Captain Abraham BROWN

   Another name for Abraham was Captain.

   Ancestral File Number: BJRM-J6.

   General Notes:

Captain, Treasurer of Watertown 1695-1700, Assessor 1705-1708, Guardian of
Ephraim Williams Father of Founder of Williams College, Selectman 1712/1726,
Town Clerk 1712, Innholder 1709-1712, Will Dated 20 Jul 1728, Will Proved 8 Dec
1729.

BOOK
Genealogies, Families, and Descendants of Early Settlers of Watertown MA, Vol I, Genealogies, Henry Bond MD, Boston, Little Brown & Co, 1855, p119:
"5.7 (II.) Jonathan Browne m 11 Feb 1661/1662 Mary Shattuck [Shattuck, 3.] She d 23 Oct 1732 aged 87 and was buried in the Waltham graveyard. His Will was dated 19 Feb 1690-1691 andproved Apr 7 and Inventory dated 1 Apr 1691. Wife and son Abraham Exec'rs. Real estate 6 lots of land amounting to 211 acres appraised at L247. [Prob Records Vol VII 134-137.]
N.B.-His sons dropt the final e.
[Figure: Signature of Jonathan Browne]... 18.12.5. Abraham b 26 Aug 1671, d 27 Nov 1729..."
p120: "12.18.(III.) Capt Abraham Brown m Mary Hyde b 21 Jun 1673, dau of John and Elizabeth (Fuller) Hyde. She d 29 Nov 1723 and was buried in the Waltham graveyard. Herepitaph, 'Pious in Life, [illegible] at Death.' He d 27 Nov 1729 and was buried by her side. He was treasurer of Watertown in 1695-1700, Assessor in 1705, 6 and 8, Selectman in 1712 and 26, Town Clerk in 1712, Innholder 1709-1712. Upon the final settlemet of the estate of his grandfather, Abraham Browne in Jan 1694 (his father being then dec'd) all the real estate, including the homestead of his grandfather, was assigned to him, by consent of the other heirs, he paying them for their portions. His Will dated 20 Jul 1728, proved 8 Dec 1729...10 Nov 1707 Ephraim Williams of Newton afterwards a pioneer in the settlement of Stockbridge and father of the founder of Williams College, chose Capt. A. Brown for his guardian [see Jones, 28 and 102; also Biscoe, 7.]"
p125: "No original Will of Abraham Browne has been discovered, but in the files of the County Court for 1670, is found the following, which, by the concluding certificate, purports to be copy of it. 'The Last Will and Testament of Abraham Browne, of Watertowne, dec'd; being of good and perfect membory but Weake, as is witnessed by us whose names are here under written. Impr: after the decease of his wife, he gave and bequeathed unto his two sonnes, Jonathan and Abraham Browne, his house and lands; but giving liberty to his wife, that if shee had need shee might sell some parcells of it. Also, he gave and bequeathed unto his two daughters, Sarah Browne and Mary Browne, each of them oneewe sheep, ahving each of them one fefore, as was testified. The rest of his goods and state he gave unto Lydea, his wife, making her his sole executrix to perform this, his Will and Testament. Witnesses, Richard Browne, John Whitney. Entered out of the original on file with the Register, at Cambridge, in the County of Middlesex in New England, and is a ture coppie (sic), being compared and examined by Thomas Danforth, Recorder.'
"This instrument resembles a synopsis, more thana literal copy of an original Will. It is not improbable that it was a nuncupative Will, and the above a copy of the declaration by the witness of its provisions.
"There was much delay and probably some difficulty in settling his estate. and the settlement seems to have been made finally, in entire disregard of the provisions of the Will. On the 6th Oct 1691 the Court ordered the parties concerned in the estate of Abraham Browne, of Watertown, deceased in the year 1650, be sentfor, to attend the adjournment of the Court, in order to a settlement of said estate; and they appointed a committee consisting of John Ward, Jonathan Remington, and Thomas Greenwood, to make proposals for said settlement. The claimants were: 1. The heirs of Jonathan Browne, deceased, the eldest son. 2. George Woodward, in right of his wife, only dau of Abraham Browne, Jr, deceased. 3. John Parkhurst, son of one of the daughters of said Abraham Browne, Sr. 4. The heirs of ?Isaac Lewis, decased, who were children of another dau of said Abraham Browne. 5. William Lakin, in right of his wife, youngest daughter of said Abraham Browne.
