The Browns in Canada

When did Donald and Ann Brown, the parents of Donald Brown (1840-1918), come to Canada? The Isle of Islay website has a helpful page that describes the various waves of emigration from Islay. According to this page, “Many of the Islay emigrants came to Ontario, where surveyors were busy mapping the townships into organized concessions and then rectangular lots to accommodate the new settlers. … [In the 1830s] Islay emigrants made their way to Eldon and Fenelon townships near Lindsay….” Both of these townships are in Victoria County and border on Mariposa Township, where Ann Brown was living with her sons in 1861.

Since Donald and Ann’s oldest son Neil was born in Canada, they probably arrived before 1837. A brig called the Stirling Castle sailed from Islay in 1834. It left Greenock, Scotland, on June 10, and arrived in Quebec on August 8. It was carrying 358 passengers. The next year the brig Hector left Islay on July 17 with 49 passengers. It arrived in Quebec on August 24. It is possible that the Browns were passengers on one of these two ships. As far as I know, no passenger lists for these voyages have survived.

Unfortunately, the 1851 Canadian census records for Mariposa Township, Victoria County, are lost. The 1851 records for Eldon Township list Peter Brown, 76, and Effie Brown, 60, and their children Duncan, 25, Effie, 21, Neal, 15, and Peter, 13. The birthplace of Neil and Peter is listed as Ontario and they are said to be living in Mariposa. (Could they actually be Donald and Ann's children? One wonders.) According to the Kilarrow parish records in Islay, the Peter and Effie Brown listed there had children named Duncan and Effie, who were born in 1825 and 1830. Thus it appears that this is the same family and that they moved to Victoria County sometime after 1830. Was Peter an uncle of the Donald Brown who married Ann Brown? Was he Ann Brown’s father? It is not possible to be sure. An online genealogy lists Peter and Effie Brown as Ann Brown’s parents, but I have not been able to track down the source of that information. A picture of Peter and Effie’s son Duncan can be seen here.

The document summarizing information from the Brown family Bible says that the parents of Donald Brown (1840-1918) were Donald and Anna and that they had two older sons, Neil and Peter. It says that Donald was 21 years old when he married in 1861.

In the 1861 census there is a listing for an Ann Brown, age 46, who is a member of the Free Church of Scotland. She is a widow and has two sons living with her who were born in Ontario. They are Neil, 24, and Daniel, 21. No son named Donald is listed. This makes me wonder if the census taker wrote down “Daniel” when he should have written down “Donald”, since Donald was 21 in 1861. Ann and her sons are living in a log house. An example of this type of house can be seen here. (Note that the Donald Brown referred to on the page is not one of our ancestors, although he may be a relative.)

1861 Canadian census

A couple named Peter Brown, 90, and Emma Brown, 68, are listed right after Ann and her family on the 1861 census sheet. They too are living in a log house. Their ages only roughly correspond to the ages of Peter and Effie listed in the 1851 census, but it is possible that they are the same couple. “Emma” could be a mistake for “Euphemia”, which was often shortened to “Effie.”  In the 1861 census, under the names of Peter and Emma, Flora Brown, 42, is listed. The Islay records say that Peter and Effie Brown had a daughter Flora who was born in October of 1816. So Flora's actual age early in 1861 would be 44. But since people in the 1800s were not always sure of their birth dates, it seems at least possible that Peter and Emma are the same as Peter and Effie listed in the 1851 census and that Flora and Ann are their daughters.

What can we learn about Neil and Peter, the brothers of Donald Brown (1840-1918)? 

The Canadian censuses of 1871, 1881 and 1891 list a couple named Neil and Ann Brown, who are Presbyterians and are living in Mariposa Township. Their recorded ages indicate that Neil was born in 1836 or 1837, while Ann was born in 1842. So Neil is the right age to have been the brother of Donald. Five sons were born to Neil and Ann: Donald, John, Peter, Archibald and William. Occupations listed for Neil are "teamster," "labourer," and "farmer."

