Brown Family
First Generation
A 1909 Genealogy of the Thomas Canon Brown Family states that Cannon Brown was the son of Thomas Canon Brown, a barrister from Edinburgh, Scotland, and his wife Betsy Buckner, and that Thomas and Betsy were early settlers of Rowan County NC. I have been unable to verify these statements so far. The first definite record of this family I have found is Cannon Brown's appearance in a 1793 petition for a separate election in Rowan County, and then in the 1800 Rowan County census. Cannon Brown does not appear as head of household in the 1790 Rowan census, and his first land purchase in this area appears to have been in 1798 (Rowan Co. deed book 16:609, Aug. 22, 1798; he purchased 112 acres on the east side of Bear Creek, in what is now Davie County, from Gasper Roland, who was his wife's grandfather.) Cannon's wife was Catherine Hendricks or Hendrix, daughter of Daniel Hendricks and Mary Roland. Cannon Brown died about 1831, leaving a will that names his children.
Second Generation
Children of Cannon Brown and Catherine HendricksSarah Brown (1798-1880) m. 1) Daniel Helper (1794-1830), 2) John Mullican (1811-1876)
Mary ("Polly") Brown (1800-1899) m. Basil G. Jones (c. 1791-1841)
Jesse Brown (ca. 1801-?), wife's name unknown
Elizabeth Brown (1803-1881) m. Godfrey Clement
Ann Brown (ca. 1805-?) m. John Brinegar (ca. 1805-?)
Thomas Brown (1807-1881) m. Margaret Brinegar (1809-1876)
Daniel Brown (1815-1863) m. 1) Sarah or Elizabeth Dwiggins, 2) Cornelia McGuire (1823-1910)
Third Generation
Possible children of Jesse Brown (this family from the 1850 Davie census; I'm not sure it's the right Jesse, however):Lucinda Brown (ca. 1828-?)
Milus Brown (ca. 1832-?)
Martha Brown (ca. 1835-?)
Mary Brown (ca. 1835-?)
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Children of Thomas Brown and Margaret Brinegar
William Lafayette Brown (1831-1899) m. Mary Eliza Chinn (1842-1917)
Emma Brown (1833-1901) m. Allen A. Harbin (1830-1905)
Amanda M. Brown (1835-1917) m. 1) James L. Adams (1834-1879) 2) Marshall Bell (1833-1890)
Rufus Brown (1836-1893) m. Sarah Gibbs (? - 1892)
Sarah C. Brown (1840-1917) m. John Kimbrough (1839-1871)
Mary D. Brown (1844-1909) m. Calvin Cowles Sanford (1843-1929)
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Children of Daniel Brown and Sarah/Elizabeth Dwiggins
Archie Brown died young
Laura Brown died young
Thomas Brown (ca. 1844-?), probably died young
Daniel Brown (ca. 1848-?), probably died young
James Hanson Brown (1850-1941) m. Emma Glasscock (1858-1951)
Children of Daniel Brown and Cornelia McGuire
Dovie Alice Brown (1852-1925) m. Basil Gaither Ijames (1845-1924)
Chalmers Stroud Brown (1854-1935) m. 1) Henrietta Hicks, 2) Lucy P. Shoaf (1858-1925)
Virginia Belle Brown (1855-1932) m. Thomas Cartner (1852-1944)
Mary Victoria Brown (1857-1950) m. James Marion Granger (1860-1936)
Richard Jesse Brown (1859-1935) m. Mary Jane Bowles (1863-1933)
Mack D. Brown (1863-1941) m. Meekie Ann Leach (1865-1971) [yes, she really lived to 106]
Fourth Generation
Children of William Lafayette Brown and Mary Eliza ChinnMinnie Lafayette Brown (1864-1870)
William Thomas Brown (1866-1924) m. Rebecca L. Marks (1869-1942)
Margaret Maud Brown (1867-1957) m. William Booker Pollard (1861-1900)
Mary Elizabeth Brown (1870-1927) m. William Carter Brown (1859-1939)
Mabel Adams Brown (1871-1947) m. William Jacob Wolff (1865-1922)
Mattie Blanch Brown (1873-1877)
unnamed baby boy (b. & d. 1874)
Emma Florence Brown (1875-1957) m. Thomas Venable Edmunds (1867-1938)
Gertrude Katrina Brown (1877-1964) m. Frank Carter Spencer (1865-1953)
Hugh Parks Brown (1878-1951) m. Naomi Frund (1887-1938)
Letitia Chinn Brown (1880-1931) m. 1) Conrad H. Lemly (d. 1905), 2) Cary Carroll
Amanda Brown (1882-1928) did not marry
Delphine Brown (1885-1966) did not marry
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Children of Rufus Brown and Sarah Gibbs
George T. Brown (probably 1869-1913)
Rufus D. Brown (ca. 1872-?)
