Edward Stewart Brown was born 26 July 1806 in Liberty County, Georgia. He was the son of Moses Brown and Sarah (Robertson) Brown and the grandson of Edward and Jemimiah Brown. By the time he was six years old his father had moved the family from Georgia, through the Creek Nation’s Territory to Marion County, Mississippi.
When he was a boy he inherited a portion of his maternal grandmother’s estate. Then he inherited a portion of his maternal uncle’s estate. Unfortunately there are not details of the contents of those estates.
About 1835 Edward married Mary Polly Spurlock who was born 1 January 1800 in Oglethorpe, Georgia. Together they lived in Amite County, Mississippi where, in 1836, Mary gave birth to three children. On 26 January 1836 she gave birth to her first child, Allen Moses Brown. On 15 December 1836 she gave birth to twin girls, Martha M. Brown and Mary A. Brown. They would later have two more children.
Edward purchased 153.39 acres of land along Robinson Creek on 10 November 1840.[i]He was able to purchase the land because of the Cash Entry Act of 24 April 1820.[ii]
The Cash Entry Act of April 24,1820 (3 stat. 566) allowed the outright purchase of federal land. It also reduced the minimum size of the tract from 160 to 80 acres (647,000 to 324,000 m²). Additionally, the act required a down payment of $100 and reduced the price from $1.65 to $1.25 per acre.[iii]
The certificate for the land patent was signed by President Martin Van Buren.[iv]The certificate describes the location of the land.
For the East – half of the North East quarter and the West half of the South East quarter of Section seventeen in Township three of Range five East, in the District of Lands subject to sale at Washington, Mississippi, containing one hundred and fifty three acres and thirty nine hundredths of an acre according to the official plat of the survey of the said Lands, returned to the General Land Office by the Surveyor General which said tract has been purchased by Edward Stewart Brown.[v]
At the same time Edward purchased 118.33 acres, located in section nine of Washington, Amite, Mississippi.[vi]Looking at a map shows Edward’s plots of land are near each other. Drawing a diagonal line from southwest to northeast would connect the four plots. Today State Highway 569 comes close to those properties. [vii]
In 1841[viii], 1845 and 1853 Edward S. Brown was in the Mississippi Census. In 1845 there were seven males and four females in the family and in 1853 there were three males and four females in the family.[ix]The 1850 U. S. Census details the members of this family in Amite County. Edward was a 46-year-old farmer whose real estate was valued at $720. Mary was 47 years old. By that time Edward and Mary had five children who were all living at home: Allen Moses Brown, 14; Mary A. Brown, 12; Martha M. Brown, 12; Adeline Julia (Brown) Westmoreland, 10; and James Pascal Brown, 6 years old.[x]
Edward S. Brown died 7 May 1856 in Mississippi. In 1860 his widow, Mary was still in Amite County. Both her sons were with her. Allen Moses Brown and his wife, Emmaline, were living there. Mary was shown as the head of the household with the real estate valued at $2,000 and her personal estate was valued at $9,000. Allen was a planter whose personal estate was valued at $600.[xi]
Tragically, Mary outlived her husband and at least three of her children. In 1862 James was killed in the Civil War.[xii]Adeline Julia (Brown) Westmoreland died 8 August 1864. Allen Moses Brown died between 1870 and 1880. [It is unknown when twins, Mary and Martha, died.] Where Mary lived after 1860 is unknown. Mary died 12 January 1888 in Osyka, Pike, Mississippi.[xiii]
[i]Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Amite County, Mississippi. Deluxe. Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Publishing Co., 2006.
[ii]US Dep. Of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Certificate #4522, Accession MS0440.055, 10 November 1840; glorecords.blm.gov; Edward S. Brown in Amite Co., MS.
[iii]US Dep. Of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Certificate #4522, Accession MS0440.055, 10 November 1840; glorecords.blm.gov; Edward S. Brown in Amite Co., MS.
[iv]US Dep. Of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Certificate #4522, Accession MS0440.055, 10 November 1840; glorecords.blm.gov; Edward S. Brown in Amite Co., MS.
[v]US Dep. Of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Certificate #4522, Accession MS0440.055, 10 November 1840; glorecords,blm.gov; Edward S. Brown in Amite Co., MS.
[vi]US Dep. Of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records; Certificate #4523, Accession MS0440.056, 10 November 1840; glorecords.blm.gov; Edward S. Brown in Amite Co., MS.
[vii]Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Amite County, Mississippi. Deluxe. Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Publishing Co., 2006.
[viii]1841 Mississippi Census, Amite Co.; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed April 2020) E. S. Brown.
[ix]MS State and Territorial Census Collection, 1792 – 1866, microfilm V229.1; ancestry.com; Edward S Brown in Amite Co 1845 & 1853.
[x]1850 US Census, MS, Amite ; digital image, Ancestry (ancestry.com: accessed April 2020) E. S. Brown.
[xi]1860 US Census, MS, Amite, Liberty; M653-577, National Archives. Mary Brown and children.
[xii]Bradshaw, Jim. ‘Battle of Baton Rouge’, KnowLA, Encyclopedia of Louisiana; knowla.org.
[xiii]Criminger, Adrianne Fortenberry, The Fortenberry Families of Southern Mississippi(Easley, SC: Southern Historical Press, Inc., 1984).
….. 1 Edward S. Brown b: 26 July 1806 Liberty, Georgia, d: 07 May 1856 MS
….. + Mary Polly Spurlock b: 01 Jan 1800 Georgia, d: 12 Jan 1888 Pike, MS
……….. 2 Allen Moses Brown b: 26 Jan 1836 Liberty, Amite, MS, d: Aft. 1870
……….. + Emmaline Smith b: 13 Sept 1831 MS, m: 28 April 1858, d: 3 Aug 1920 MS
……….. 2 Mary Magdelene Brown b: 15 Dec 1836 Liberty, Amite, MS
……….. 2 Martha M. Brown b: 15 Dec 1836 Liberty, Amite, MS, d: Unknown
……….. 2 Adeline V. Brown b: 1840 Liberty, Amite, MS, d: Unknown
……….. 2 James P. Brown b: 1844 Liberty, Amite, MS, d: 1862 LA
Selected Sources:
- 1850 US Census, Amite, MS
- Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Amite County, Mississippi. Deluxe. Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Publishing Co., 2006.
- Criminger, Adrianne Fortenberry. The Fortenberry Families of Southern Mississippi with Early Records Concerning the Faulkenberry/Fortenberry Families of the South. Easley, South Carolina: Southern Historical Press, Inc., 1984.
- Interviews with family members, family trees, groups sheets and other information from family members.
- MS State and Territorial Census Collection, 1792 – 1866, microfilm V229.1; ancestry.com; Edward S Brown in Amite Co 1845 & 1853.
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