John & Elizabeth Wilson Brown
Pioneer John Brown, and his wife, Elizabeth Wilson Brown, can be claimed as ancestors by countless people with Rockcastle County, Kentucky roots. According to their tombstones in the Hasty Cemetery at Bull Pen Branch, Level Green, Kentucky, John Brown was born July 9, 1774 and died December 7, 1830, and Elizabeth Brown was born March 29, 1783 and died September 17, 1856. No marriage record for John and Elizabeth has been found to my knowledge, but since their first child was born March 1, 1803, their marriage most likely took place in 1801 or 1802.
While most Brown family researchers agree that John most likely came to Kentucky from Virginia, as did his wife, Elizabeth Wilson, no one to my knowledge has successfully traced the family prior to John’s coming to Skagg’s Creek in Rockcastle County, Kentucky (Lincoln County prior to 1810). The idea of searching for the roots of someone with a name as common as John Brown, and with nothing more to go on than that he was probably born in Virginia, was considered to be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Until recently, I agreed, and while I kept my eyes open for the Brown name while researching other family lines, I never seriously believed I would find anything specific enough to be used as a link to our John Brown. However, one day I found a reference in the book, Annals of Southwest Virginia, to a deed made in Montgomery County, Virginia by Jotham and Phebe Brown. Two facts struck me as relevant. One, the unusual name, Jotham, was used several times in our John Brown family, and two, according to Wilson family genealogists, Joshua Wilson, the father of Elizabeth Wilson Brown had come to Kentucky from Montgomery County, Virginia. Was it possible that this Jotham and Phebe Brown of Montgomery County were the parents of our John Brown? Perhaps John was acquainted with the Joshua Wilson family in Montgomery County, Virginia, and he came with them to Kentucky in the early 1800’s. With this theory in mind, my husband and I became genealogy detectives, collecting information from the internet, various libraries, the Lincoln County Courthouse, the Kentucky History Center in Frankfort, the Greene County, Tennessee Historical Society, the Montgomery County, Virginia Courthouse, and finally, the Library of Virginia in Richmond. While we did not find proof that John Brown of Rockcastle County was the son of Jotham and Phebe, we did find enough evidence to build a very strong case in support of that theory. We found that Jotham and Phebe Brown had a son named John. Montgomery County tax records indicate that he was the same age as our John Brown of Rockcastle County, and tax records and deeds show that the Joshua Wilson family and Jotham Brown families were neighbors in Montgomery County. In addition, John Brown, son of Jotham, disappears from the Montgomery County tax list, and a John Brown appears on the Lincoln County, Kentucky tax list at a date that would be consistent with the theory that he came with the Wilson family to Kentucky. Lincoln County marriage, tax, and land records clearly show a close association of John Brown with the Joshua Wilson family after his arrival in Kentucky. Finally, Greene County, Tennessee marriage, tax, census, court, and land records do not support the idea that a John Brown, son of Jotham, relocated there.
Marriage Records of Jotham Brown’s Children:
1. Jane – married Christopher Cooper, October 20, 1786 in Botetourt County, Virginia (Documentation taken from Christopher Cooper’s Revolutionary War Pension file).
2. Sylvanus – married Ruth Johnston September 3, 1794 in Montgomery County, Virginia. Moses Johnston, father, Moses Brown, security and witness.
3. Esther – married John Willis, January 1, 1793 in Montgomery County, Virginia. Jotham Brown, father, Jotham Brown, security and witness,
4. David – married Anna Craig, August 4, 1795 in Montgomery County, Virginia. Benjamin Craig, father, Benjamin Craig, security and witness.
5. John –
6. Lydia – married William Crumley, October 1, 1807 in Greene County, Tennessee. William Crumley Jr., James Gibson, David Brown, Jotham Brown
7. Elizabeth –
8. Mary – married William Stapleton, December 6 or 16, 1803 in Montgomery County, Virginia. Jotham Brown, father, dec’d, security by Sylvanus Brown.
9. Jotham – married Peggy Maloney October 8, 1807, witnesses George Harmon, Christopher Cooper
10. Mirey
11. William – married Martha Blair, August 27, 1811, in Greene County, Tennesse. Witness, Sylvanus Brown
http://kykinfolk.com/rockcastle/family/brown/brown02.htm