"Owing, as they said, to a change in the government of the Colony, by the coming over ofa new Charter, the committee did not report until 22 Jan 1693/1694. They assigned 2/6 (double portion) of the estate to the heirs of Jonathan, and the other 4/6 to the other four claimants. At the same time they recommended that these four claimants should sell their shares to Abraham Browne, eldest son of Jonathan, deceased, who was then ready to purchase; and in that manner the estate was settled.
"It appears from the schedules of possessions, that, besides a pond of one acre, 11 lots of land were granted to Abraham Browne, the town surveyor, and that previous to 1642, he had purchased 4 other lots, amounting to 39 acres, one of which, a 30 acre lot in the Great ____ lands, had been granted to his kinsman, John Browne. Two of the lots granted him were homestalls. The first upon which he probably settled at first, contained 10 acres, and was at the east of Mount Auburn. His second homestall of 28 acres, to which he is deemed to have removed very early, was bounded on the east by the way to the Little ____ (now Howard Street); N. by Sudbury Road (now Main Street); S. by the way to ____ Plains, sometimes called the way betwixt lots (now Pleasant Street); W. by his ____ land. Two other lots granted to him, on of 10 acres and the other of 6 acres, were con____ to this homestall of the West, and in the schedule of 1642, they were deemed part of the homestall, which was then enrolled as 40 acres. He must have purchased other adjoining lands not long afterwards, as in the final settlement of his estate in 1694, his homestall contained 60 acres. The Committee, appointed by the Court to settle the estate, ____ Inventory, in 1694 (of lands only), amounting to L187; viz: homestall 60 acres L100; remote meadow 10 acrews L12; salt marsh 4 acres L20; farm land 107 acres L15; lot on Charles River 10 acres L10.
"This is probably the only instance (unless the grant to Deacon Simon Stone be an exception) where an original grant has remained in the possession of the direct descendants of a grantee to the present time. As above stated, this property passed by inheritance and purchase, to his grandson, Capt. Abraham Browne. Although it is stated in the report of thecommittee for settling the estate, that Abraham 'was ready to purchase' the shares of the other claimants, subsequent transactions render it probable that he acted in behalf of the widow and other heirs of his father, and that he never became the proprietor of the whole homestall of 60 acres. From Capt. Abraham B, a part of the land belonging to him passed by Will to his son Samuel, who occupied a part of his house. After his death his son Samuel, about 1739, moved to Leicester, andnot long after this, the property was mortgaged to Capt. John Homans, who probably occupied it only a few years, when the mortgage was cancelled by Jonathan, eldest son of Capt Abraham. From Jonathan it passed to his son Jonathan Jr Esq. From him it passed to his son Major Adam Brown, and it is now, at least a part of it, in the occupancy of his heirs.
"The dwelling-house, now standing, on this ancient homestall, is probably, with the exception of the ancient 'Nathaniel Bright house,' considerably older than any other in the town. The 'new part,' next the road, was built and occupied by Capt Abraham B, when he relinquished the old or south part to the use of his son Samuel. The accompanying cut is a view of this house, as at present seen from the northeast:
"[line figure 18.] "Mansion of Capt. Abraham Browne."

ANCESTRAL FILE
Ancestral File Ver 4.13 BJRM-J6 Abraham BROWN Born 26 Aug 1671 Watertown Middlesex MA Mar 21 Jun 1693 Mary HYDE (AFN:1ZTC-L7) Watertown Middlesex Mass, Died 27 Nov 1729 Watertown Middlesex Mass Bur Waltham Middlesex Mass.

   Marriage Information:

Abraham married Mary HYDE on 21 Jun 1693 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. (Mary HYDE was born on 21 Jun 1673, died on 29 Nov 1723 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA and was buried in Cemetery, Waltham, Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA.)