Catherine Thomas (Semple) Brown (1791 - 1867)

Born Dec 1791 in Waterford, Loudoun, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Wife of John Doggett Brown — married 10 Aug 1812 in Waterford, Loudoun, Virginia, United States

Descendants

Died 24 Nov 1867 at age 75 in Alexandria, Virginia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Virginia Project WikiTree [send private message] and Edwin Donaldson [send private message]

This profile is managed by the Virginia Project. Join: Virginia Project Discuss: Virginia

Biography

Kitty (Semple) Brown has English ancestors.

Kitty (Semple) Brown has Scottish Ancestors.

Kitty (Semple) Brown has French origins.

Kitty was a Friend (Quaker)

Katherine was born in Dec 1791.^[1][2] Her mother died when she was a small child. Her father, James, born in Scotland in 1725, was at least 40 years older than her mother. His father, Robert, was the 6th Lord of Beltrees but earlier generations had backed the House of Stewart during the War of the Three Kingdoms and the penalties and taxes imposed eventually led to the sale of the Beltrees estate around 1678 retaining only a portion so as to continue the title. The financial troubles did not end there and Robert sold even the remaining land holdings in 1758 making the title dormant.

Robert had been a sailor before his marriage and after the sale of the remaining estate, James at first tried his hand at establishing a brewery in Edinburgh but abondoned the effort by 1765 (his brother continued the enterprise with notable success) and followed in his father's footsteps as a sailor where he spent most of his years in the Caribbean and even had farm on the island of Bequai. One of his voyages took him to Philadelphia and joined the Society of Friends (Quakers), in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

One of the Quakers in Bucks County, Amos Janney, had moved to Loudoun County, Virginia in 1730 founding Janney's Mill and over the next 50 years many other Quakers from Bucks County and other counties in Pennsylvania followed. In 1780, Thomas Moore, a Quaker who was born in Waterford, Ireland, moved his extended family from Pennsylvania to Janney's Mill eventually renaming the village after his birthplace.

It is not clear when Catherine's father moved to Waterford, but it seems that her mother, Sarah Jane Dorrell, was likely born there. Sarah's mother,Catherine (Blinstone) Dorrell Thomas , had emigrated from England in 1764. She had been convicted of being a spinster and was sent in bondage to America where she married Sarah's father who had also been sent to America in bondage.

The contrast between Catherine's parents is notable . . . One was 66 years old and had parents of noble birth while the other was about 24 years old and had parents who had been convicted in court and bonded to America. It was not that uncommon to see a young woman with limited resources marry a much older man.

in any case, Sarah died when Catherine was an infant (circa 1793) and James did not see fit to remain and care for young children. He was last known to be in Virginia in 1794 but shortly after and certainly by 1798 he was in St. Vincent in the Carribbean leaving Catherine, who was still quite young, in the care of a Quaker brother and sister, Joshua and Sarah Baker, who adopted her. They, of course, reared her in the Quaker faith.

At the time of her marriage to John Doggett Brown^[3][4] he had never "gone in the meeting" (he did afterwards) so she went across the street where the ceremony was performed by a "hireling preacher." The wedding supper was in her girlhood home Waterford, 12 miles from Leesburg, it has unusually steep hills. In the old part are quaint stone houses. The "Meeting House" is stone and while very old, looks new!

During the War of 1812 they lived in Leesburg. In 1814, her husband John joined in the fight against the British, and served for the remainder of the year. Meanwhile, Leesburg, became the de facto U.S. Capital when the British, under the command of her fourth cousin Alexander Cochrane GCB, burned Washington on 24 Aug 1814. While John was away at war, Catherine cared for soldiers.^[5]

Catherine's adopted 'mother' married a Quaker from England named William Yates(Yeates) on 6 Apr 1814. It was the second marriage for both,^[6] In 1818, William Yates purchased the farm 'Spring Gardens,' which included the 'Spring Gardens Tavern' where George Washington lunched on 4 Jul 1789. The farm was renamed 'Yates Gardens' and remained in their possession until the death of their son William Yates, Jr in 1849.^[7] Catherine and her husband John followed the Yates family to Alexandria staying with them at Yates Gardens until they found their own home, except for their daughter, Sarah, who remained with 'Grandma Yate' until she was 9.^[8]