The census of 1861 shows a Peter Brown, age 23, who was born in Ontario and is listed as being a merchant. He is living by himself in Mariposa Township. (So this explains why he is not listed as living with Ann in the 1861 census.) He is a member of the Church of Scotland and apparently is living in a store built of stone. Ontario marriage records tell us that Peter Brown, 31, married Jemima Jane Kennedy, 30, on January 5, 1871, at Whitchurch, York, Ontario. Peter Brown’s parents are listed as Donald Brown and Ann Brown. In 1871 census, Peter and Jemima are living in Mariposa Township. The census says they’ve been married within the last year, but strangely says the month was October. Ann Brown, age 55, is a widow and is living with them. Peter and Jemima are members of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, while Ann is listed as being Presbyterian. Peter’s occupation is listed as “merchant.” It seems almost certain that this Peter is the older brother of Donald Brown (1840-1918) and that Ann is Donald’s mother. (The summary from the Brown family Bible says that Donald also  was a merchant and a Methodist. So in his occupation and denomination he was like his brother Peter.)

According to the 1881 census, Peter Brown, 42, and Jemima Brown, 41, are living in Whitchurch, North York, Ontario. Apparently Ann, Peter’s mother, is no longer living with them. Peter’s occupation is listed as “gentleman.” In the censuses of 1891 and 1901 Peter and Jemima are listed as living in Toronto. They are still Methodists. In the 1901 census Peter's occupation is listed as “Merchant R.” I assume the “R” stands for “Retired.” Peter’s birth date is given as July 13, 1839. Jemima’s is March 31, 1840. The 1901 census also has a column for “mother tongue.” Peter’s mother tongue is “Gaelic”, which indicates that his parents Donald and Ann spoke Gaelic in the home.

On the “Find a Grave” website, there is a page for Peter Brown which includes a picture of a memorial in the Newmarket Cemetery (here). The large stone has the name “BROWN” on it. Underneath the following names are listed: “Peter Brown, born 1839-died 1912,” “Jemima J., his wife, born 1840-died 1927,” “Mary Kennedy, born 1802-died 1887,” (Mary was Jemima’s mother), “Ann Brown, 1890” Ann must be the mother of Neil, Peter and Donald. Evidently Peter, and perhaps Ann herself, did not know Ann’s date of birth.

The Browns in Scotland

Islay, by Jens Mayer Creative Commons license

In previous posts I have mentioned the document I have that summarizes material from the Brown family Bible. The document states that the Browns in Victoria County, Ontario, came to Canada from the island of Islay, in Scotland. 

Islay is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides, to the west of the Scottish mainland. An article from an 1830 Scottish encyclopedia notes that the island at its greatest length is about 31 miles long, and its breadth from east to west is about 24 miles. Some of the mountains in the east and north are nearly 1,800 feet high. Islay has a river and a number of freshwater lakes. Various kinds of crops were grown on the island in the 19th century. The main export was “black cattle.” In the course of the 1800s, a number of distilleries were established on the island. 

Dr. David Caldwell writes the following about the people of Islay: “The people of Islay in the Middle Ages were Gaelic speakers. The English language probably only started to make real inroads in the eighteenth century. They were of mixed ethnic origin, mostly with Celtic and Scandinavian blood. Unlike many parts of Scotland there was no admixture of Anglo-Norman or Flemish stock.” One of the lesser Islay clans, according to Caldwell, was the MacBraynes. A charter of 1408, written in Gaelic, was signed by Patrick McAbriuin, “who was probably an ancestor of the MacBraynes, a name sometimes later Anglified as Brown. It also appears early on without the `Mac’, as Brihoune in the case of Donald, one of the `sheriffs in that part’ (substitute for a sheriff)....” Caldwell continues, “The family, as indicated by their name, were the hereditary judges or Brehons of Islay, with their judgement mound, the Torr a’ Bhreitheimh, a natural hillock now largely quarried away, beside the road from Port Ellen to Bowmore.” 

