Elizabeth "Betty" Brown was the daughter of John Brown and Susannah Allison of Wilkes County, N.C. She was born there late 1785 or early 1786 [1] and married at the remarkable age of 13 to Peter Perkins.[2]
Betty gave birth to 16 children over a period of 28 years. She and Peter joined a number of families that made the move from Wilkes County to Campbell County, Tennessee. She is thought to have outlived her husband by a few years, passing away around 1850 in neighboring Whitley County, Kentucky.[3]
Ancestry
The search for Betty's parents has resulted in a two popular proposals. The first is that she was the daughter of Abel Brown of Massachusetts, an idea that seems to have arisen in error and then copied around. It doesn't stand scrutiny. The second proposal does make sense-- she was the daughter of James Brown and Sarah Riley who lived on the Yadkin River near Beaver Creek in Wilkes County. Points in favor of this idea:
This is certainly suggestive of a family connection but in his will James did not call his daughter Elizabeth Perkins as we would expect. In the census of 1800 we see James had two unmarried adult daughters at home, one of whom is probably the Elizabeth named in the will.
As it turns out, Betty was the granddaughter of James and Sarah Brown, not their daughter. Examination of the records of Wilkes County reveals the following. Just after her marriage in 1800 Betty's husband Peter Perkins is found in the Wilkes County tax list of that year. He is listed immediately after a man named Brown, presumably his new father-in-law, whose first name appears to be "Thn" or "Jhn".[6] It is likely the clerk had difficulty reading the name on the tally sheet he was copying.
Whereas the tax list was written in tax taker order, the federal census of that year is organized by last name. But there is one page of the census that contains the names of many of the "B" men from the tax list and that page also contains a John Brown.[7] We conclude that "Thn" Brown is an error for John Brown.
John Brown had married the widow Susannah Allison in 1785 and Betty was their eldest child. Importantly, John was taxed for 119 acres in 1800[6] and in 1805 we find Susannah, again a widow, being taxed for that same unusual amount.[8]
The connection of Peter Perkins to John Brown to Susannah Allison is unmistakable. Two of Betty and Peter's first four children were named John and Susannah in their honor.
It is believed that Betty's father John Brown was a son of James Brown and Sarah Riley which makes Betty their granddaughter, not their daughter. Please see John's profile for more information.
Children Listed on Elizabeth “Betty” Brown Perkins Find a Grave Memorial
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