Joseph T. Brown's House
(interview with Mrs. K.)

by Jayson T.

[Teacher's note: Jayson interviewed Mrs. K, one of the teachers at our school about her house, which used to belong to Joseph T. Brown. His assignment was to find out more about the house itself and how life in it would have been for Joseph Brown.]

Q: Is the house still the same color when you bought it?

A: The front door is yellow but the rest of the house is white with black shutters. The house is still the same color though.

Q: Do you know where Joseph T. Brown's tavern was? If so is it still standing?

A: There was a tavern on the parade. It was on the corner. I think someone lives there now.

Q: Do you know where any of the other Browns lived? If so where?

A: I know Elsie Brown she lives next to me. I also knew Joe Brown but he died. He lived with Elsie. Elsie had four daughters. One lives in Pennsylvania but none live in Deerfield.

Q: How much land is the house on? Did you buy more land since it was bought?

A: Its on four acres and we did not buy more land since.

Q: Is the house in the same condition since you bought it?

A: When we bought it there was no insulation so we had newspaper put into the walls. We had steel beams put from the front to the back because we were going to have horses. We replaced the electric because it was all this silver stuff and the mice liked to chew it. We had a new septic put in because it was the original drum that they used to have. The kitchen we have now used to be five separate with walls so we took all the walls down and now it’s a big kitchen. What you see is pretty much what it was back then.

Q: Do you have any pictures or blueprints of the house when it was built? If so would we be able to see them?

A: I think I have a blueprint and I do have a picture. When you come you could probably see it.

Q: What year was the house built?

A: Joe Brown told me it was built in 1763.

Q: Do you know how much it was bought for when it was built?

A: No but if you find out I would love to know.

Q: Do you know if any one owned the house before the Browns?

A: I don't know but I do know that people owned it after the Browns. A family named the Whites owned it. A family named the Coplans owned it. Then Martha Smith lived there with her mother. And then we bought the house from them.

Q: Did you add any additions on to the house since you bought it?

A: No we did not add any additions on but we did do little things like redo the floors.

Q: How much did you buy the house for?

A: We bought it for fifty thousand dollars. Now the market value is three hundred and twenty five thousand dollars.

Q: Do you know anymore about the house that could help?

A: I know that there was a room added to connect the house to the barn. The room is called a summer kitchen.

Q: Do you know anything else about the Browns that could help us?

A: Casey Commings dad replaced the roof on the house and he knows what the house is called. He told me what it was called but I don’t remember what it is called. It also has two fireplaces in it.

Joseph T. Brown’s House

(not interview)

Joseph T. Brown lived in a public house after his dad (Stephen Brown) died. Stephen Brown owned a tavern, which I believe he sold to a person named Captain Daniel Moore. Stephen Brown owned the tavern for thirty years before he probably sold the tavern. He also died in the Tavern. He died of consumption.

Bibliography

Interview with Mrs. K. (owner of the house)

History of Nottingham, Deerfield and Northwood
By Elliot C. Cogswell 1972 by New Hampshire Publishing Company

http://deerfieldnh.org/staging/resources/re60.jpg