/50 letter seeking to recover a debt from James Browne.

He emigrated in 1633, settling first in Charlestown, then Newbury by 1662 and Salem by 1668. He was a glazier, admitted to Charlestown church 10 March 1633/4, and made freeman 4 March 1633/4. He was likely one of the two James Brown(e)s admitted to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.

That this James Brown (there were at least four by that name) resided successively in Charlestown, Newbury and Salem relies the fact that he was called glazier at all locations, that his son James, also a glazier, returned to live in Charlestown, and that the list of births of children picks up in Newbury just as it breaks off in Charlestown.

On 20 November 1637 he was one of two Charlestown men to be disarmed as an adherent of Wheelwright and Hutchinson.

1638 Member, Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts

He m1 by 1638 Judith/Elizabeth ______; possibly the "Elizabeth Brown" admitted to Charlestown church 14 June 1634, or more probably the "Elizabeth Broun" admitted 3 July 1641; died by 1647; m2 by 1647 Sarah Cutting, daughter of John Cutting of Charlestown and Newbury; probably the "Sarah Broune" admitted to Charlestown church 14 March 1651/2; she m2 by 28 February 1682[/3] William Healy.

Newbury records show that, on February 23, 1653/4, James Browne acquired commonage rights in Newbury from his grandfather Mr. Cutting's freehold.[2] Based on his children's birth records, however, he did not move to Newbury until sometime in 1661-1663. (Note that there was a different James Browne who was a prominent resident in Newbury from 1636 until removing to Portsmouth about 1652.)

He died in Salem, Massachusetts 3 November 1676.[3]

Last Will & Testament

Dated 29 January 1674[/5?], proved 29 November 1676, "James Browne of Salem"[4] bequeathed:.

  • to my beloved wife Sarah...
  • to my eldest son John Browne...
  • my son James Browne...
  • to my son Samuel...
  • to my son Abraham...
  • my dau Sarah Beasly

To [my daughters] (all under 18 at time of will):

  • Anna
  • Mary
  • Abigaile
  • Martha

Children

By first wife:

  1. John, b Charlestown 4 January 1637 [sic] "son of James Browne & Judith his wife;" bp Charlestown 1 March 1638/9 "son of James Broun and of Elizabeth his wife"; m Newbury 20 February 1659 Mary Woodman
  2. Mary, bp Charlestown 3 March 1639/40 "dau of James Broun and of Elizabeth his wife"; no further record.
  3. James, b Charlestown 20 February 1642/3 "son of James Browne & Judith his wife" and bur there 28 August 1643.

By second wife:

  1. James, b Charlestown 19 August 1647; m Charlestown 15 March 1670 Hannah House
  2. Nathaniel, b Charlestown 21 November 1648; not mentioned in father's will 29 January 1674.
  3. Sarah b abt 1652; m by 26 November 1672 Robert Beasly, on which day "Robt Beasly and his wife, for fornication before marriage were fined or to be whipped the next lecture day."
  4. Samuel, b Charlestown 14 January 1656/7; named in father's will 29 January 1674/5; no further record
  5. Hannah, bp Charlestown 12 September 1658; named in father's will; no further record
  6. Abraham, bp Charlestown 14 October 1660; d Newbury 13 January 1683, apparently unmarried
  7. Mary, b Newbury 25 May 1663; her father's inventory included a debt of L8 to "Goodwife Bonfield for caring for Mary's leg": probably the Mary Brown "aged about nineteen years" who gave testimony in the case against James Creek 28 March 1682; no further record
  8. Abigail, b Newbury 24 October 1665; named in father's 1674/5 will; no further record
  9. Martha, b Newbury 22 December 1667; named in father's 1674/5 will; no further record.

Sources

  1. Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to N.E. 1620-1633, Vols I-III; Boston, MA: NEHGS 1995, pp 249-253. View with NEHGS Membership.
  2. "[Estate of] James Browne, 9th mo., 1676," Historical Collections of the Essex Institute 2:233; digital images, Hathi Trust (accessed 2014). http://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101013083603?urlappend=%3Bseq=243
  3. T. B. Wyman, Jr., "Salem and Charlestown: Marriages," Historical Collections of the Essex Institute 7:24; digital images, Hathi Trust (accessed 2014), for entry, "Brown." From the text, James Brown--son of Sarah (Cutting) Brown of Charleston--and Hannah House, were married 16. 1 mo. 1670. He moved to Salem." http://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101076884830?urlappend=%3Bseq=34

Footnotes

  1. Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts, 1636-1686 (The Essex Institute, 1917) Vol 6 Page 44
  2. Currier, John. History of Newbury, Mass. 1635-1902. 1902. p. 94. Link to page at archive.org.
  3. The Probate Records of Essex County, Massachusetts (The Essex Institute, Salem, Mass., 1920) Vol 3 Page 110.
  4. Probate Records of Essex County: Vol 3 Page 108.

