ROBERT BROWNELL was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1576. He was the son of Thomas Brownell and Margaret Gilbert-Hayse. Thomas was born about 1535 and Margaret was born about 1539. They were married on October 20, 1560, and Robert was the second of three sons. Robert married MARY WILSON and lived in Sandal Magna Parish, Agbrigg Waberntake, Yorkshire. Their youngest son Thomas is the ancestor of all the American Brownells.
THOMAS BROWNELL was baptized on June 5, 1608, at Rawmarsh Parish, Yorkshire, and married ANNE BOURNE on March 20, 1637. She was the daughter of Richard Bourne and Judith Cowper. Richard Bourne was a grocer in London and died March 11, 1632. Ann was born in London and baptized on February 15, 1606, at the Parish of St. Michael Cornhill in London. Thomas Brownell died September 24, 1664, at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, as a result of running into a tree while riding a horse.
Thomas and Anne lived for a time in London in St. Mary Cole Parish. In 1638 they sailed from London to America on the ship WHALE. They arrived at Braintree, MA, and then went on to settle at Portsmouth, RI.
The date of Anne Bourne Brownell's death is not known, but the Court of Tryalls of Newport stated on October 24, 1666, that "Anne Brownell, Widow of Thomas, was prohibited from marrying one William Long." Anne and Thomas are both buried in the Brownell Cemetery in Portsmouth. They had nine children, of which Thomas Jr was the sixth.
THOMAS BROWNELL JR was born in 1650 at Portsmouth, RI, and died May 18, 1732, at Little Compton, RI. In 1678 he married MARY PEARCE, daughter of Richard Pearce and Susannah Wright. Mary was born May 6, 1654 in Portsmouth, RI, and died May 4, 1736, in Little Compton.
Thomas Brownell Jr was one of the early settlers of Little Compton, which was originally called by the Indian name of Sakonet, meaning "Haunt of the Wild Goose." The township was a part of Massachusetts until 1747 when the boundary line between the two states was changed and Little Compton became a part of Rhode Island.
Thomas Jr did not hold any public office during his lifetime, but he did accumulate the largest fortune of any of his brothers. Whether he made his money by buying and selling land, or by means of his large, well-stocked farm, is not known. However, included in the inventory of his estate taken after his death were two Negro slaves (slavery still existing in New England at that time).
Thomas and Mary Brownell are buried in the Brownell Cemetery at Portsmouth. They had five sons and one daughter, and George was the third son and child.
LIEUTENANT GEORGE BROWNELL was born January 19, 1685, at Little Compton and died September 22, 1756, at Westport Harbor, MA. His first wife was MARY THURSTON, whom he married on July 6, 1706. She was the daughter of Jonathan and Sarah Thurston, and was born March 20, 1685 in Little Compton, and died February 23, 1740, at Westport Harbor, MA. George's second wife was Comfort Taylor.
Not much is known about George. He must have been in the military to have a rank of Lieutenant. By the time of his death he had accumulated a small fortune, including a Rome mare, 200 Spanish dollars, a silver sword, and sizeable real estate. George and Mary had nine children (he had oe more with Comfort), and Stephen was their youngest.
STEPHEN BROWNELL was born November 29, 1726, in Little Compton, and died 1785 also in Little Compton. His first wife was EDITH WILBOR, whom he married January 5, 1747. She was the daughter of William Wilbor and Jane Crandell. Edith was born April 22, 1727, in Little Compton, and died March 14, 1766, in Little Compton. Stephen later married Mary Eldredge.
Once again, not much is known about Stephen except he had much real estate, including land in East Greenwich and a farm in Tiverton. Stephen and Edith had eight children, of which Stephen Jr was the third son and seventh child.
