Beriah Brown b. 8 Jul 1648 Rowley, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA d. 20 Feb 1717 North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA: Larry and Jane's Family Tree

1648 - 1717 (68 years)

Name	Beriah Brown [1]
Birth	8 Jul 1648	Rowley, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA [1, 2]
Gender	Male
Alt. Death	20 Feb 1717	Kingston, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA [1]
_UID	79DBE0731B7C45479908E55E703F79E7BDCF
Death	20 Feb 1717	North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA
Death	During Great Snowstorm
Burial	20 Feb 1717	North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA, Cem. NK096 - Beriah Brown Farm Cemetery [3]
Person ID	I960	Larry and Jane's Family Tree
Last Modified	1 Mar 2021

Father	Charles Brown, b. Abt 1620, , , Suffolk, England d. Abt 16 Dec 1687 (Age ~ 67 years)
Mother	Mary Acy, b. 1623 d. 12 Dec 1683 (Age 60 years)
Marriage	14 Aug 1647 [2]
Family ID	F6077	Group Sheet \| Family Chart

Family 1 Abigail Phenix, b. Abt 1655, North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA d. 1690, North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA (Age ~ 35 years)

Marriage Abt 1675 North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA [4]

Children

	1. Alexander Brown, b. 1684, North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA d. Between 12 Aug 1730 and Sep 1758, North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA (Age 46 years)
	2. Mary Brown, b. 1686, North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA d. Yes, date unknown
	3. ? Brown, b. Unknown d. Yes, date unknown
	4. Charles Brown, b. 1689 d. 1750, North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA (Age 61 years)

Family ID F389 Group Sheet | Family Chart

Last Modified 27 Jul 2019

Family 2	Eleanor (Sheffield), b. 1663, North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA d. Aft 1717 (Age 55 years)
Family ID	F395	Group Sheet \| Family Chart
Last Modified	27 Jul 2019

Event Map

	Marriage - Abt 1675 - North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA
	Alt. Death - 20 Feb 1717 - Kingston, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA
	Death - 20 Feb 1717 - North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA
	Burial - 20 Feb 1717 - North Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, USA, Cem. NK096 - Beriah Brown Farm Cemetery

= Link to Google Earth

Documents » Slide Show		John Brown Peirce Notes on Beriah Brown Family
		Letter #1 from L. W. Brown to John Peirce, 4 Jul 1881 Letter writtn to introduce himself as descendant of Alexander Brown (son of Beriah Brown) inquiring about the Brown family of North Kingstown. John Peirce was the town clerk of North Kingstown at the time.
		Letter #2 from L. W. Brown to John Peirce, 5 Sep 1881 Mr. Brown thanks Mr. Peirce for referring him to a Mr. Huling in Fitchburg and also goes through his ancestors back to Beriah Brown.

Notes

Beriah Brown perhaps was not a son of Charles Brown of Rowley, MA.

Most Internet sources indicate that this Beriah Brown is the son of Charles Brown, and was born in Rowley, MA, in 1648. I believe that there is some doubt that this is the case and that Beriah Brown may have been born overseas and immigrated directly to Rhode Island.

First of all, the question arises as to whether Beriah Brown lived previously in Massachusetts and was married there and had a child before moving to Rhode Island. It is possible from the dates that this occurred. If he had been born in 1648 in Rowley, he would have been about 25 years old when he married Sarah Harris. He would have been about 30 when they had a daughter, Sarah, and he would have been about 39 when he was first recorded in Rhode Island in 1687. Sarah, his wife, and Sarah, his daughter had apparently died sometime prior to 1687. There is mention in brother Gershom's will of a legacy to this Beriah's daughter, Sarah. Gershom died on 5 Dec. 1683, so this suggests that the daughter, Sarah, was still living in 1683. The supposed father, Charles, also died in 1687.