Acknowledgements

  • Thank you to Bennett Rockney for creating WikiTree profile Brown-17751 through the import of Rockney GEDCOM.ged on Feb 16, 2013.
  • Thank you to Janice Hardin for contributing to the development of WikiTree profile Brown-1299 on May 4, 2012.




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Comments: 16

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Please review and add parents.

Joseph Browne. 1580-1643. Browne-4733 Sarah Hibbert. 1582-1691. Hibbert-180

Parents? They are listed on my ancestry.com tree

Thanks.

Thanks Jane. Are there some solid sources to back up this connection? Note in the opening paragraph of the bio here, Anderson has not been able to prove anything yet. So further sources will be needed.
posted by Bobbie (Madison) Hall
* https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/997313:60541?ssrc=pt&tid=191514631&pid=192547856876
  • Source Information

Ancestry.com. Global, Find a Grave® Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Find a Grave. Find a Grave®. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.

My tree on Ancestry has them listed but it’s progress right now. I will get back to you.
posted by Jane (Cournoyer) McNicol
edited by Jane (Cournoyer) McNicol
Joseph Browne 1604-1676. and. Sarah Brown. 1628-1699.

Joseph Brown. 1580-1643. and. Sarah Hubert. 1582-1691. Parents?

Ancestry.com. Global, Find a Grave® Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Find a Grave. Find a Grave®. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.

posted by Jane (Cournoyer) McNicol
edited by Jane (Cournoyer) McNicol
Are there any reliable sources to link these parents to Joseph? It's a very, very common name and we're not certain where he came from. Is there a will for the "father" that names his son and mentions he's living in New England?
posted by Bobbie (Madison) Hall
Whereabouts in England though?

Ann

posted by Ann Browning
My ancestry tree.com is kinda messed up right now. Im getting different parents.

I almost have it but it will my patience that wins eventually. 🧐

posted by Jane (Cournoyer) McNicol
edited by Jane (Cournoyer) McNicol
Fellow Wikitreers - more advise sought from you.

Death 18 Sep 1630 (MBCR 1:78), a James Brown gave evidence of the death of a William Bateman. GMB page 249 as cited above. I have added this note to https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bateman-184 Would you suppose this William Bateman died in New England? I have checked the burial register at Toppesfield Esssex, England and not be able to find a burial record at this date. (Image 601 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DTF5-35?i=600&cc=1465709)

See further on Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97589049/william-bateman: accessed 16 October 2022), memorial page for William Bateman (unknown–Sep 1630), Find a Grave Memorial ID 97589049, ; Maintained by Linda Mac (contributor 47062703) Burial Details Unknown.

posted by Beryl Meehan
edited by Beryl Meehan
Does the 1630 testimony offer the occupation or other information that might help us to identify him? --Gene
posted by GeneJ X
Find a Grave had the answer - the man being reference is that who lived Pullen's Point and W has that correct.
posted by Beryl Meehan
Note: I am detaching the 1638 Newbury image and attaching it to the correct James Brown.
posted by Chase Ashley
There are several paragraphs in the bio that are verbatim of Anderson's "Great Migration."

Please rewrite in your own words. Copyright laws.

https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/great-migration-begins-immigrants-to-ne-1620-1633-vols-i-iii/image?pageName=250&volumeId=12107&rId=23894609

Thank you.

Browne-1215 and Browne-499 do not represent the same person because: The updated profile about this man now associates him with parents. Having become better identified, then he seems the person of Watertown. The marriage to Sarah Cutting, however remains. Resolving the marriage seems now the better alternative.
posted by GeneJ X
Brown-12995 and Browne-499 appear to represent the same person because: The identity of the James Brown(e) who was Sarah (Cutting) Brown(e)'s husband and father of Sarah (Brown) Healy is established, in part, byt Robert Charles Anderson, _The Great Migration Begins : Immigrants to New England 1620-1633_, 3 vols; digital images, _American Ancestors_ (http://www.americanancestors.org/ : accessed 2013), 1/A-F:249-254, "James Brown" migrates 1633, Charlestown (relocates to Newbury, 1662; Salem, 1668); for entry about his second wife, m. "by 1647" to Sarah Cutting, "daughter of John Cutting of Charlestown and Newbury." Anderson reports she "married (2) by 28 February 1682[/3/]" to William Healy," cites "MLR 8:296-97."
posted by GeneJ X
Please explain how it could be known that the James Brown(e), born 1608 at Southampton, Hampshire, England, the son of Joseph and Sarah (Hibbert) Brown, is the same man, James Brown(e), a glazier, who m2 Sarah Cutting and was said b. "about 1604" based on a 1675 deposition?
posted by GeneJ X