Week in review - Ipswich families: Browns, Lords, Pulsifers

We started looking at Hannah Aslett Brown, (married to Joseph Brown Sr.) and ended the week up with Captain John Ayers/Eyer, her grandfather.

Next we looked at Hannah and Joseph's son Benjamin Brown, a miller, and I found the gold mine of Ipswich Historical Society and it's preservation of historic homes. My love of old architecture led me through various of these 350 year old buildings, and I found a few that belonged to my ancestors on Ada P. Swasey Rogers family tree.

Edward Brown had been Hannah Aslett Brown's father-in-law, and he built his home in 1650 in Ipswich MA.

Then I go back down the generations to Jonathan Pulsifer, who's son, David Pulsifer, married Hannah Brown's daughter Hannah.  Jonathan Pulsifer was the son of Benedict (Benedictus) Pulsifer, my first post on this blog.And I believed what Ancestry told me, that David Pulsifer had died at the Battle of Bunker Hill...for a while I believed it.  But after long hours of reading and research, I found other David Pulsifers, uncles and nephews, sons and brothers, and give my results in "David Pulsifer, which one died at the Battle of Bunker Hill?"

Before looking to the David Pulsifer dilemma, I found another couple of beautiful historic houses (I think Ipswich MA has around 50) one of which was built on property first owned by Robert Lord...so I shared some information on both the house and my ancestor HERE.  Robert Lord's daughter married Edward Brown, and they were parents of Joseph Brown (husband of Hanna Aslett Brown with whom I started this week).

As I mentioned above, I shared about Captain John Ayers/Eyers and thought that would be the end of the week on this family tree. Captain Ayers' had been on my tree as married to Hannah Evered, but a pretty good source said that this wasn't so, she had been just known as Hannah.  Their daughter Rebecca married John Aslett, and they were parents of Hannah Aslett who married Joseph Brown Sr.

 But I got sick and had to stay quiet, and what better way than to read for many hours to figure out which of the David Pulsifers was most likely to have died at the Battle of Bunker Hill for the Patriot cause?  So there was an extra post this week, HERE.

And it was also interesting to note that we also have Captain John and Hannah Ayers/Eyre as our 9th great grandparents through their son Captain John Ayers (1623-1675) descendants as well...through his son Nathaniel Ayers (blacksmith) 1664-1731, also on the Ada Swasey Rogers tree.

Edward Brown and 1650 house in Ipswich

Edward Brown

1627–1658

Birth 1627 • Hawkedon, Suffolk, England

Death 09 FEB 1658 • Ipswich, Essex, Mass

The good thing about Ipswich is its historic society, among other things.
My ancestor (9th great grandfather) Edward Brown built this house at 27 High Street, about 1650.

edward-brown-house-27-high-street

He was the father of Joseph Brown Sr, who was mentioned with his wife, Hannah Aslett Brown, Here, who were the parents of Benjamin Brown, the miller, who's early house was also mentioned HERE.  And Benjamin Brown's daughter, Hannah Brown, married David Pulsifer, with at least 4 more generations living in Essex County MA, my ancestors on the Ada P. Swasey Rogers family tree.
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"Edward Brown came to Ipswich with the original settlers and married Faith Lord. Although he served as a Marshal of Ipswich, he and several other men were brought to court because their wives were seen wearing finery above their station. Puritan law required one to prove 200 pounds in savings to justify such extravagances. He made his will on 9 Feb, 1659 to his wife, Faith; sons Thomas, Joseph and John; and daughters, but no names mentioned, and his brother Bartholomew of whom he purchased the land on which this house sits.

We are fortunate that the house was photographed when it was once for sale, so we get to see some of the interior.  Just look at those boards in that floor!

"The Edward Brown House at 27 High Street is recorded as having been built in 1650, making it one of the oldest houses in New England. The asymmetrical arrangement of the windows and the location of the chimney suggest that the first modest section of the house was on the left, and that it has been greatly expanded and remodeled over the years.
 (Historic Society)

 Many boards must have been replaced in these stairs over 350 years!

Thomas Franklin Waters wrote about the Edward Brown house in his book, Ipswich in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Volume I, 1905

Edward Brown

IPSWICH IN THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY

“The Edward Brown lot of one acre (was) southeast from Bradstreet. He had a son John, who resided in Wapping, England, in 1683, when he sold land in the common fields left by his father Edward, (Ips. Deeds 4: 533). The widow Sarah Caldwell’s deed to Dillingham gives the eastern bound “land formerly Joseph Brown’s.” From the Probate Records, we learn that Joseph Brown died before 1694, and that his estate was divided to his sons, John and Benjamin (Pro. Rec. 313: 559, .560), in 1721.

"John Brown, Turner, granted in his will, proved in 1758, to Elizabeth, his wife, “all the household goods she brought to me, and all the linen she hath made since I married her to be at her Disposal;” to his son John, the improvement of the two lower rooms and the northeast chamber and some real estate; to his daughter Esther Adams, and the children of his daughter Mary Lord, the household goods; and all the residue of real estate to his son Daniel (Pro. Rec. 335: 229). The house, barn and land were valued at £60 (Pro. Rec. 336: 17).