STEPHEN BROWNELL JR was born March 19, 1762, in Little Compton, and died there March 17, 1844, "aged 92 years, 11 months, 25 days." His first wife was Cynthia Wilbor. On December 11, 1803, he married his second wife MARY COGGESHALL in Little Compton, who died in Little Compton on January 3, 1863, "aged 78 years, 7 months, 4 days." She was the daughter of Daniel Coggeshall and Lousanna (Unknown). All attempts to find Daniel's parentage have been futile, but I strongly suspect they are Major John Coggeshall and Amey Dwelley. I base this suspicion on the fact that Stephen and Mary had a child named Dwelley.
Stephen Jr served in the Revolutionary War. I have his pension papers and a copy of his marriage certificate. He and Mary lived on what is now called Maple Avenue on the east side of the road, the place directly facing Nigger Lane as it enters Maple Avenue. They are buried in the Old Commons cemetery. Mary was the mother of all his five children, of which Perry was the third child.
PERRY BROWNELL was born November 9, 1808, in Little Compton, and died July 20, 1885, in New Bedford, MA. On December 24, 1828, he married SUSAN RUSSELL HOWLAND in New Bedford. She was the daughter of Abner Howland and Susan Shearman. Susan died in childbirth April 29, 1838, in New Bedford. See My Other Howlands for more information. Perry later married Sarah Vinal.
JOHN CRANDALL died November 29, 1676, in Newport, RI. His first wife was (UNKNOWN), who died August 1, 1670. His second wife was Hannah Gaylord.
John Crandall lived for a time in Salem, MA, where he was the minister of the Salem Congregational Church. He adopted the opinions of the Baptists and therefore was dismissed by the Congregationalists in 1635. He moved to Providence as early as 1637. In 1669 he was a freeman of Westerly in that part of town which is now Hopkinton, and was an elder of the First Baptist Church of Westerly. He served as deputy to the General Court in 1667/70.
LT SAMUEL CRANDELL was born in 1663 and died May 19, 1736, in Little Compton. He married SARAH CELLEY (COLBY????), who was born in 1666 and died August 3, 1758, in Little Compton. Both are buried in the Old Commons cemetery.
JANE CRANDELL was born August 23, 1692, and died January 20, 1782. In 1712 she married WILLIAM WILBOR.
RICHARD PEARCE, born near Waltham Abbey, Essex County, England, died in Portsmouth, RI, in 1678. He married in Waltham Abbey on May 5, 1642, SUSANNAH WRIGHT, daughter of John Wright and Mary Dell. Susannah was baptized August 5, 1627, in Waltham Abbey, and died in Portsmouth, RI, in 1678.
MARY PEARCE was born May 6, 1654, and died May 4, 1736. In 1678 she married THOMAS BROWNELL JR.
EDWARD THURSTON was born in 1617 and died in Newport, RI, March 1, 1707. He married in June, 1647, ELIZABETH MOTT, daughter of Adam Mott. She was born in 1629 and died September 2, 1694, in Newport.
Edward must have come to this country some time previous to 1647, at least, in order to attend the preliminaries of his marriage, which is the third marriage on the record of the Society of Friends in Newport. He was a freeman in 1655, a commissioner and assistant deputy in 1663 to 1690. On August 26, 1686, he, with others, signed an address from the Quakers of Rhode Island to the King.
JONATHAN THURSTON was born in Newport January 24, 1659, and died in 1740. He married about 1678 SARAH (UNKNOWN). Residence: First Newport, then Little Compton, and finally Dartmouth. He lived on the Main road of Little Compton on the next place north of the Amasa Gray place. He was the appraiser of the estate of John Dye in 1715, and took inventory of that estate in 1728.
MARY THURSTON was born March 20, 1685, and married in Little Compton in July 6, 1706, to LT GEORGE BROWNELL, son of Thomas Jr and Mary Pearce.
I've seen these names spelled all three ways. WILLIAM WILBORE, cousin of Samuel Wilbore of Boston and descendant of John, Joseph, Nicholas, and maybe Thomas Wilbore, was born about 1630 in Braintree, Essex County, England, and died in Portsmouth, RI, in 1710. He married MARTHA (UNKNOWN).
