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July 2014

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From:
Carolyn Pappas <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history." <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 9 Jul 2014 11:04:31 -0400
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Hi,
Not sure if you are the people to whom I should be sending; however, please feel free to forward it to any concerned.
I am descended from
 William Browne,b ca 1740/50 (Unkown))died bef 4 July 1677, Old Rapp Co VA His wife was Elizabeth possibly (Mayfield) I have no proof for her maiden name. His dau was Elizabeth Browne b ca 1660/70, d bef 4 May 1720 in Richmond Co VA. Elizabeth Bowne was marr to Dr. Alexander Spence (Not the Alexander who was a member of the House of Burgesses) These folks all qualify for the various patriotic lineage societies, including the Desc of Colonial Physicians and Charugeons
I have documentation somewhere in my somewhat messy files; but have not done anything on this lineage for quite some time.


-----Original Message-----
From: Research and writing about Virginia genealogy and family history. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2014 3:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [VA-ROOTS] Brown Families in Essex, Caroline and Culpeper Co., VA

This is in response to an earlier question about various Brown families in VA.  Y chromosome DNA testing on living male Browns....whose Brown families "trace back" to Culpeper Co., VA....shows that there were at least FIVE unrelated Brown families in that county in the 1700s-1800s.  These families were members of DNA Groups 10, 33, 47, 55 and 107 at the Brown Genealogy Society DNA testing project website.  DNA Group 10 "traces back" to the Francis Brown "I" who left his Will in Essex Co., VA in 1691/1692 (and who appeared on records by at least the 1650s in Old Rappahannock Co., VA),.  We have a very large number of male Browns in Group 10 who have taken the Y DNA test.  Other ancestors in Group 10 included a) the Abraham Brown (died about 1735 in Caroline Co., VA) who married Mary Tribble, b) Abraham's father, who was the Daniel Brown "I" (died early-1700s in Essex Co., VA; he was a son of Francis Brown "I") who married Jane Copeland, c) Daniel Brown "II" (died about 1747 in Culpeper Co., VA) who married Elizabeth Coleman, and finally, d) the father of that Daniel Brown "II," who we call Francis Brown "II" (married Elizabeth Allen; died about 1708 in Essex Co., VA; Francis "II" was another son of Francis Brown "I").

Both Group 10 and Group 33 used the given name of "Coleman," so one has to be careful not to incorrectly intermix those two unrelated Brown families.  We now SUSPECT that Group 33 "traces back" to the George Brown (supposedly married a Miss Rowland, as I recall) and his son Thomas Brown (who married a Miss Thornton) whose families lived in Westmoreland, Fauquier, Loudoun and Culpeper Co., VA, but that "connection" has not been proven conclusively.  DNA Group 10 married into the Robert Coleman, Senior and Elizabeth Grizzell family (whose son Robert Coleman, Junior married Ann Spilsby), while it appears that a Thomas Brown, Junior in Group 33 married a Miss Reid/Reed/Read who was apparently a descendant of a Richard Coleman (PROBABLY/PERHAPS related to the above two Richard Colemans....who were part of the "Coleman family of Mobjack Bay of VA").

DNA Group 47 included the Garfield Brown who was on the Culpeper tax list in the early-1780s.  Garfield apparently came into Culpeper from Louisa Co., VA.  Another member of DNA Group 47 shows his lineage back to the William Brown who married a Sarah "Sally" Sisk (and their son George Brown who married a Miss Woodard).  We had thought that the father of that William Brown was the John Brown of Culpeper (left his Will in 1801) who married first to Sarah "Sally" Gibbs and second to Phoebe Brown, but that now appears to be incorrect.  It strongly appears instead that the referenced John Brown who married both Sarah and Phoebe was the known son of the older John Brown who had married his cousin Elizabeth Brown.  The cousins John and Elizabeth (Brown) Brown were both members of DNA Group 10 (and the referenced Phoebe Brown was also a known member of Group 10, since two of her brothers have living male Brown descendants whose DNA also matches Group 10).
 
I don't recall much about DNA Group 55, but DNA Group 107 included a Daniel Brown who married Lettice Watts and a John Brown who married Lucy Doggett (all were in Culpeper Co., VA).  Other ancestors in Group 107 included a Paschal Brown and an Epps Brown (Epps was apparently a son of the Burwell Brown who died in Charlotte Co., VA in the early-1800s) who moved to GA and/or AL, as I recall (but neither Paschal nor Epps was apparently ever been in Culpeper Co., VA).
 
It was obviously common to have multiple unrelated Brown families in any one area in the 1700s and 1800s, and DNA testing shows that this was the case in many other counties in VA.  The Amelia/Prince Edward Co., VA area, as well as the Bedford/Campbell Co., VA area....just to name two....each had several unrelated Brown families in residence.  Without DNA testing, research on these Brown families would be almost hopeless.  With DNA testing, great strides have been made....but with a common name like "Brown," many challenges certainly remain.  More male Brown DNA donors from the various families in VA would help.
 
Note: My own maternal gg-grandfather was named Smith W. Brown (born about 1817).  DNA testing, coupled with a lot of research, however, show that he was actually a Smith infant who was taken-in, named and reared by a Brown family in Middlesex Co., VA.  Smith W. "Brown" was actually a "Y DNA Smith descendant" of the Alexander Smith who came into Lancaster Co., VA by at least the 1650s....and I continue to research that Smith line.  So....the next time that you think that you "have it tough" with your research, just remember me and my Brown and Smith families (and Davidson/Davison/Davisson is no "walk in the park" either)!
 
Comments/questions?
 
Bill Davidson

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