Richard Brown (1767 - bef. 1849)

Born 2 Oct 1767 in Fairfax, Loudoun, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Embree) Brown — married before 10 May 1789 in Wrightsboro, Georgia, USA

Descendants

Died before 9 Feb 1849 before age 81 in Preble, Ohio, United States

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Biography

Richard was a Friend (Quaker)

Birth

Richard Brown was born on 2 October 1767 in Fairfield, Loudoun County, Virginia to Quaker parents Mercer Brown and Sarah.^[1][2]

From Virginia to Georgia

He was nearly 17 when his family received their Certificate of Removal from the Fairfax Meeting, Virginia, on 28 August 1784.^[3] The Certificate, addressed to the Bush River MM in South Carolina, was eventually presented to the Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting at Georgia on 5 March 1785.^[4] Richard's elder sister, Mary, remained in Virginia with her husband, John Moore, who she had married two years earlier.

Marriage

Richard married Mary Embree in Georgia sometime before February, 1790 at which time, he was condemned by the Wrightsborough Quaker Meeting for conducting his marriage in a disorderly manner.^[5] The couple's first child Sarah was born on 10 May 1789 at Georgia^[6], and despite a discrepancy on her gravestone making her a year older, this birth date is regarded as likely given that they were expecting their second child by February 1790.

Children born in Georgia

Richard and Mary had thirteen children; the first seven were born within the Wrightsborough MM in Georgia^[2];

• 1. Sarah (b. 5 Oct 1789)
• 2. Lydia (b. 26 Jun 1790)
• 3. Mercer (b. 29 Oct 1792)
• 4. John (b. 5 Mar 1794)
• 5. William (b. 5 Jan 1796)
• 6. Richard (b. 3 Mar 1798)
• 7. Jonathan (b. 28 Dec 1799)

From Georgia to Ohio

Richard was mentioned in his father's Will which was written on 30 October 1802;

"I give and Bequeath to my Son Richard Brown that Plantation and tract of land whereon he now lives and that tract of land in the Piney woods near the head of Germany Creek likewise my part of land and mill on Sweetwater creek”.^[7]

Given that both Sweetwater Creek and Germany Creek are located in Wrightsborough County, now McDuffie, Georgia, it can be assumed the plantation Richard was living on by the end of October in 1802, was also in Georgia. His father died within six weeks of writing his Will, suggesting that Mercer and his family knew his death was imminent, and as one of the two Executors, Richard would have remained close by. Many Quakers were planning their migration away from Georgia in the early part of the 1800s though, and the breaking up of Mercer Brown's estate and the sale of those properties by his sons in Georgia, enabled them to turn toward Ohio much sooner.

Richard's eighth child, Mary, was born on 15 August 1802^[8], before the family left Georgia, but died on 17 October 1803^[9] at Preble County, Ohio. The infant's short life linked the two Monthly Meetings of Wrightsborough, Georgia, and Elk, Ohio. Her vital records, alongside her grandfather's probate records, narrow down the dates of Richard's family's long journey toward the north western frontiers.

Children born in Ohio

Richard's five youngest daughters were born within the Elk Quaker Meeting in Preble County, Ohio.^[10]

• 8. Mary (b.15 Aug 1802)
• 9. Rebecca (b. 3 Oct 1804)
• 10. Margaret (Peggie) (b. 26 Jul 1807)
• 11. Rachel (b. 21 Apr 1809)
• 12. Phoebe (b. 29 Mar 1811)
• 13. Anne (b. 17 Oct 1813)

Richard's Death and Probate

Richard's Last Will and Testament was written and recorded in 1816. It divided his large landholding between his sons; Mercer, Richard, John, William and Jonathan.^[11]

An unsourced but possibly accurate reference made in Richard's Find A Grave profile claims his will was recorded on 9 February 1819. Richard may have died shortly before that, in late January or early February, 1819.^[12] Many years later, in 1833, Richard's children were in dispute with each other over land partitions.^[13]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Jayne Beers for her research regarding Beverly Yount's transcription of Sarah's gravestone.

Sources

1. ↑ * Birth: "U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935"
   Swarthmore College; Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 2189 #1107386430 (accessed 25 May 2022)
   Richard Brown born on 2 Oct 1767, child of Mercer & Sarah, in Loudoun, Virginia.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Hinshaw, WIlliam, Wade., (1936), "Encyclopedia of American Quaker genealogy", (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015002304221;view=1up;seq=1073), page 1073.
3. ↑ Ancestry.com, (2014). "U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935", Swarthmore, Pennsylvania; Minute and Removals 1783-1909; Collection: Baltimore Yearly Meeting Minutes; Call Number: RG2/B/F351 3.10, [database on-line], (https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2189&h=1107094687&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xMq22&_phstart=successSource).

