John BROWN (Hampton) (1589 – 1677 ) was Alex’s 10th great grandfather, one of 2,048 in this generation of the Miner line.

We have five separate Brown lines and seven different Brown immigrant ancestors, by far the most of any surname.  When the surname is of English origin it is derived from a nickname concerning the complexion of an individual, or the colour of their hair. Brown is derived from the Old English brun, brūn; Middle English brun, broun; or Old French brun.

1. John BROWNE Sr. (Swansea). (1583 Hawkedon, Suffolk  – 1662 Swansea, Mass)
John BROWN Jr.  (1620 -1662 Rehoboth, Mass)

2. John BROWN (Hampton) (1589 London – 1677 Salem, Mass)

3.  Nicholas BROWN (1601 Inkberrow, Worcester – 1694 Reading, Mass)

4. James BROWNE (1605 Southhampton, Hampshire  -1676 Salem, Mass.)

5. Thomas BROWNE (1607 Christian Malford, Wiltshire – 1687 Newbury, Mass.)
Francis BROWN I (1633  Christian Malford, Wiltshire – 1691  Newbury, Mass.)

John Brown was born in 1589 in London, England. His father was Angus BROWN.  John owned a bakery in London and decided to come to the colonies. His assistant, James Walker came with him and brought his sister, Sarah who worked for a linen draper in Cheapside. They left England on 17 Apr 1635 the Elizabeth and arrived in Boston 2 months later.  John Browne was Sarah, James and Phillip Walker’s uncle. Sarah married John Tisdale Sr. in 1644. It is also believed that John Browne was the brother of Elizabeth Browne Walker. Sarah’s mother.  Tisdale was called “cosen” by John Brown

John was  married, but I do not know the name of his wife.  John died 28 Feb 1687 in Salem, Mass.

Many sources say his wife was Sarah Walker, but she was his niece and married John Tisdale.  Either on June 27, 1675, as reported to the Plymouth Court by Shadrach Wilbore, or, or on April 4, 1675, as stated in a letter by John Freeman, an officer in the war. John Tisdale was killed by Indians.

It was reported that three men were slain: John Tisdale, Sr., John Knowles and Samuel Atkins. John Tisdale’s house was burned as was the house of his brother-in-law James Walker. John’s gun was carried off by the Indians. The gun was retaken at Rehoboth on Aug 1 1675, where it was found with the body of an Indian who was slain there. The gun was later used as evidence in court.

Sarah Walker Tisdale did not outlive her husband by much. She died on Dec 10 1676, in Taunton.

John’s estate was settled on March 6 1677. That same day, three Indians: Timothy Jacked, Massamaquat and Pompachonshe were indicted for the murder of John and the other two men, on the evidence of having John’s gun. Charges against one were dropped for lack of evidence. The other two wre deemed probably guilty. All three were sold into slavery, and removed from the country.

In June of that year John and Sarah’s youngest daughter, Abigail, only 14, was given into the guardianship of James Browne of Swansea. He may have been the son of her mother’s uncle, John Browne, but I don’t have him listed.  In 1677 the Tisdale’s oldest son, John, committed suicide.

Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire

He built the first ‘barque’ (small boat) ever built in Hampton, New Hampshire in 1641 or 1642 at the river near Perkins Mill.  It would seem that this barque was the one that John Greenleaf Whittier features in his poem, ‘The Wreck of River Mouth’.”    This poem expands on the true story of a Hampton shipwreck (click for original report) from 1657, when a group of eight were killed in a sudden storm.   Whittier also includes the character of  another of our ancestors Rev. Stephen BATCHELDER, the founder of Hampton, NH in this poem. The Browns River is named after John.  It is a 2.9 miles long river, primarily tidal, in southeastern New Hampshire in the United States. It is part of the largest salt marsh in New Hampshire, covering over 3,800 acres.

