William Brawley II (1796 - 1870)

Born 1796 in Ireland

Husband of Maria (Gifford) Brawley — married 1 Sep 1833 in Westport, Bristol County, Massachusetts

Husband of Phebe (Gifford) Brawley — married 1 Jan 1837 in Bristol County, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 11 Jun 1870 at about age 74 in New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts

Biography

William Brawley II has Irish ancestors.

Son of William Brawley and Matilda NN

William Brawley was an Irish immigrant, born in Ireland in 1796. A laborer and a farmer, he moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts in the early 1800's, before the great famine of the 1840's. He made his way to Westport, Massachusetts where he married Mariah Gifford, the daughter of Westport ship’s carpenter and farmer, Levi Gifford, and his wife, the former Prudence Brownell. Mariah was the eldest of the couple’s 10 children, having been born on 16 April 1811. William was 37 and Mariah was 22. They announced their intentions on September 1, 1833 and married on the 25th of September.

A son, Levi William Brawley, was born in Tiverton, Rhode Island on September 4, 1835. It is likely that Mariah developed a chronic post-partum infection and never recovered. She died on 2 April 1836, just days before her 25th birthday.

With a young son at home, William Brawley remarried shortly thereafter to Phebe Gifford, born in 1799. The couple welcomed a daughter, Anna Maria, known as Ann, in 1838. She became a schoolteacher and lived with her parents until she married farmer George Read in June of 1864.

The Brawley's and the Read's lived on Blossom Road “on the east side of the pond”, according to census and newspaper records. William Brawley saw his name published in the Fall River daily newspaper twice. The first occasion was an auspicious one, as he was petitioning the court to dismiss a fine of $10 which had been imposed on him for keeping an unlicensed dog in 1859. The second time was in noting his successful and impressive crop of green apples, some of which had grown to a mammoth 13 inches in diameter. At the conclusion of the Civil War, William and Phebe resided with his sister, Mary, his son, Levi, his wife, and their four young children. On June 11, 1870, William Brawley died in New Bedford of a cancerous tumor at age 74. His obituary noted that “the closing part of his illness was very painful, which he endured with uncommon resignation, frequently expressing to his wife, daughter, and sister, his appreciation of their sacrifices and attention to his wants and comfort.”

His body was returned to Westport and buried alongside his first wife, Mariah. Phebe moved in with her daughter, Ann, her husband, George, and their three children, on Blossom Road, in Fall River. In 1881, Phebe penned her Last Will and Testament, leaving her estate to her daughter, Anna Maria Read, and, upon her demise, to her three grandchildren, her namesake, Phebe, Frank, and Walter Read. “She may have the use of said property and estate during her life free from the interference or control of her husband,” Phebe wrote of her daughter and son-in-law. Barnabas Blossom was appointed executor and trustee of her estate.

Eighteen months later, Phebe Brawley died of “dysentery”, an intestinal infection that causes bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and, in the years before antibiotics, death. She died on 10 August 1882 at the age of 83. She joined William and his first wife, Mariah, in the private Brawley-Reynolds Burial Ground. No record could be found of the death of daughter, Anna Maria Read. Her husband, George Read, died in 1917.

William and Maria (Gifford) Brawley’s son, Levi Brawley, was 52 years old when he died on 12 May 1888

27 July 1850: Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts; Occupation of William: Laborer; William Brawley 50 Ireland Phebe Brawley 53 Massachusetts; Levi W Brawley 14 Massachusetts; Ann M Brawley 12 Massachusetts; (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD9N-H41

20 June 1860: Ward 3 City of Fall River, Bristol, Massachusetts; Occupation of William: Farmer; Wm Brawley 62 Ireland Phebe Brawley 62 Massachusetts; Ann M Brawley , Teacher, 22 Massachusetts; William Brawley 16 Massachusetts; (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZH4-THK

6 June 1870: New Bedford, Ward 1, Bristol, Massachusetts; Occupation of Levi: Hostler; Levi W Brawley 34 Rhode Island Kate C Brawley 36 Ireland Maria G Brawley 8 Massachusetts; William A Brawley 7 Massachusetts; Anna G Brawley 5 Massachusetts; Bessie Brawley 3 Massachusetts; Phebe Brawley 1 Massachusetts; William Brawley 74 Massachusetts; Mary A Brawley 70 Massachusetts; Phebe Gifford 63 Massachusetts; (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDS2-5YW

Sources

Massachusetts Marriages, 1841-1915; William Browley; Spouse's Name Phebe Gifford; Marriage Date 1 January 1837; Marriage Place Bristol, Massachusetts; (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q28L-DS9L

Find A Grave: Memorial #157882781 William Brawley

Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, 1921-1924; William Brawley; Age 74; Death Date 11 June 1870; Death Place New Bedford, Massachusetts; Marital Status Married; Occupation Laborer; Father's Name William; Mother's Name Matilda; Age 74 years; Birth Year (Estimated) 1796; Birthplace Ireland; Father's Birthplace Ireland; Mother's Birthplace Ireland; Source Reference Brawley, William, 1870; Record Number 132; (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7V8-8LG