The family of John Brown, b. 1815 in Belmont County, later of Noble County, Ohio
Please help identify the people in this photograph, if you can. If you are related to the BROWNS and/or have old photos of your relatives that seem to resemble any of these people, please email bonnieebrown(at)comcast(dot)net. Your help will be greatly appreciated.
John BROWN was born in Belmont County, Ohio, in 1815. He had at least one sister, Emily Jane BROWN. He is mentioned in the 1887 History of Noble County. I have found him in the U.S. Censuses for 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1900.
John BROWN was married twice. I don't know the name of his first wife. His second wife was Ann BROOKS, daughter of Philip BROOKS. John BROWN had nine children:
(1)William BROWN, b. 1842, also mentioned in the 1887 History of Noble County. I believe William was the son of John's first wife. He married Lizzie DYE, and they had seven children in Ohio.
(2)Eber Warren BROWN, b. abt. 1846. I believe he and the later children are children of Ann BROOKS. He was the namesake of Eber Warren BROOKS, who supplied the capital for a store co-owned by John BROWN. Eber Warren BROWN married Rebecca PIERCE. They had a child, Anna. Eber died in 1890 in Mount Vernon, Knox County, Ohio.
(3)John R. BROWN, b. 1848. He appears in the 1870 census in Noble County. Because there were so many John Browns in the Ohio censuses, I have not been able to determine with much certainty where he was located after 1870. There is a John R. BROWN whose Cleveland death record shows that he was born in Dexter City, the same town where Philip was born. The birth year (1852) doesn't match up with the John R. Brown of this Noble County family, though. If a descendant of the Cleveland John R. BROWN happens to read this, I hope that descendant will contact me with any new information about this.
(4)Philip Henry BROWN, b. May 1850 in Dexter City, Noble County. He married Alice McDONALD, daughter of John and Sarah McDONALD of Morgan County, in 1884. He last appears in the census in Noble County in 1900, at which time his father was living with him. Philip and Alice were my great-grandparents. They moved to Granville, Licking County, Ohio, in 1902. Philip died the following year. Their surviving children were Beulah Brooks BROWN and John McDonald BROWN. Beulah became an English instructor at Muskingum University in New Concord. John moved west to Utah, where he married and had six children.
(5)Thomas W. BROWN, b. 1852, was described in a census as a schoolteacher and as a cripple. He appears in the 1900 census in Galena, Woods County, Oklahoma Territory as the owner of a farm and living with his brother, Joseph, and Joseph's new wife. I have no information on Thomas after 1900.
(6)Samuel J. BROWN, b. 1854, was a farmer. He married Sarah (said by another researcher to be Sarah ELLISON). I don't believe they had children. Samuel died in 1926 in Noble County.
(7)Arthur Benjamin BROWN, b. 21 March 18, 1858. He married Anna BREAKIE (I previously had the wrong surname for her on this site) in December 1884. She was only 14, or perhaps even 13, years old. They had three children in Ohio, one in Washington, and two in California. Ben and Annie lived in Pasadena, CA, in 1900, Los Angeles in 1910 and 1920, and Flagstaff, AZ, in 1930. He died in Los Angeles County in 1951.
(8)Joseph Lincoln BROWN, b. 2 Jan 1861, appears in the 1900 census in Galena, Woods County, Oklahoma Territory, as a farmer. He and his new wife, Sophia Rose BELDEN (maiden name obtained from the posting of another researcher), were living with Joseph's brother, Thomas. Joseph is described there as a farmer. In the 1910 and 1920 censuses, Joseph and Sophia appear as teachers in Alaska. They adopted a mixed-race son of an Alaskan native mother, but apparently did not have children themselves. Joseph and Sophia appear in the 1930 census in Washington State. Joseph died in 1949 in San Bernardino, CA.
(9)Emma L. BROWN, b. 1863. Emma married William E. Tannehill. They lived in Reinersville in Morgan County, Ohio. There were no children.
I don't know the parents of John BROWN, although the censuses say that his father and mother were born in Pennsylvania. Many people moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio shortly after Ohio became a state.
Family lore has it that there was a relationship, possibly as cousins, between the abolitionist John Brown and the John Brown whose family is listed here. I personally have not been able to discover anything on this yet.
In general, I won't be able to answer queries. I have posted here most of what I know about this family.
Thanks for visiting,
Bonnie E. Brown
Modesto, California
October, 2010
Updated November, 2011.
My other genealogy site is at:
This photograph is in the possession of the administrator of this site. It was passed from Philip and Alice to their son, John McDonald BROWN. He passed it to his daughter, Geneve BROWN Sinclair.
Standing, left to right:
A: Unknown, but probably a BROWN based on his resemblance to some of the others.
B: Said to be Alice McDONALD Brown.
C: Unknown
D: Unknown. She is wearing a wedding ring.
E: Unknown. Probably married to K, since his hand is on her shoulder. If so, this could be William TANNEHILL.
F: Unknown. Possibly married to L.
Sitting, left to right:
G: Unknown, but could be Thomas BROWN. He is known to have been a cripple, and the man in the picture is seemingly holding up his arm.
H: Unknown, but possibly this is William BROWN. William was a half-brother of the other siblings. I don't know what the elder John BROWN's appearance was, but the children of Philip were fair in complexion, suggesting there was fairness in Philip's genetic makeup.
I: Unknown. If H is Willliam, possibly this is Lizzie DYE Brown.
J: Said by family lore to be Philip Henry BROWN, although his dark complexion is a surprise to me.
K: Unknown, but possibly Emma BROWN, based on her resemblance to some of the others and her young appearance.
L: Unknown, but possibly Joseph Lincoln BROWN.
Some notes about this picture:
The date must be later than June of 1884, since that is when Philip married Alice. If person L is Joseph, then the date is probably after April of 1900, since that is when he married Sophia Rose BELDEN. (A woman has her hand on L's shoulder, suggesting to me that the two are married.) The dress looks more like 1880's to me, though.
The thing that is puzzling is that the back of the photo is imprinted with the mark of W.R. BRAMBLETT, a photographer in Crawfordsville, Indiana. I have not been able to trace any of the Browns to Indiana.