Brown’s River Marsh, Hampton New Hampshire

The river rises in the town of Seabrook just east of U.S. Route 1 and quickly enters the salt marsh and tidewater. For most of its length, the river forms the boundary between Seabrook and Hampton Falls. The river ends in Hampton Harbor, where it joins the Hampton River. He stayed in Salem until 1638 when he received one of the first tracts of land in Hampton, NH (4 acres) next to Browns River (named later for John). He owned four farms and became one of the wealthiest men in the area.

John Brown’s Stone, Founders Park, Hampton, New Hampshire

Hampton, NH Founders Park

Sarah Walker was born in 1618 in England. Sarah died 6 Jun 1672 in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. Children of John and Sarah:

Most genealogies state that Rebecca was born in Providence, RI. and some don’t include her in this family.    This family lived up north in Hampton, New Hampshire.  Either the birthplace is wrong or Rebecca had different parents.

” John Browne 40″ as well as “William Walker, 15; James Walker 15 and Sarra Walker 17, servants to John Browne, baker, and William Brasey, linen draper in Cheapside” embarked upon the Elizabeth;”, Mr. William Stagg, master, leaving London on 17 April 1635 and arriving in Boston, Suffolk County, MA in June”, according to Peter Wilson Coldham’s The Complete Book Of Emigrants In London, John was a Baker and was listed as such on the manifest of The Elizabeth.  The master, John Browne, was a Puritan who followed his preacher,  Reverend Stephen BACHILER , to New England to escape the oppression of King Charles.

John  became a freeman two years after arriving in 1635, then moved to Hampton, New Hampshire. First called the Plantation of Winnacunnet, Hampton was one of four original New Hampshire townships chartered by the General Court of Massachusetts , which then held authority over the colony.

” Winnacunnet” is an Algonquian Abenaki word meaning “pleasant pines”. The town was settled in 1638 by a group of parishioners led by Bachiler , who had formerly preached at the settlement’s namesake : Hampton, England .

John received a grant of 4 acres for a house lot on Brown’s River. He eventually became the third wealthiest man and the largest landowner in Hampton, owning four farms. John served as Selectman in 1651 and 1656

16 Dec 1652 -[our ancestor]  William SARGENT of Salisbury sold to  John BROWNE of Hampton, the meadow and upland adjacent to Aquilla Chase and widow “Bristos”.

John sued Thomas Swetman for a debt due “for two fat oxen” in 1654.

He also brought suit against the “prudential men” and the Town of Hampton for not building a road to his farm, which was near the Falls River toward the part of Salisbury, Essex County, MA that became Seabrook, Rockingham County, NH. The court decided in his favor and the road he wanted was built. Once in New Hampshire, John built the first bark, a small ship, in Hampton, Rockingham County, NH at the river near Perkins Mill. This ship was mentioned in John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem “The Wreck of River Mouth.” Familyorigens.com

John Brown was born about 1589 in London, England. He emigrated on APR 17 1635 from London, England.*Genealogy of John Brown : “He sailed out of London on the ‘Elizabeth’, 17 April, 1635.” He immigrated in JUN 1635 to Boston, MA.*Genealogy of John Brown : They arrived in Boston in June 1635 and he remained, as tradition says, in Salem, Massachusetts, until 1638. He died on FEB 28 1687 in Hampton, NH. *Genealogy of John Brown : “John Brown was born in London, England, in 1589 of Scottish parents. For several years he ran a bakery in London and at age fourty-six years decided to go to American Plantations. He sailed out of London on the ‘Elizabeth’, 17 April, 1635.

Among his fellow passengers were Sarah Walker, age 17, (later to become his wife) and her brother, James Walker, age 15, who was formerly employed by John in the bakery. John registered at customs as a baker and they registered as servants. Sarah had been in the employ of William Brazey, a linen Draper in Cheapside. They arrived in Boston in June 1635 and he remained, as tradition says, in Salem, Massachusetts, until 1638. Then John went to Hampton, New Hampshire, where he was one of the first settlers to receive a grant, a tract of four acres, for a house lot, lying near a branch of the river afterwards called Brown’s River. [ Note: This referrs to Browns River, along the Seabrook / Hampton Falls border.]