He was called cousin several times in the will of Samuel Wilbore Jr, the son of Samuel Wilbore of Boston, who in turn was born in Braintree, England, the son of Nicholas and Elizabeth Wilbore of Sible Heddingham, Essex County, England, and grandson of Nicholas and Ann Wilbore of Colchester, Essex County, England.
JOSEPH WILBORE was born in Portsmouth in 1656 and died in Little Compton on May 4, 1729. He married in Little Compton on May 4, 1683 ANNE BROWNELL, daughter of Thomas and Anne (Bourne) Brownell. Ann was born in Portsmouth in 1654 and died in Little Compton April 2, 1747.
WILLIAM WILBORE was born in Little Compton March 25, 1686, and died there April 7, 1775. He married in Little Compton in 1712 JANE CRANDELL, who was born in Little Compton August 23, 1692, and died there January 20, 1782. Both are buried on his father's homestead in the old cemetery. William's will, which was dated March 27, 1775, mentioned that this was ".....in the 15th year of the reign of King George 3d...."
EDITH WILBOR was born April 22, 1727, and died March 1766. On January 5, 1747, she married STEPHEN BROWNELL. She was actually Edith 2nd since her sister Edith was born July 11, 1725, and died April 28, 1726.
Family history says that the first Lavare came to America with General Lafayette to fight in the Revolutionary War. My first confirmed ancestor was EPAPHRODITUS LAVARE, who, according to his son's death certificate, was born in Williamsburg, Virginia. Research in Williamsburg reveals no Lavares at all. However, there is a family of Lawsons with many named Epaphroditus. Several theories come to mind. Lavare could have been misspelled. Epaphroditus could have been named for a Lawson. Williamsburg might be an error.
How Epaphroditus ended up in Westport, MA, is anyone's guess. He was married in Westport on November 7, 1816, to RHODA MANCHESTER, another name whose ancestry is unknown. Epaphroditus was a whaler who was lost at sea in September, 1825, age 36. This would give his birthdate at circa 1789, and gives creedence to the family history of a Frenchman arriving with Lafayette in 1775. Another twist to this story is that (1) Epaphroditus was buried "in lot with William Vinal", and (2) Epaphroditus was also known as Christopher Luce!!!!! Mrs. Rhoda Lavare went on to marry James Clark of Little Compton on October 10, 1829. No further information is known about her.
WILLIAM TABER LAVARE was born in Westport, MA, on May 31, 1823, and died in an accident in Fairhaven, MA, January 26, 1899. On June 3, 1858, in New Bedford, he married SARAH MARBLE BROWNELL, the only surviving child of Perry Brownell and Susan Russell Howland (see My Other Howlands for more information). Sarah was born September 15, 1831, in New Bedford, and died September 18, 1901, from a crushed skull in a train accident in Avon, MA.
WILLIAM TABER LAVARE JR was born April 26, 1859, in New Bedford, and died January 3, 1947, in Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard. He married ELIZABETH LEWIS in Fairhaven on June 1, 1892. Elizabeth was born December 1, 1861, in Birmingham, England, the daughter of Edwin Lewis and Mary Ann Chinn Hughes. She died November 11, 1949, at Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard.
William Jr was a cabin boy on a whaler out of New Bedford. However, when he returned home he vowed never to go to sea again! He went to work for a "high class" family as a footman. Elizabeth came to the States as a very young woman and went to work for a private school as a governess. She later worked for the same family that had one William Lavare Jr on the payroll. William worked later as manager of a "gentleman's farm." He and Elizabeth married and lived in a nice home on this farm in Norwood, MA. Apparently they stayed there for quite some time because their daughter Mary was married there. This same daughter was born in New Bedford while William was still a footman, or coachman, his occupation listed on her birth certificate.
MARY HUGHES LAVARE was born October 22, 1894, in New Bedford, and died June 29, 1982, in Pinellas Park, Florida. On September 20, 1919, she married KENNETH AINSWORTH FLANDERS of Chilmark, Martha's Vineyard, son of Samuel Howard Flanders and Nancie LIllian Hammett. See Flanders genealogy for further information on Mary and Kenneth.