Alexander, Beriah's first son by his wife Abigail Phenix, was born in Rhode Island in 1684 (although at least one source indicates this marriage occurred in 1685). This would suggest that Beriah was already in Rhode Island by 1683 or 1684 although he is not recorded until 1687. If Beriah had been previously married in Massachusetts in 1673, then it is likely his wife and daughter (or at least his wife) would have died prior to that time.

There is some evidence that there was another daughter of Beriah whose name is not known. R. G. Huling mentions in his letter to John B. Peirce of 23 Mar 1883 that there was a second daughter married to John Barber. Could this have been Sarah?

Secondly, where was Beriah born and when? There are also several references to Beriah being an immigrant from England or Wales rather than someone who was born in Massachusetts and moved to Rhode Island, particularly in the correspondence between L.W. Brown and John B. Peirce (Town Clerk of North Kingstown) and between R.G. Huling and Mr. Peirce in which there are several references to Wales and Beriah's birth date of 1640. There is, however, no specific documentation referenced in these letters.

If Beriah had not been born in 1648 in Rowley and previously married to Sarah Harris, then the alternative scenario is that he was born in Wales about 1640 and came directly to Rhode Island. If this is the case, then he would have been about 45 when he married Abigail Phenix and a few years older when he started having children. This alternative scenario is also possible, although it seems likely that he would have married and tried to settle down at a somewhat earlier age.

In the absence of concrete information to determine which scenario is correct, I have decided to take the conservative route and removed the link between Beriah and the supposed parents Charles Brown and Mary Acye of Rowley. By taking this approach, his parents remain unknown and there are no other descendants of Charles and Mary in my data. [5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]

Sources

[S610] Dustin Palmer, 17277, (Updated 25 Aug 2001, 11701 records).
[S87] Jeffrey Paul Fuller, Ancestors of Jeffrey Paul Fuller (Family Treemaker Website).
[S60] Corrine Diller, Diller, Corrine, e-mail 11/29/99 (Reliability: 3).
[S6] LDS IGI Record from Website.
[S611] Huling R. G., Fitchburg Massachusetts, Huling, R.G., Letter #1, 12 Mar 1883, 4 Jun 2011 (Reliability: 3).
"Besides his son Alexander and Charles there were two daughters, one (named Mary .....) who married Joseph Carpenter, and another who was the wife of John Barber."
[S612] J. R. Cole W.W.Preston & Co., History of Washington and Kent Counties, Rhode Island, (New York, 1889), Chapter XI, Town of North Kingstown, p. 371., http://www.rootsweb.com/~rigenweb/kingstown6.html. (Reliability: 3).
"Beriah Brown was also a resident as early as 1687."
[S613] George Brainard Blodgette and Amos Everett Jewett, Early Settlers of Rowley, Massachusetts, (Amos Everett Jewett, Rowley, MA, 1933 (First Printing) Reprinted 1981 by New England History Press), 4 Jun 2011, p. 27, F74.R88.B612/1981. (Reliability: 3).
"Beriah Brown, b .8-5mo, 1648; m. 6 Jan 1673-4, Sarah Harris. He probably died soon after marriage leaving a daughter, Sarah. I find no mention of his death or of his widow."
[S254] Bickwell, Thomas Williams, History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, (New York, American Historical Society, 1920), 4 Jun 2011, p. 163 (Reliability: 3).
"Beriah Brown, immigrant ancestor and founder of the family, is first of record in Kingstown, R. I., in 1687, when his name appears on the tax list. Beriah Brown died in February, 1717. He married, about 1685, Abigal Phenix, daughter of Alexander and Abigal (Sewall) Phenix."
[S254] Bickwell, Thomas Williams, History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, (New York, American Historical Society, 1920), p. 152 (Reliability: 3).
"Mrs. Barton is a descendant of Beriah Brown of England, married Abigail Phenix, daughter of Alexander Phenix and Abigail (Sewall) Phenix, in 1685."
[S614] Peirce, John Brown, Peirce, John Brown - Personal Notes, (Provided by Rachel Peirce, his great-great granddaughter), 4 Jun 2011 (Reliability: 3).

Maintained by Larry Wilson.