In 1640 he married Sarah Walker. She was born in 1618, and presumably, left London as a servant to John.” “…the fact that John Brown signed his own name, instead of a mark, shows that his education was not limited, and since he was a single man of fourty-six years when he came to this country, it is presumed that he did not leave London entirely destitute of property but was a man of considerable wealth. This may be one reason why Sarah married a man so much older than herself…”

“John built the first ‘barque’ (small boat) ever built in Hampton in 1641 or 1642 at the river near Perkins Mill.” “… it would seem that this barque was the one that John Green Wittier mentions in his poem, ‘The Wreck of River Mouth’.”

“John was a sober, industrious, hard-working and enterprising man, having made purchases of large additions to his four acres of land in various transactions in the different parts of town. He became one of the largest land owners and the third man of wealth in Hampton, being owner of four farms. He bought of John Sanders in March 1645 house and houselot with 12 acres of upland in the north field next to Morris Hobbs, six acrea of fresh meadow lying by the Great Boar’s Head next to William Fifield’s meadow.

Even though John was a selectman in 1651 and 1656, he never seemed to have taken an active part in town or church affairs. From the records of the court, it appears that John and his sons were engaged considerably in stock, and in 1654 they sued Thomas Swetman for a debt due for two fat oxen, for the want of which money they claimed to have been much damaged. In 1673 and 1674 he and his eldest son, John, brought suit against the’prudential men’ and also against the Town of Hampton for not causing a road to be built to his farm near the Falls River toward Salisbury, Mass. (now Seabrook, NH). The courts decided in his favor and Landing Raod was built. All five of John’s sons were farmers and were all engaged in conflict with the Indians in King Philip’s War.”…

Children

Some genealogies say that John first had a son John BROWNE Jun born 4 Jan 1637/38 in Newbury Mass.  But the consensus is that his parents were James BROWN and Judith CUTTING.

For example, Savage says

“JOHN [Brown], Newbury, m. 20 Feb. 1660, Mary Woodman, had Judith, b. 5 Dec. 1660; and Mary, 8 Mar. 1662. He was s. of James of Charlestown.”

1. Rebecca BROWNE (See John SCOTT Sr.‘s page)

2. Sarah Brown

Sarah’s husband John Poor was born 1636. John died 19 May 1686 in Boston, Suffolk, Mass

3. Benjamin Brown

Benjamin’s wife Sarah Browne was born 12 Apr 1658 in Salisbury, Essex, Mass. Her parents were William Browne and Elizabeth Murford, pioneer settlers of Salisbury, Mass. Sarah died 1730 in Hampton Falls, Rockingham, New Hampshire.

Benjamin was a farmer residing on Rocks Road, in the southeastern part of the town, now Seabrook, NH, on land received by his father. Benjamin fought in King Phillip’s War, as did all his brothers. He was one of the signers of Weare’s petition in 1683, a selectman in 1690 – 1701 and 1711, and a representative in 1697. He was engaged in raising cattle. Tradition says that in his old age he took great delight, as he leaned on his staff, in seeing his oxen driven past his home to the watering place.

4. Elizabeth Brown

Elizabeth’s husband Isaac Marston was born 1648 in Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire. His parents were Thomas Marston and Mary Eastow. Isaac died 5 Oct 1689 in Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire.

Isaac was made a freeman 26 Apr 1678, and he was a selectman in 1681. His farm was on North Hill, which is now part of North Hampton.

In 1680, Isaac was bondsman for Isabella Towle,  a Hampton woman accused of witchcraft. Joseph Dow’s History of Hampton Chapter 3 — Part 23    Isabella Towle b  was a woman in her late forties, married, and the mother of nine children.  Her husband, Philip, was first a seaman,” and later a “yeoman” of average position in the community. Beyond this the record does not speak. Particularly unfortunate is the lack of any material on the substantive charges against Goodwife Towle. All that survives is a court order, from September 1680, that “Rachel Fuller and Isabel Towle, being apprehended and committed upon suspicion of witchcraft . . . still continue in prison till bond be given for their good behavior of £100 apiece, during the Court’s pleasure. Both defendants were discharged in the following year.