Cottage on Islay, 18th century

Islay was divided into three parishes: Killarow (or Kilarrow), Kilchoman, and Kildalton. The population of Islay in 1811 was 10,035. According to Wikipedia, in the mid-nineteenth century, large landowners on Islay evicted smaller farmers and forced many to emigrate. But by 1850, our Brown ancestors had already been in Canada for some time. 

According to the family Bible information, the parents of Donald Brown (III) (1840 - 1918) were Donald Brown (II) and Ann (or Anna) Brown, who are said to be cousins. According to one online genealogy, the parents of Donald (II) were (again!) Donald Brown (I) and Marion Campbell. The parents of Ann were Peter Brown and Effie ______. 

Some parish records and cemetery records for the parishes of Islay are available online. Kilarrow includes the ancestral lands of the MacBraynes, so it is not surprising that especially in the Kilarrow records a number of Browns are listed. From these records, however, I have not been able to learn anything definite about Donald Brown (II) or Ann Brown.

I do find parish records for the family of Peter Brown and Euphemia (Effie) Currie Brown. If they are Ann Brown’s parents, her birth does not appear in the records. Peter and Euphemia lived in Talant in the parish of Kilarrow. Also living in Talant were a Neil Brown, married to Catherine Currie, and a Duncan Brown, married to Mary McErrol. The parents of Neil and Peter may be John Brown and Flora McAlpin. They lived in Talant and had children John, born 1771, Neil, born 1774, and Peter, born 1777. Angus Campbell and Marrion Brown also lived in Talant and had a daughter named Marrion who was born on February 17, 1793. Possibly this is the Marion Campbell who became the wife of Donald Brown (I) and the grandmother of Donald Brown (1840-1918). 

In my next post I hope to show that Peter and Effie Brown and their family emigrated from Islay to Victoria County, Ontario, sometime after 1830. If they were relatives of Donald (II) and Ann Brown, it seems likely that Donald and Ann would have emigrated at the same time.

Life Summary: Sarah Ann Brignall (1845 - 1930)

Sarah Ann Brignall was born on February 2, 1845 in the village of Earswick, in the parish of Huntington, near York, in Yorkshire, England. It appears that she was christened in the nearby parish of Haxby on April 20 of that year. As with Sarah’s husband, Donald Brown (1840 - 1918), there is some disagreement in the sources as to the date of her birth. The notes of Harmon Fairchild say she was born in 1845. This is corroborated by English records of her birth and christening, the British census of 1851, which gives her age as 6, the Canadian census of 1861, which gives her age as 16 and the census of 1871, which gives her age as 26. The online record of the Midland City Cemetery gives her birth date as 1843, as does the online transcript of Sarah’s Michigan death certificate. To complicate things further, Harmon Fairchild's notes say that she came to North America when she was 11. The manifest (passenger list) of the ship on which she and her parents came in May of 1855 lists her age as 9. In fact she would have been 10 in May of 1855. Perhaps her father forgot that she had had her tenth birthday? Even more puzzling is the fact that the US census for 1900 gives her date of birth as February 1847. I think the birth and christening records as well as the early census information must be correct and that she was born in 1845.

Sarah’s parents were Joseph and Harriet Brignall. Both were born in Yorkshire, England. In May of 1855 they sailed with Sarah from Liverpool to New York City on the ship, John Bright. Both are listed in the ship’s manifest as being 40 years of age. Joseph is listed as a farmer and the manifest says their ultimate destination is Canada. According to Harmon Fairchild's notes, they settled in “Whitby, Victoria County, Ontario.”  However the city of Whitby at that time was located in the county of Ontario (now replaced by the regional municipality of Durham). According to the Canadian censuses, there were Brignalls or Brignals living near Whitby, in Pickering Township. Thomas Brignall was in Canada already in 1851, and appears to have been Joseph’s brother. Probably the Joseph Brignall family came first to Whitby and then moved to Mariposa Township in Victoria County.