Sophie Brown (ca. 1874-1951) m. Robert C. Norfleet (1872-1941)
Lillian Brown (1879-1963) m. Clarence Hodson (1868-1927)
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Children of Chalmers Brown and Lucy P. Shoaf
Daniel Hugh Brown (1882-1965) m. Pantha Allen
Carley Lee Brown (1883-1884)
Frank Hall Brown (1885-1974) m. Julia Rowena Weant (1883-1957)
Jacob Shoaf Brown (1886-1907)
Milton Gaither Brown (1888-1976) m. Estella May Aldridge (1889-1944)
Effie H. Brown (1889-?) m. Ernest E. Sprinkle
Dora Lillian Brown (1891-1892)
James McGuire Brown (b. & d. 1893)
Anna Lenore Brown (b. &. d. 1894)
Lizzie Victoria Brown (b. &. d. 1894)
Ollie C. Brown (1895-1985) m. Robert L. Scott
Beulah Mae Brown (1898-1899)
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Children of Richard Jesse Brown and Mary Jane Bowles
Sallie Brown (1883-?) m. John Everhart
Bessie Brown (1882-1961) m. John Emerson (1879-1927)
Walter Dwight Brown (1886-1931)
Will D. Brown (1889-1964) m. Frozzie Grimes (1891-1964)
Maude Brown (1891-1976) m. John L. Harper
Mary Blanche Brown (1894-1976)
Pearl Brown (1897-1928)
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Children of Mack Brown and Meekie Leach
Percy G. Brown (1884-1955) m. Mary Bailey Meroney (1898-1968)
Leona or Luna Brown (1886-?)
Viola Brown (1888-?)
Clayton M. Brown (1892-1972) female, did not marry
Maxie David Brown (1895-1930)
Bonnie Margaret Brown (ca. 1897-?) m. P.H. Ashe
Warren Brown (b. & d. 1898)
Rufus Brown (1899-?)
Kathryn Brown ca. 1904-?)
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Children of James Hanson Brown and Emma Glasscock
Tommie Brown (b. & d. 1885)
Sophia V. Brown (1886-1969) did not marry
John H. Brown (1888-1973)
Ora E. Brown (1890-1940) did not marry
Charlie S. Brown (1893-1979) m. Hazel Summers (1902-1978)
Sources
Mary Eliza Chinn Brown's family BibleObituaries and other newspaper clippings saved by Margaret Maud Brown Pollard and her daughters
North Carolina marriage bonds, Rowan and Davie Counties
Hinton Alexander Helper, The Genealogy of the Thomas Canon Brown Family in North Carolina - ms, 1909
This is traditionally the standard work on our Brown family. However, it contains inconsistencies and information that can't possibly be correct. I have posted an annotated transcript that gives my arguments against it.
Abstracts of Wills and Estates Records of Rowan County, North Carolina 1753-1805 and Tax Lists of 1759 and 1778, copyright Jo White Linn 1980
Wall, James W., History of Davie County in the Forks of the Yadkin, Davie County Historical Publishing Association, Mocksville NC
Linn, Jo White (1973). Davie County North Carolina Will and Deed Abstracts (Wills 1836-1900, Deeds 1836-1850)
Davie County NC 1850-1930 census records
Rowan County NC 1800-1850 census records
Other Resources
My cousin Paula Windsor Bennett has a web page on the BROWN, JONES, WINDSOR and WOLFF families.BROWN Society home page, includes DNA project
A descendant of Cannon Brown through the line of Richard Jesse Brown (see Third Generation, above) has been tested at Family Tree DNA. His results match "Group 26" on the Brown Society DNA project page. Several others in this group trace their ancestry back to Virginia or North Carolina, and one has an association with Pittsylvania Co. VA. Unfortunately none of the participants so far has a proven genealogy earlier than 1800, so we can't confirm a common ancestor.
I would also like to have DNA test results for the family of William C. Brown, born 1828 in Caswell Co. NC, and later lived in Davie Co. NC. If you are a direct male-line descendant of William C. Brown and his wife Ann Paine Carter, please contact me. These two families intermarry in a later generation, and there are some recurring given names in both that suggest a possible relationship. DNA analysis would allow us to determine quickly whether they are the same or different families.