In July, 1680, a little child of John Godfrey died, and the old cry of witchcraft was raised again. An inquest was held, with twelve solid men of Hampton for jurors, and a verdict rendered: “We find grounds of suspicion that the said child was murdered by witchcraft.”

Godfrey’s wife and daughter, Sarah , deposed that Rachel Fuller came in with her face daubed with molasses, and sat down by Goody Godfrey, who had a sick child in her lap, and took his hand; when the mother, in fear, drew the hand away and wrapped it in her apron. Then Rachel Fuller “turned her about and smote the back of her hands together sundry times and spat in the fire.” Then she strewed herbs on the hearth and sat down again and said: “Woman, the child will be well;” and then went out, beat herself thrice with her arms, as men do in winter, to heat their hands, picked something off the ground, and went home. The next day, the children told their mother that Goody Fuller had said if they did lay sweet bays under the threshold, it would keep a witch from coming in. So they laid bays under the threshold of the back door all the way, and half way of the breadth of the fore door; and soon after, Rachel Fuller came about to the fore door, though she had always formerly come in at the back door, which is next her house; and she crowded in on that side where the bays lay not, and rubbed her back against the post so that she rubbed off her hat, and sat down and made ugly faces and nestled about and would have looked on the child, but not being allowed to do so, went out as she had come in, after having looked under the door where the bays lay; and she had not been in the house since.

John Godrey, Nathaniel Smith and Hezron Leavitt made depositions, equally damaging.

Elizabeth Denham (wife of Alexander), deposed that Rachel Fuller told her “Witches did so go abroad at night, they did lay their husbands and children asleep;” and she said there were eight women and two men in the town, who were witches and wizards.

The men’s names were not given, but the women Goody Fuller reckoned as witches were: Eunice Cole, Benjamin Evans’ wife and two (?) daughters, Grace (Swaine) Boulter, Mary (Boulter) Prescott, Isabella (Austin) Towle, “and one that is now dead. ” Goody Towle, was, in fact, arraigned about the same time, on a different charge, and both she and Rachel Fuller were committed to prison till the sitting of the Hampton Court, September 7. Then, “The Court having heard ye case of Rachel ffuller and Isabel Towle being apprehended and committed upon suspition of witchcraft doe ordr yt they still continue in prisson till bond be given for their good behavior of £100 a piece during the Courts pleasure.”

John Fuller became bondsman for his wife; and Isaac Marston and John Redman, for Goody Towle. They were discharged at the Dover Court the next year.

5. Jacob Brown

Jacob’s wife Sarah Brookings was born 1662 in Portsmouth, Rockingham, New Hampshire. Her parents were William Brookings and Mary Walford. Sarah died in 1740 in Hampton, Rock, New Hampshire.ved

Jacob Brown lived on the homestead in Hampton, New Hampshire. He was the principal heir to his father’s estate and was a deacon of the Congregational Church in Hampton, a patriotic and much trusted man. He served in King Phillips War and King Williams War. He was active in politics and was granted a liberty to build a Tide Mill on his property.

6. Mary Brown

Mary’s first husband Nathan Parker was born 26 Aug 1651 in Newbury, Essex, Mass. His parents were Nathan Parker and Susanna Short. His mother died in his childbirth. Nathan died 25 Jun 1685 in Andover, Essex, Mass.

Mary’s second husband William Eliot was born 1654/55 in East Coker, Somersetshire, England. His parents were Andrew Elliot (Eliot) c: 24 Apr 1627 in East Coker, Somersetshire, England and Mary Vivion (Vivian). William died in 1721/22 in Beverly, Essex, Mass.

7. Thomas Brown

Thomas’ wife Abiah Shaw was born Oct 1662 in Hampton Falls, Rockingham, New Hampshire. Her parents were Joseph Shaw and Elizabeth Partridge. Abiah died 21 Dec 1739 in Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire.

