Individual Details
(1753 - 1833)
Joseph and Betty (Betsey) lived in Barnstead NH on Providence road near the town mill where some or all of their children were born. Joseph is probably buried in the Brown Hill Cem. Starksboro, VT although there is no marker. He removed to Northwood NH in 1785 and then possibly came to Starksboro VT after his sons first migrated from NH. Whoever provided the information in 1881 believed: "Joseph Brown, from New Hampshire, came to Starksboro in 1807. His son, Joshua, had come with Samuel Hill, for whom he worked one year, and with the money earned during that time purchased one hundred acres of land on road 8, where, in 1807, he built a log house. William, Ephraim, Jonathan, and Jacob Brown all came soon after, locating near Joshua, and this portion of the town was for a long time thereafter known as Brownsboro."*[1] The portion of Starksboro where they settled is now known as Brown Hill and the cemetery there was long known as the Brown Hill Cemetery although in more recent years has been called the Harry Hallock Cemetery on Brown Hill. It is located between Brown Hill and Hillsboro where Joshua Brown would have worked for Samuel Hill. Others have said: "One section in the eastern part of town was known for many years as Brownsboro, the name coming from six members of the Brown family--Joseph, Joshua, Jonathan, Jacob, Ephraim and William--who settled there in the early 19th century."*[2] He is probably the Joseph Brown on the 1790 census of Northwood NH. He appears on the 1820 census of Starksboro whereas some of his sons were there in 1810. In 1818 Joseph applied for a military pension*[1] : "State of Vermont Addison County - On this 22. Day of April 1818 Before me the Subscriber one of the Judges of Addison County Court personally appears Joseph Brown, aged 65 years, resident in Starksborough in said County who being by me first duly sworn according to ( ) doth on his Oath make the following Declaration in order to obtain the provision made by the late Act of Congress entitled 'An Act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land & Naval Service of the United State in the Revolutionary War' That he the Said Joseph enlisted at Fort Point in the State of New Hampshire in Nov. 1776 for nine Months in the company commanded by Capt Caleb (Hogden/Hodgdan?) & Col. Mooney's Regt. & serv'd his time out at Boston & in the year 1777 in the Month of August he again enlisted in the Town of Madbury in said State of New Hampshire for one year in the Company Commanded by Capt McFee Col. Tash's Regt. serv'd at New York New Jersey & the whole of said term of one year & was duly discharged in & that he is in (? reduced? ) circumstances & stands in need of the assistance of his country for support - & that he has no other evidence now in his power of said services - Sworn to & declared before me the day & year aforesaid Ezra Hoyt Judge" "I Ezra Hoyt Judge C/c: as afores'd do certify that is appears to my satisfaction that the said Joseph Brown did serve in the Revolutionary war as stated in the preceding declaration against the common enemy - & I now transmit the proceedings & Testimony taken & had before me to the Secretary of War pursuant to the afores'd Act of Congress May 12th, 1818. Ezra Hoyt Judge And I do further certify that Jos. Brown the above applicant is poor & stands in need of the assistance applied for." E. Hoyt Judge Judge Hoyt's certificate was witnessed as authentic and sealed by Sam'l Swift, Clerk. The application given the number 21135 on the outside was rejected in Washington as a notation is made "Inadmissible not having served on the Continental Establishment" and signed by __ Seymour - of Senate of U. States. This wasn't the end of the effort, however. Eleven years later, additional documents were collected. On 11 Sep 1829 Asa Sawyer, a Justice of the Peace took the following two depositions: "I Thomas R. Swett of Pittsfield, in the County of Merrimack & State of New Hampshire--depose and say that I was a Soldier the revolutionary Army, and know Joseph Brown, then of Barnstead, in the County of Strafford, and State aforesaid, now of Vermont in the County of Addison, to serve as a soldier in said Army in the Year 1777, Nine Months - I left the Army about that time and left said Joseph Brown in the Army, then stationed at West Point. He was as good a soldier, and as resolute a man as ever took a gun in hand. And further saith not." (signed) Thos R Swett "I Jonathan Fogg of Pittsfield, in the County of Merrimack & State of New Hampshire--depose and say that I was a Soldier in the Revolutionary armey in the Continental service - that I knew Joseph Brown then of Barnsted in the County of Strafford and state aforesaid and now in the State of Vermont and County of Adderson and state aforesaid in the yeare 1775 a