Surname Saturday: BROWN (PA > TN)

For the past few weeks, I've been working on my ProGen "final exam": the PROOF ARGUMENT. I could have picked something fairly easy, like proving that so-and-so is the father of such-and-such (something I already know to be true). But I decided to tackle something slightly more difficult: "proving" that my great-great-grandfather, John S. Brown, is the same John S. Brown who served as a private in the 60th Mounted Tennessee Infantry (Confederate) during the Civil War.

Fun, huh? But, more on that later.

As a result, I've been heavily immersed in BROWN genealogy. Here is the generation on which I am currently working (and, more confident of its accuracy), that of John S. BROWN:

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John Smith BROWN was born on 23 Jun 1838 in Washington Co, Tennessee, and was the son of Zachariah BROWN and  Mary HAWS. He died on 10 Oct 1919 in Greene Co, Tennessee.

John married Serena BAXTER on 26 Sep 1858 in Greene Co, Tennessee. Serena was the daughter of Barnett BAXTER and Melissa CUNNINGHAM. She was born on 20 Dec 1840 in Greene Co, Tennessee, and  died on 15 Jan 1916 in Greene Co, Tennessee.

John and Serena had 5 children:

Mary Melissa BROWN -  She was born on 28 Feb 1860 in Greeneville, Greene Co, Tennessee. Mary married 1) James McDonald (d. 1889), and 2) Frank Brandon c. 1894. She died on 10 Jul 1942 in Black Mountain, Buncombe Co, North Carolina.

James Franklin BROWN - He was born on 09 Jun 1863 in Greene Co, Tennessee. He married Emma Lee Smith c. 30 Jul 1884 in Greene Co., Tennessee. He died on 22 Nov 1931 in Winifred, Fergus Co, Montana.

Ruth Ella BROWN - She was born Abt. 1871 in Greene Co, Tennessee. She married A. Jackson Baxter on 01 Mar 1891. She died Aft. 1916.

Deluna Frances BROWN (my great-grandmother) -  She was born on 03 May 1876 in Greene Co, Tennessee. She married William Franklin SWANAY on 23 Jul 1891 in Greeneville, Greene Co, Tennessee. She died on 20 Dec 1953 in Kingsport, Sullivan Co, Tennessee.

Katie J. BROWN - She was born Abt. 1878 in Greene Co, Tennessee, and is believe to have died before 1910.

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I am still in the process of verifying information on the children, since the number of children living at the time of John's pension application is part of my argument (no, their names were not mentioned, and neither was his wife's).

If you think you might have information about this family, please feel free to leave me a comment below, or click on the cute, pink "contact" button over to your left. I am happy to provide source information upon request.

Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal

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