Thomas was a soldier in King Phillip’s War

Thomas ied in Hampton, Rockingham co., NH on 29 June 1744; he was 86. Thomas married Abial Shaw and lived in Hampton, Rockingham co., NH. Carolyn Depp’s research notes that Thomas’ age at death is 77 years. However, for that to be so either his birth or death record is off by ten years.

8. Stephen Brown

Stephen  was killed at Black Point (Scarborough, Maine) on Jun 29, 1677 during King Philip’s War.

At the outbreak of King Philip’s War in 1675, Scarborough, Maine was an important coastal settlement with over one hundred houses and one thousand head of cattle. By 1676, the town had been laid to waste as a result of the war – some settlers were killed and others were taken hostage by the Native Americans. Subsequently, Massachusetts sent soldiers accompanied by Indian allies in 1677 to secure the town for resettlement.

On June 29, 1677, while pursuing some Indians sent as a ruse, the company was ambushed by warriors under Chief Squando. In the New England militia of nearly one hundred soldiers, fifty to sixty were left dead or mortally wounded. Among the casualties was Captain Benjamin Swett. Called the Battle at Moore’s Brook, it was an embarrassing rout for the military.

Early in the King Philip’ War,  the Indians made a descent upon Captain Scottow’s garrison at the Neck, and captured it; and the inhabitants at once abandoned that locality. In 1677, two hundred friendly Indians and about forty English soldiers under Capt. Benjamin Swett and Lieut. Richardson, came to Black Point by water from Massachusetts. On June 29, Capt. Swett with a detachment from the vessel, together with a number of the inhabitants, swelling the force to ninety, set out to meet the Indians, who were lurking in the vicinity. In the neighborhood of the hill, they discovered a body of Indians in retreat, and pursued them. The flight was a ruse, and led them into an ambush. In the desperate fight that ensued, all but thirty were left dead or wounded on the field, Capt. Swett among the number.

Moore’s Brook Battlefield Map

Only one man from Swett’s town of Hampton was recorded to have accompanied him. Stephen Brown was a teenager probably living with his widowed father, a first settler and prosperous landowner in Hampton. It may have been a shortlived but merry meeting for Stephen and John Parker of Andover. Stephen’s older sister had married John’s oldest brother. Some (if not all) of Stephen’s brothers were soldiers during the war and now it was his turn to play the man.

Thomas Dutton from Billerica described the battle in a petition for assistance from the government months afterwards.

Bilerikye this (1)st of 8th [October]: (1678)

To the honered govener & the Rest of the honered members of the Generall Court now sitting in boston : this 2:8:1678

The petetion of Tho^s Dutten Jun^r: most humbley sheweth: thatt som time in June : 77 : I was imprest into the contrey serves from Billeriky : & was sent with sum others to the estward : under the Command of the honered major clarke esq^r & the wise providence of the allwise god : so ordered if I was in th^t fattall scirmish : In which cap^t swett : th^t worthey comander : was slaine : and allmost all his officers : with about 50 men besids & : 21 more that were wounded [to my best Rememberance] of which my self was one : I was shott therow the side of my belle : and thorow my left knee & so fell doun wounded amongst the rest not able to help my self : I being of a child lame one my right thigh my hipp bone was putt out of Joynt and never sett againe so if I was now lame one both sides : beside the shott which went thorow my side: as afores^d :

I therefor hid my self amongst amongst [sic] the bushes: not being able to stand nor goe : the battell being over : the indians came forth out of the swamp and one of them espied me in a bush : and seing my gonne in my hand : aprehended more danger thⁿ there was : and spake to the rest and they all ran away the which I perceiveing : with much deficoltie : crept into the swamp and Covered my self with mudd & dirt : the Indians qicklie returned to the place to look for me : & fiered into the bush where the indian did se me : & they sought diligentlye for me : but It pleased the lord : they coold nott find me :

then in the night after all was still : I crept out of the swamp towards the gareson about a mile & a halfe and whatt with my bleeding and great paine : I was not able to goe one rodd farther : it was the more deficolt for me to creep becase I was shott thorow one of my knees: but there I laye doune & thought I must dye before mornig but the lord who ordereth all things acording to the counsill of his own will : so ordered th^t an other wounded soldier came bye me : in the night a letle before daye : and so took my condetion to the Cap^t of the gareson : who sent forth men imediatelye : and found me and brought me into the gareson who had much adoo to keep life in me :

& I was sent by the first opertunitye to salem : where I came upon the 2^nd of July : from th^t time till the : 28^th : of Janeuary I Remained under the hands of docter welds : as will appeare by his certeficate which I gave it to to [sic] the honured counsell.

