William Brown (bef. 1744 - aft. 1762)

Descendants

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Biography

THE WILLIAM BROWN FAMILY OF AMERICA.

William Brown and Christiana Thompson Brown, with their children, came to America, landing in Philadelphia in 1772. Fol- lowing the route of Braddock's Army they reached their destination in Western Pennsylvania.

In this genealogical compilation we call the head of the first family that came to this country the first generation. We made no attempt to trace the ancestry back through the generations in Scot- land, their native country. Margaret, daughter of William Brown the first, gave the only reliable history obtainable of her father's family. She said that all of her brothers and sisters were born in Scotland. We know that Anna, the youngest child of the family, was not more than ten years of age when they landed in America. This would seem to indicate that we were mistaken when w^e as- sumed that we were of Scotch-Irish ancestry. William the first may have lived in the north of Ireland for a short time, but we have no proof of it. Certainly he was not entitled to be called Scotch-Irish. William Creighton White says that his mother, who was a daughter of William Brown the second, told him that her father was called "Billy Brown , the Scotchman. " William McCamish Hays, whose mother was a sister of the wife of William Brown the second, told the writer that the Browns came from Scotland. William the first may have lived in the north of Ireland for a short time, but we have no proof of it. Certainly he was not entitled to be called Scotch-Irish. William Creighton White says that his mother, who was a daughter of William Brown the second, told him that her father was called "Billy Brown , the Scotchman. " William McCamish Hays, whose mother was a sister of the wife of William Brown the second, told the writer that the Browns came from Scotland. Robert McCaslin, with his family came to Philadelphia on the ship that brought the William Brown family over. Doctor William Alfred McCaslin, to whom not only the compiler, but all of his people are greatly indebted for his untiring and successful laVjor in gathering family records, says that the name of McCaslin (McCausland) has been traced back in history

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perhaps to the first settlement of the north of Ireland b^- the Scotch . The Doctor thinks that his branch came to America direct from Ireland. We think it probable that the Browns and Murrays, if not neighbors in Scotland, were at least acquaintances. They came over in the same vessel, settled or at least lived for some time in the Scotch settlement in what is now Washington County, Pennsyl- vania, near the line between that county and Allegheny County, not far from the Monongahela and Youghiogheny Rivers. The home of William Brown the first was on Peter's Creek; he is buried at Peter's Creek Presbyterian Churchyard.

After the death of William Brown the first, his wife lived the remainder of her da3's with her daughter Margaret and husband> Samuel Barber, at their Turtle Creek home. She was buried at Beaulah Presbyterian Churchyard.

Sources

• Family records

https://archive.org/stream/ourfamilyrecords00tayl/ourfamilyrecords00tayl_djvu.txt