   "Name: Richard Brown | Residence Date: 28 Aug 1784 | Residence Date on Image: 28 Eighth 1784 | Residence Place: Loudoun, Virginia | Father: Mercer Brown | Mother: Sarah Brown | Event Type: Removal | Monthly Meeting: Fairfax Monthly Meeting | Type (Orthodox or Hicksite): Pre-Separation/Hicksite | Yearly Meeting: Baltimore Yearly Meeting | Meeting State: Virginia | Meeting County: Loudoun".

4. ↑ Ancestry.com, (2014). “U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935”, Guilford College; Greensboro, North Carolina; Minutes, 1772-1793; Collection: North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes. Description Title: Minutes, 1772-1793, [database on-line], (https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2189&h=9101082&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=xMq20&_phstart=successSource), image 52 of 103, “Name: Richard Brown | Residence Date: 5 Mar 1785 | Residence Date on Image: 05 Third 1785 | Residence Place: McDuffie Georgia | Father: Mercer Brown | Mother: Sarah Brown | Event Type: Admittance | Monthly Meeting: Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting | Yearly Meeting: North Carolina Yearly Meeting | Meeting State: Georgia | Meeting County: McDuffie”.

   The Certificate stated: Mercer and his wife and children; Richard, Sarah, Ann, Margaret, Phebe and Mercer.

5. ↑ Ancestry.com, (2014). "U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935", Guilford College; Greensboro, North Carolina; Minutes, 1772-1793; Collection: North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes, [database on-line], (https://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2189&h=3528687&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=RzO23&_phstart=successSource),

   "Name: Richard Brown | Residence Date: 01 May 1790 | Residence Date on Image: 01Fifth1790 | Residence Place: McDuffie, Georgia | Event Type: Miscellaneous | Monthly Meeting: Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting | Yearly Meeting: North Carolina Yearly Meeting | Meeting State: Georgia | Meeting County: McDuffie".

6. ↑ Ancestry.com, (2014). “U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935”, Guilford College; Greensboro, North Carolina; Minutes, 1772-1793; Collection: North Carolina Yearly Meeting Minutes, [database on-line], (https://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=2189&h=3528866&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=60716). Film Sequence Page: 96/103,

   “Name: Sarah Brown | Birth Date: 10 May 1789 | Birth Date on Image: 10 Fifth 1789 | Birth Place: McDuffie, Georgia | Father: Richard Brown | Mother: Mary | Event Type: Birth | Monthly Meeting: Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting | Yearly Meeting: North Carolina Yearly Meeting | Meeting State: Georgia | Meeting County: McDuffie”.

7. ↑ * Richard Brown/ Mercer Brown Probate: "Georgia, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992"
   Estate Records, 1788-1940; Author: Georgia. Court of Ordinary (Columbia County)
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 8635 #1557025 (accessed 31 March 2022)
   Richard Brown probate.
8. ↑ * Mary Brown/Birth: "U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935"
   Earlham College; Richmond, Indiana
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 2189 #256042 (accessed 31 March 2022)
   Mary Brown born on 15 Aug 1802, child of Richard & Mary, in Preble, Ohio.
9. ↑ * Mary Brown/Death: "U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935"
   Earlham College; Richmond, Indiana
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 2189 #257290 (accessed 31 March 2022)
   Mary Brown death 17 Oct 1803 (age 1) in Preble, Ohio.
10. ↑ * Birth: "U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935"
    Earlham College; Richmond, Indiana
    Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 2189 #256042 (accessed 31 March 2022)
    Mary Brown born on 15 Aug 1802, child of Richard & Mary, in Preble, Ohio.
11. ↑ * Richard Brown/Probate: "Ohio, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998"
    Record of Wills 1808-1901; Probate Place: Preble, Ohio
    Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 8801 #7126873 (accessed 31 March 2022)
    Richard Brown's Will dated 1816.
12. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 06 March 2020), memorial page for Richard Brown (2 Oct 1767–9 Feb 1819), Find A Grave: Memorial #41044435, citing Friends Cemetery, West Elkton, Preble County, Ohio, USA ; Maintained by Bonedigger18 (contributor 47279603). N.B. Probate date has been incorrectly recorded on this FindAGrave memorial as Richard's death date.
13. ↑ Ancestry.com, (2006). “Preble County, Ohio Common Pleas Court Records 1810-1850”, Original data: Short, Anita. Preble County, Ohio Common Pleas Court Records, 1810-1850. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1995, [database on-line], (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/49302/FLHG_PrebleCntyComRec-0083/85419?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return)

See Also

• Columbia County, Georgia, Will book, Mercer Brown will (1802), Columbia County Will Book A:154-155. Written 30 Oct 1802, filed 20 Dec 1802.