More English and friendly Indians from Massachusetts died in this one military action in Maine than at any other time during the war. It was a devastating blow to the colony and once again the men of Essex County bore the brunt of the casualties. Some of the wounded Essex men were shipped to Salem, where nineteen arrived on July 2. Others arrived in Boston. At Salem Dr. Barton and Dr. Welds, physicians of long standing, tended them. Some soldiers were paid for their service, others were not. They or their towns bore the cost of their medical expenses.

Moore’s Brook Casualty List

Military leaders from Salem, John Curwin and John Price, sent the Governor and Council a list of the names of the men killed and wounded. Salem records state that they received 19 wounded men and that they arrived on July 2. On July 4th, Curwin and Price wrote (in all likelihood) to their commanding officer, Major Daniel Dennison, supplying him with a list of men wounded or killed at the battle. Only 13 are listed as wounded. Among the 23 that are listed as dead, some of these men seem to have survived. They were Thomas Burnham of Ipswich, Samuel Beale of Marblehead, Peter Pattee of Salem, and, possibly, Thomas Edwards of Marblehead. No easy explanation seems to fit in the case of these men (See A Doleful Slaughter new Black Point for a transcription of the list)

Already feeling vulnerable, since four men were killed outside the town two weeks before and upon hearing the news, the Hampton town fathers wrote to the Governor immediately asking for a suitable replacement for their Captain Swett. Swett’s wishes were granted and his wife, Hester, was given twice her portion of his estate. She married Swett’s ensign the following March.

The slain men were probably buried in a mass grave, which was a common occurrence during this and other Indian wars. A burying ground lay beyond the ferry and it may have been there where they were interred or they may have been buried close to the battle scene.

In 1681, a great fort was erected at Black Point. After several attempts to rebuild between guerilla incursions during King William’s War, the survivors evacuated in 1690 and moved south to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. and Boston.

A truce was signed in 1699 between the Province of Massachusetts Bay and the Eastern Indians. Resettlement of Scarborough started in 1702 when seven settlers arrived from Lynn, Mass. and construction began on a fort located on the western shore of Prout’s Neck’s Garrison’s Cove. This fort was commanded by Captain John Larrabee.

Despite the treaty, in August 1703, five hundred French and Indians under command of the Sieur de Beaubassin made a sudden descent upon English settlements from Casco Bay (Portland) to Wells. The fort on Prout’s Neck sat atop a bluff. When the French and Native Americans arrived, they were protected from gunfire by the overhanging cliff. They subsequently began tunneling into the bluff to breach the fort from below. Had it not been for a two-day downpour that made the disturbed bank slough, exposing the previously hidden excavators to snipers in the fort, the French and Native Americans might have been successful in their attempts to capture the fort and the eight people inside. However, Beaubassin retreated in search of easier prey.

Despite occasional subsequent harassment, the second settlement succeeded. By 1749, it was economically prosperous. Cattle and timber were important local products for export, with Scarborough’s many water power sites operating a dozen sawmills

Sources:

from Sarah Stone 1930 by Walter Goodwin Davis

http://trees.ancestry.com/owt/person.aspx?pid=40616380&st=1

http://genweb.whipple.org/d0075/I725.html

“A DOLEFUL SLAUGHTER NEAR BLACK POINT” The Battle at Moore’s Brook, Scarborough, Maine, June 29, 1677 by Sumner Hunnewell

http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/history/military/mooresbrook.htm – Account of