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Brown Josiah[1, 2, 3]

Male 1742 - 1831  (89 years)


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  • Name Brown Josiah 
    Birth 30 Jan 1742  Concord, Middlesex Co., MA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Death 18 Mar 1831  Elizabethtown, Essex County, NY? Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Burial New Ipswich Cemetery, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Notes 
    • First to break the home ties and leaving Concord was Captain Josiah Brown who, in 1765, traveled forty miles to settle in the emerging town of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, settling on Flat Mountain, one half mile east of where his brother, John, later settled.

      Josiah and his family moved along with five of his brothers to Whitingham, VT around 1800, immediately after his marriage, and settled upon Flat Mountain, half a mile eastward from his brother, and soon became a prominent man in military and in religious matters. his name is borne upon the Concord roll as that of a sergeant, he was first lieutenant in Capt. Towne's company at bunker Hill, and claimed to have fired the last gun before the retreat; and he afterward was captain in command of a company largely composed of his fellow townsmen which responded with great promptness to the calls for immediate aid. He was one of the foremost in the organization of the Baptist church, in which he was made the first deacon. Like many men of intense vision and prompt action, he may have lacked something in breadth of view, but work in the evolution of a new society can hardly be overvalued.( p. 269, History of New Ipswich, NH)


      Combining civic purpose with matrimony, Josiah and his bride, Sarah Wright, the daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Heywood) Wright, also of Concord, cast their lots with other Concord citizens in the effort to reinforce by their physical presence the claim of the Massahusetts Bay colony to title to this disputed area. While New Hampshire eventually prevailed over Massachusetts in the contest for this land, Joseiah and Sarah met with success in establishing themselves in the frontier environment.

      At the time of Josiah's migration there was but one church in the new community, the Congregational meeting house, in which he purchased a corner pew for 43 pounds on 25 November 1768. In the latter part of the century he became prominent in the organization of the Baptist church and waas its first deacon. In addition to church activities and farming, Josiah found time for civic duties, serving three terms as a member of the Committee of Correspondence and Inspection, in 1775, 1776 and 1778. He led two marches to Ticonderoga during the Revolutionary War and also fought at Bunker Hill, progressing from the rank of sergeant, when he was on the roster of a company of Concord, Massachusetts minutemen at the time of the Concord fight, to that of captain. Of his thirteen children, all but one grew to maturity. Five eventually moved to Whitingham, Vermont, but Josiah and his wife lived out their days in New Ipswich. He has been described as "one of those men whose work in the evolution of a new society can hardly be overvalued."

      Fourteen years after Josiah had moved to the wilderness, he was joined by an elder brother, John and his wife, Elizabeth Bateman.

      While most of their children moved from place to place, the fourth daugher, Hannah, and her husband, Aaron Brown, remained in New Ipswich throughout their lives. A linchpin in the family structure, their home became a confluence throught which the family news from points as distant as Canada, northern Vermont and western New York occasionally ebbed and flowed.

      Hannah preserved thirteen letters as well as her "own" family Bible and passed them on to succeeding generations. After her death, two additional letters were place in the collection, written by her grandson, Addison Prescott Brown.
    Person ID I50952  Freeman-Smith
    Last Modified 10 Apr 2024 

    Father Brown John,   b. 18 Sep 1694, Concord, Middlesex Co., MA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 06 Mar 1750, Concord, Middlesex Co., MA Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 55 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Mother Potter Elizabeth,   b. 23 Jul 1699, Concord, Middlesex Co., MA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Relationship natural 
    Marriage Abt 23 Feb 1714  Concord, Middlesex Co., MA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    • 23 Feb 1714/1715
    Family ID F23425  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Wright Sarah,   b. 27 Nov 1744, Concord, Middlesex Co., MA Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 08 Aug 1821, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 76 years) 
    Marriage 31 Oct 1765  Ipswich, Essex County, MA Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Children 
     1. BROWN Josiah,   b. 01 Oct 1766, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Jan 1858, Bennington, Bennington County, VT Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 91 years)  [natural]
     2. Brown Joseph,   b. 10 Oct 1767, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 05 Mar 1827, Cavendish, Windsor County, VT? Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 59 years)  [natural]
     3. Brown Jonas,   b. 04 Mar 1769, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 23 Feb 1836, Whitingham, Windham County, VT Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 66 years)  [natural]
     4. Brown Sarah,   b. 22 Nov 1770, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Apr 1822, Whitingham, Windham County, VT Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 51 years)  [natural]
     5. Brown Aaron,   b. 08 Dec 1772, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 15 Feb 1828, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 55 years)  [natural]
     6. Brown Amos A.,   b. 11 Sep 1774, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 10 May 1863, Whitingham, Windham County, VT Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 88 years)  [natural]
     7. Brown Capt. Abner,   b. 27 Jul 1776, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 04 Apr 1824, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 47 years)  [natural]
     8. Brown Rebecca,   b. 05 Jul 1778, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 09 Jun 1853 (Age 74 years)  [natural]
     9. Brown Levi,   b. 06 Aug 1780, New Ipswich, Hillsborough County, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 10 Sep 1840, Elizabethtown, Essex County, NY Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 60 years)  [natural]
     10. Brown Nathan,   b. 25 Jul 1782, New Ipswich, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 21 Jan 1862, Whitingham, VT Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 79 years)  [natural]
     11. Brown Heywood,   b. 02 Jul 1784, New Ipswich, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 02 Mar 1867 (Age 82 years)  [natural]
     12. Brown Betsey,   b. 07 Feb 1787, New Ipswich, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 11 Jul 1793 (Age 6 years)  [natural]
     13. Brown Abigail,   b. 22 Jun 1790, New Ipswich, NH Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 24 Apr 1864, Lewis, Essex County, NY Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 73 years)  [natural]
    Family ID F23552  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 10 Apr 2024 

  • Sources 
    1. [S1098] Merged from BrianFreeman on 30-Dec-12 at 18:10.

    2. [S1109] New England Historic Genealogical Society, NEHG Register, (Boston, MA Jan. 1977), VOL.131, January 1977.

    3. [S1108] DAR Lineage Book, Vol. 98, p. 155.
      DAR ID NO. 97502


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