Joseph T. Brown

                            By:Jocelyn M.

    The Brown family originated in Kensington, NH and later moved to Andover, NH and eventually to Deerfield, NH.  Joseph True Brown was born on June 28, 1833 in Deerfield, NH. He was the second child of Dr. Stephen Brown and Mary Reynolds, a homemaker. Joseph had one brother, Moses, and two sisters, Mary Abigail and Martha A.  Joseph’s mother died on June 26, 1842 when he was only 8 years old.  His father re-married in 1843 and his stepmother’s name was Miriam.  His father died in 1877 from tuberculosis and his stepmother died in 1878.

     Joseph T. Brown came from a wealthy family.  His father accumulated wealth from his very successful physician’s practice and from the tavern he ran in Deerfield for almost 30 years.  His father was considered to be a very kind and generous man that loved the Congregational Church . Upon his death, he left $1000 to the church and a rich-toned bell to the Deerfield Meeting House.

     Joseph T. Brown married on September 24, 1862.  He was 29 and his bride, Mary E. Batchelder, born in Deerfield on September 27, 1837, was 25.  Mary came from a similar background as Joseph.  Her family was wealthy but still they did not want her marrying Joseph.  She did anyway. Joseph and Mary had 3 children.  Cora May Brown was born on September 3, 1866.  She became a school teacher in Deerfield, Candia, Northwood and Epsom, New Hampshire.  She never married and died in 1919 at the age of 53. George Woodbury Brown was born on August 11, 1870. He graduated from Coe Brown Academy in Northwood, NH and later became a trustee of the school.  He was a farmer like his father and he was heavily involved in Deerfield town politics. Thomas L Brown was born on May 30, 1878.  He went to a private school and eventually on to Dartmouth College where he continued the family tradition of becoming a doctor.

     Joseph and Mary Brown were both dedicated, loving parents to their 3 children.  They all enjoyed going to church on Sundays.   Joseph was a man with a high temper but with fine ideals.  He used to hunt but gave it up because of a bad experience he had the first time he went out.  He shot a neighbors hen and he returned it to the woman that it belonged to. When he got to the door, the woman greeted him with a rifle and told him to get off her property and never come back.  Joseph became a small-scale farmer as an adult.  He raised just enough chickens, pigs, sheep and cows to feed his family and some of his friends’ families. He also worked in real estate part time.

     Mary Brown died on January 15, 1887 from consumption or tuberculosis. Joseph T. Brown died on March 28, 1895 in Deerfield, N.H. from tuberculosis.  Joseph wrote his last will and testament on February 9, 1895, just a few weeks before his death. He named his son George executor of the will.  In the will, Joseph clearly spelled out what each of his children were to receive. Thomas, George and Cora were each to receive an equal share of his estate valued at $23,500.00 ($500,000 in 2004 dollars). Thomas was to receive and extra $500.00 ($10,638.00 in 2004 dollars).  According to Elsie Brown, a relative by marriage of Joseph T. Brown, this extra five hundred dollars was to be used for Thomas’s education at Dartmouth College.  Thomas signed for and received the money on June 22, 1899.  The 3 children were also to equally split their fathers shares of bank stock.

     Joseph T. Brown’s house still exists today. It is located just off of Route 107 on Parade Rd. on the Deerfield Parade. The house where his father Stephen lived was built in the 1600’s and most of it was torn down in 1978.  It was replaced with a big farmhouse where Elsie Brown now lives. The only remaining structures from Stephens house are the cottage out back and the barn attached to the new house. The three car detached garage on Elsie’s property still has the original buggies used by Stephen Brown and his family to get to the Congregational Church. Her attic still has all the original surgical instruments used by Dr. Stephen Brown.  It also has all his medical journals and letters written by his brother who was also a doctor.

   
 
 EElsie is a 90-year-old woman who was married to Joseph T. Brown, the grand child of our dead guy, Joseph T. Brown.  Elsie is full of life despite her age and she is determined to organize all of the Brown family history that she has before she passes away.  She hopes to donate Stephen’s instruments and journals to Dartmouth College.  Some of the remainder of the Brown family possessions will go to the Deerfield Historical Society and some will be passed down to Elsie's daughter

Bibliography

Brown, Elsie.  Interview Saturday February 19, 2005.  Deerfield, NH 
(photos from her personal collection)

Brown, Thomas.  Brown Ancestry and Kins Folk. 
Copyright June 1940.  Page30-32.

Encyclopedia Americana, International Edition. 

www.orst.edu/dept/pol_eci/fac/schr/cf16652014.xis