David Brown is one of my brick walls.  I have almost nothing on this ancestor of my husband’s maternal grandmother; in fact, I think I only have two references to him.  Because there is so little to go on, I periodically plow through the early 19th century Browns of Southeastern Pennsylvania.  David Brown is supposed to be the father of John Jacob Jackson Brown and his sister Rachel White Brown Taylor. (Yes, Rachel Brown’s middle name really was White.) Their mother was Catherine – last name unknown.

Marriage of Jacob Brown and Mary Ann Gross

Death Record for Rachel White Brown Taylor

It is a tenuous thread that ties together Jacob, a.k.a. Jackson, Brown (line 12) with his mother Catherine Brown (line 1) in the 1850 U.S. census for Salisbury, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  They are in adjacent households.  Catherine is identified as having been born in Germany, and this is the only clue to date as to her ethnicity.  There is a 16-year-old in the same home – presumably another son named Henry (line 2), but I cannot confirm the relationship, because I cannot identify Henry Brown in any other records.  The absence of David Brown suggests that he is deceased, but there is no proof; he could just be absent.

1850 Salisbury, Lancaster County, PA, Census

Assuming that David Brown was at least 18 when Jacob was born, I am looking for an individual born before 1812. He is probably not likely to have been born before 1770.  That is a fairly broad window…too broad for my comfort level.

If I jump back to the 1840 census, there are 10 David Browns in Lancaster and Chester counties to be considered.  There is no clear winner as my husband’s ancestor.  The one closest to Salisbury, Lancaster County is the David Brown of West Caln in Chester County, PA. Unfortunately, the age of the older female is not a good fit for Catherine. In 1830, the David Brown from Sadsbury is likely the same one as the David Brown from West Caln in 1840; but again, there is too little data.

At one point, I decided to take a different tack.  I isolated and explored all of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Brown ancestors of my mother-in-law’s DNA matches. There were some promising leads, but for all my plowing, I was unable to harvest a David Brown.  The problem is that my mother-in-law has so many Colonial ancestors that she usually has a number of common surnames with her matches.

All of my evidence for David Brown is indirect.  I feel like I am plowing crooked furrows. At this point, I am exhausted and I must say goodnight to David Brown, even if I am not finished tilling!