soldier in said Armey in Col. Starks Regiment and under Capt Daniel Moore of Deerefield in the County of Rockingham and state aforesaid - that he was at the battle of Bunker Hill and in the same Company with myself in said Service one yeare or more - We then Seperated I went to Quebeck with the northern Army and undersood by my officers that he went to Still Water with the Southern armey and always had the prais of being a good soldier (signed) Jona Fogg" On 19 Sep 1829 before Ebenezer Coe, a Justice of the Peace in Rockingham County a deposition by Joseph Robinson of Northwood NH stated: "...I was a soldier in the Revolutionary Army in the Continental Service - That about the year 1776 I knew Joseph Brown then of Madbury in said State enlist in the Continental Service in Captain Brewsters Company in the third Regiment under General Cilly for eight months and was discharged the fall of the same year. I also knew him enlist under Captain Cherry in the third Regiment in the year 1777 and served at Saratoga Stillwater and Ticonderoga for eighteen months in succession or more - was myself a soldier in the same Regiment." (signed X) "Joseph Robinson his mark" Another deposition by Andrew Bickford of Madbury, Strafford Co., NH before James Y. Demeritt, Justice of the Peace was made 14 Dec 1829 and although the photocopy is extremely faint, it can be seen that Bickford states he was in the Army with Joseph Brown at Bunker Hill and although Bickford left after eight months he knew said Brown was in Col. Tash 's Regiment under Capt. McFee at Peekskill NY. Dudley Palmer the NH Secretary of State affixed the State Seal as testimony to the justice's veracity on 28 Dec 1829. A similar certificate was attached to the depositions taken by Justice Sawyer. After 24 Sep 1829, according to Bertha (Brown) Hanson, Daniel Brown was given power of attorney to ask and receive any pension due Joseph for service in the Revolution. Probably he was the one who did the leg work in New Hampshire obtaining the various depositions. They evidently were not sent to Washington until afterJoseph's death as can be seen in the following declaration: "State of Vermont County of Chittenden - On this twenty-sixth day of August AD. 1834 personally appeared before the Hon William T. Briggs - Judge of Probate within and for the District of Chittenden - Elizabeth Brown of Hinesburgh in the County of Chittenden and State of Vermont aged Seventy eight years - being first duly sworn according to law, doth on her oath declare that she is the widow of Joseph Brown late of Starksborough in the County of Addison and State of Vermont, who died on the nineteenth day of February A.D. 1833 - and in order to obtain the benefit of the provisions made by the Act of Congress passed June 7th 1832 - makes the following declaration --that according to the best of her knowledge and belief the said Joseph Brown enlisted into the service of the United States as a soldier in the Revolutionary Army - in the year 1776 - and that he served at different periods of the war the full term of two years - that she has no personal knowledge of his services as a soldier - but has from time to time for more than twenty years previous to his death heard him relate of having served as a soldier in the Revolution during the war for more than four years in all - but for proof of his services she relies upon the depositions of Joseph Robinson - Andrew Bickford - Jonathan Fogg and Thomas R. Sweet which are hereunto annexed - and which were taken for the purpose of obtaining a pension for her late husband Joseph Brown - under the Act of Congress passed the eighteenth day of March A.D. 1818. She hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that according to her best knowledge and belief, the said Joseph Brown's name is not on the pension role of the agency in any State. She believes that said Joseph was eighty years old when he died (signed X) Elizabeth Brown her mark Att Wm Weston (signed) Wm P. Briggs Judge "And the said court doth hereby declare his opinion after the investigation of the matter that the above named Joseph Brown was a revolutionary soldier and served as set forth in the several depositions hereto annexed and the court further certifies that the said Joseph Brown died on the nineteenth day of February A. D. 1833 - and that the above named Elisabeth Brown is the lawful widow of the said Joseph Brown deceased the facts having been proved by evidence adduced in court to the satisfaction of said court." (signed) Wm P. Briggs Judge
Events
| Birth | 1753 | | | | |
| Marriage | 7 Dec 1778 | The New Hampshire Genealogical Record: Official Organ of the New Hampshire Genealogical Society, Volumes 3-4 (Google eBook) p.9, Newington, Rockingham, New Hampshire, United States - Elizabeth Nutter | | | |
| Death | 1833 | | | | |
Families