Born in Warren Massachusetts, on this date in 1769*: fourth great-grandfather “Maj.” Thomas Brown. I put “Maj.” in quotes, because Brown only held that rank in the Ohio militia for a matter of weeks, before he was ousted by a rival. Read more … Top photo: the first brick house in Berkshire township, Delaware County, Ohio; its first occupant was Maj. Brown. The house stood until at least the 1990s, but is now gone. Brown is buried at Berkshire cemetery, as is his son-in-law, my third great-grandfather Lawrence Myers. Thomas Brown’s gravestone was barely readable in 2013 … 197 years had just about done it in.
*Brown’s year of birth is unreadable in the Warren town record. Ancestry.com indexed as 1771, but a distant relative who has researched extensively puts it at 1769, which agrees with his age in this inscription (49 years).
