Here's what I have on Whitfield BROWN:
On May 31, 1832, he married Catherine KELLY in Jefferson co., MS. A few months later, on September 3, their daughter (and my ancestor) Mary Jane was born.
On the 1840 Jefferson co., MS census, we find him living surrounded by his in-laws:
WHITFIELD BROWN: 1 male under 5; 1 male 5 to 10; 2 males 30 to 40;
1 female under 5; 1 female 20 to 30.
By the 1850 Jefferson co., MS census, the family looked like so:
1850, August 25
Mississippi, Twsp.10 East, Page 112, #482/482, Jefferson County:
W. BROWN, Age 47, male, Planter, $1,200, SC;
C. age 35 female, MS;
G.W., age 17 male, MS;
J., age 13 male, MS;
B.D., age 9 male, MS;
F.A., age 6 female, MS;
W.J. , age 4 male, MS;
L.C., age 2 female, MS;
M.J., age 13 female, MS.
Whitfield and Catherine's children were:
1. Mary Jane, b. Sep 3 1832.
2. George W., b. July 29 1833.
3. James Kelly, b. Apr 5 1837.
4. Benjamin Franklin, b. Dec 19 1840.
5. Frances Ann, b. 1843.
6. William J., b. 1846.
7. Albert Gallatin, b. Aug 1849.
8. L. Celeste, b. 1852.
Whitfield Brown and his son George were among the casualties of the 1853 Yellow Fever outbreak. He died on September 24, 1853 and was buried in the Brasfield/Yellow Fever cemetery in Jefferson co., MS, which was later demolished. His widow Catherine later had a guardian's sale in December of 1856 (as related in the newspaper The Fayette Watch-Tower, Vol. XV, No. 10, Whole Number 762).
In the book "Migration of South Carolina..." by Jayne Conway Carlington Pruitt, Whitfield BROWN is said to have come to Jefferson co. MS via the Natchez Trace.
Whitfield does not appear on the 1823 state census for Jefferson co., MS. Presumably he entered the county after that date.
Is he the Whitfield BROWN who witnessed the 1818 Bill of Sale between Dudley Stewart and James Carson in Edgefield co. SC? There is no Whitfield Brown on the 1800 Edgefield co., SC census, but likely he was too young.
There's also a Whitfield Brown who received land in Muscogee co., GA in the 1827 land lottery; his residence is given as Franklin co., GA. However, this Whitfield Brown does not appear on the 1830 census of Muscogee co., GA. There IS a Whitfield Brown in the 1830 census: in Habersham co., GA.
So who is my Whitfield Brown and where did he come from? I suppose I should be grateful that his parents at least gave him a distinctive enough first name that I might be able to trace him through the records.