After the death of Sarah (Baker) Yates in 1826, they continued to be close to her brother Joshua Baker with Joshua passing away at the home of John and Catherine in 1843.^[9]

Catherine was quite industrious. It was already noted how she aided soldiers during the War of 1812, In Alexandria, she kept a cow and raised pigs and chickens to help support the family. She was said to be "the dearest, sweetest little body, short and stout and smoked a pipe. Not only did shy pay her hired help well, but gave them vegetables." She died on 24 Nov 1867 and her husband joined her two weeks later.

Research Notes

• US Census of 1850^[1] implies birth year of 1795 and the 1860 census^[2] implies 1794. If the 1840 census for John Brown is for John Doggett Brown, then the age listed there was between 40-49 (1791-1800). DAR records give a month (December) and year range (1790-93). Notes from Regina Davis claim the year of birth was 1791 and that she was 21 years old when she married in 1812.

• VA Marriages shows maiden name is 'Sample'

• Names of children sometimes are related to blood relatives, sometimes to other kin, and sometimes just political in nature. We see for instance that William was given the middle name of 'Baker' and it was the Joshua and Sarah Baker who adopted her after the death of her parents. We can also see that Henry was named after Henry Clay the Speaker of the House from Kentucky (a man who fought against the principles of liberty as espoused in the Revolutionary War a fact important in that it so angered her father-in-law, who fought in that war, to have a child named after the Speaker). For the other seven children, one can see that some of the first and middle names could be attributed to grandparents: both Lucy and Mary could be in honor of Lucy Mary Doggett, Elizabeth could be Elizabeth Brown, Sarah for Sarah Dorrell. Four of the middle names seem to be linked to surnames, 'Baker' has already been mentioned but we also see 'Phillips,' 'Stevens,' and 'Fenton,'

• Because her father's noble line in Renfrewshire, Scotland was intimate with the Hamilton clan (sometimes intermarrying and sometimes doing pitched battle), she was the third cousin of Alexander Hamilton (and her father was second cousin once removed). It would be interesting to learn whether there had been any contact.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M881-99W : 9 November 2014), John Brown, Fairfax county, Fairfax, Virginia, United States; citing family 50, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M417-CSL : 30 December 2015), Cath Brown, 1860.
3. ↑ "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR87-FY6 : 5 December 2014), John Brown and Catherine Sample, 10 Aug 1812; citing Loudoun, Virginia, reference P48 of 121; FHL microfilm 32,373
4. ↑ "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XRVD-5M4 : 5 December 2014), John Brown and Catherine Sample, 10 Aug 1812; citing Loudoun Co., Va, reference 2:3Z27Q7H; FHL microfilm 32,373.
5. ↑ One soldier wrote her:
   Dear friend:""
   
   May the ardent undying love and intrest [sic] that you have ever manifested for our Glorious Republic and preservation of its Constitution adorn the pages of its History and prove to be the formation of a long life of Happiness, is the sincere wish of,
   
   Yours truly,
   J.F. Reynolds
6. ↑ Sarah married Patrick Cavan on 1 Mar 1798 in Loudoun. He died before 1810. William had married Elizabeth in Warwickshire, England. They had a son in 1786 named William. Elizabeth died around 1804.
7. ↑ Alexandria Times, 14 Aug 2017
   Alexandria Times, 16 Jun 2016
8. ↑ Sarah Brown turned 9 in 1926. Sarah (Baker) Yates died on 19 Aug 1826 and her husband died in Brooklyn, NY on 6 Sep 1826.
9. ↑ "Died on the 19th inst [1843], at the residence of John Brown, West End, Fairfax County, Va., Joshua Baker, about 77 years of age, a respectable member of the Society of Friends."

See also:

• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 26 Dec. 2018), "Record of Private John Brown", Ancestor # A015647.