According to the Canadian census of 1861, Sarah A. Brignal, age 16, was living with her mother, Harriet Brignal, age 45, in Mariposa Township, Victoria County, Ontario. No husband for Harriet is listed, but Harriet is listed as married, not widowed. Joseph Brignal is listed on a separate page of the census. Sarah married Donald Brown later in that same year, on November 26. Since the names of her parents were “Joseph” and “Harriet”, one can see why her only daughter was named Harriet and her second-born son was named Joseph. For more information about the children of Donald and Sarah, see Donald Brown’s life summary.

Harmon Fairchild's notes say that when she was young, Sarah had dark hair and eyes. At the time that she was married she weighed 90 pounds. She weighed 170 pounds when she was 43. My dad adds the rather surprising information that Sarah smoked a pipe! In the picture above I think she and her daughter Harriet Brown Fairchild look formidable.

According to the 1930 census, at that time Sarah was living in Midland with her son John. She died on April 10, 1933 at the age of 88 and is buried in the Michigan City Cemetery.

Life Summary: Donald Brown (1840 - 1918)

Donald Brown was born on May 12, 1840, in Oakwood, in Mariposa Township, Victoria County, Ontario, Canada. This is the date given in a handwritten obituary in my possession. I also have a copy of some notes that were probably written by Donald's son-in-law, Harmon Fairchild, in 1888. The notes list his birth year as 1842. 1842 also appears in the online transcript of the Midland City Cemetery records, but I think this date is incorrect. In the 1871 Canadian census, which was to reflect the population as of April 2, 1871, Donald is listed as being 30 years old, which would have been the case if he was born in 1840. Also, according to the Brown family Bible, when Donald was married in 1861, he was 21 years of age. Donald's parents were Donald Brown and Ann Brown (one source says "Anna"). Ann's maiden name was also Brown. Donald and Ann were cousins. 

Harmon Fairchild's notes also say that Donald (born in 1840) had two older brothers, Neil and Peter. The Canadian census records confirm this. Neil was born about 1836 and Peter was born on July 13, 1839. According to the Fairchild notes, Donald's father (also named Donald) was killed by a falling tree three months before Donald's birth.

Donald married Sarah Ann Brignall on November 26, 1861. In the 1871 Canadian census Donald Brown is listed as a peddler living in Mariposa, Victoria South, Ontario. At that time they had four children: Harriet, 8, Peter, 6, Joseph, 4, and Donald, 1. Harriet was born August 6, 1862. Peter W. on October 21, 1864. Joseph I. on May 2, 1868. A child named Donald was born in August of 1870. He must have died in 1871 soon after the census was taken. More children were born later: Daniel D. on August 15, 1871, David Winter on October 26, 1874, John Melville on July 22, 1876 (and died in March 1877), John Wesley on August 26, 1877, and Alfred Hubert Elwood on February 26, 1880 (and died in 1886).

Both the 1871 census and notes mentioned above say Donald was a Methodist. The notes add that he was "very religious." His physical appearance is described as follows: "In his youth he had blue eyes, light brown hair, and heavy auburn whiskers." The notes report that Donald was a merchant at Listowel, Ontario, and at Cass City, Michigan (in the Thumb area). In a 1921 souvenir booklet entitled "Listowel: Past and Present" a Donald Brown is mentioned as being a grocer in Listowel during the period 1878-1881. Donald and Sarah are not listed in the 1881 Canadian census. It appears that in 1880, soon after the birth of their youngest child Alfred, they moved to the town of Baltimore, in the Dakota Territory of the United States. The family became naturalized citizens in 1882. In about 1884 they moved to the Michigan Thumb area and began a business in Cass City. According to the 1900 United States census, Donald and Sarah were living in Midland, Michigan, at the turn of the century. The handwritten obituary mentioned above says that in 1918 he had lived in Midland for twenty-one years, which would mean that they moved to Midland in 1897. The picture above was probably taken in Midland. Donald died in Midland on February 20, 1918, at the age of 77. The obituary says the cause of death was heart disease. He is buried in the Midland City Cemetery.