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[NOTE: A Turner, as John Brown is above, is someone who makes things with a lathe, turning wood or metal into objects that are round]

I have re-read these documents quoted above about 5 times.  There was Edward Brown's son, John Brown in Wapping England in 1683.  He would have been brother to Joseph Browne who died before 1694, leaving his estate divided between his sons, John Brown and Benjamin in 1721.  The first John Brown I had (formerly) listed in Ancestry was born in Norfolk VA, where he died.  Not likely the right John Brown, since we know he was in Wapping England in 1683.  Yay for primary source documents!

Then there is John Brown, Turner, who designated various items in 1758 in his will, including the "the improvement of the two lower rooms and northeast chamber" which must pertain to this house!  I am also guessing that John Brown, Turner, is the same who received half the estate from Joseph in 1721.

Anyway, Benjamin built his house which later became part of the Caleb Warner house, as we already know.

Hannah Aslett Brown 1644–1721

Hannah Aslett Browne
1644–1721
Birth 21 DEC 1644 • Andover, Essex, Massachusetts, USA
Death 1721 • Ipswich, Essex, Mass

wife of Joseph Browne Sr. (1638-1694)

mother of Benjamin Brown

5th great grandmother of Ada P Swasey Rogers, thus my 7th great grandmother

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Contributed to Ancestry by "Oldsinger":

Settlement of estate of Joseph Brown "Our honored father Joseph Browne, being Dyed these many years since intestate we, all the children of said Joseph Brown, named Joseph, John, Thomas, Samuel, Benjamin, Hannah, Elizabeth, Sarah" etc. Date 1723. 

"Inventory of the estate of Joseph Brown, who died September 30, 1694. House and homestead L100, 18 acres of village and meadow L95, one horse and tackling L4-12, four head of cattle L9, 36 sheep and lambs L12-12, three guns and one sword L4-8, 10,000 of brick L4-10, sheep and wool, flax and bedding L15-10, books, table linen and one pillion, L2-10, pewter brass L4-10, total L275-5: debts due L20-13, debts due in money L52-3. Hannah Browne, administrator made oath to the above as a true and perfect inventory of the estate of her late husband Joseph Browne, deceased, January 2, 1695." (Essex County Record)

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So the children gathered in 1723 to acknowledge the inventory that Mrs. Hannah Browne had made back in Jan, 1685...following the Sept. 30, 1694 death of her husband.

At least that is what is given here, and I do like having names of the children.  It is however, not a primary source.

There are 3 sources of the marriage of Joseph to Hannah Aslett, though one said "Hannah/Anna? (called Abigail in 1684, error) Asselbie/Aslett?; 27 February 1671, Ipswich"

I quickly figured out the error of her death date which was given for the widow of "farmer John Browne" in a couple of trees.  

I won't even begin to count how many children were born to each of my relations in Ipswich, Massachusetts.  There are many listed, and records of marriages but people's names were spelled many ways. As were the parents' names.  It really can give one a headache!

But I did enjoy spending an afternoon learning a lot about one family, these Browns. 

Many of my ancestors lived in Ipswich MA.  Unfortunately the dates and names were written in beautiful and most of the time legible script.  But sometimes the transcriptions weren't that accurate, or legible.  And there were the problems of different cousins with similar names being married into the families of others with similar names.  Brown could easily be one of those names, but it turns out Aslett is more difficult, sometimes being considered Aslebee, and Ayer could have been Eyer, or Ayre, or Ayers. 

Hannah's parents were Rebecca Ayer and John Aslett. Both of them were born in England, but Hannah was a first generation daughter born in America.

There were no colonists in Ipswich until after 1635 or so. (See Wikepedia HERE.) That is why it's doubtful how many people on this ancestry tree are listed as having been born in Ipswich.  A 1600 birth just couldn't have been there, unless it was a Native American. And none of these ancestors who were Native Americans according to the records.  They were immigrants at one time or another.

So the fact that Hannah's father is said to have died in England, but her mother and Hannah herself died in Ipswich, makes me scratch my head.

But Hannah married a man who was also born in Ipswich, Joseph Browne, Sr. whose parents were immigrants from England. Their son Benjamin was to become my ancestor.

There were 8 children of Hannah and Joseph Browne mentioned in the will above.  In my Ancestry trees, Benjamin was listed as either born in 1669 or 1680 or 1681 or 1683.  I find that just because one source says one date, and another has another date, I can't use them all in my tree.  The poor little program can't list him as having been born unless I just choose one, and the others can remain in the background as alternate dates of birth.  So I chose 1681, because it is in the midst of the other children born between 1672 and 1684.  One child has no dates given at all.

Joseph Browne Sr. is listed as a Turner,( in Genealogical and personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, Vol III,) which means someone who turns wood or metal on a lathe...in case you didn't know like me.


The children of Joseph and Hannah Aslet Brown were:
Joseph Brown, a cordwainer 1672-1742
John Brown, a yeoman and turner, 1673-1758
Hannah Brown Pinder 1674-1740
Thomas Brown 1678-1767
Elizabeth Brown Holland 1680-1739
Benjamin Brown, yeoman and miller, 1681-1733
Lt. Samuel Brown, house carpenter, 1684-1763
Sarah Brown Rindge, 1692 - ?

These are dates available on Ancestry, but often may be within 5-10 years of actual events.