George Brown

George Brown was probably the son of William Brown of Boston and his wife Elizabeth Ruggles, daughter of George Ruggles of Braintree; William's widow later married John Rogers of Billerica, who named her children George and Mary in his will. George took the oath of fidelity at Billerica with eighteen others on May 18, 1685, and on January 30, 1689/90 he married Sarah Kidder, daughter of Sergeant James Kidder. They settled in the east part of the town, toward the Shawshin River; as late as 1733 a deed for land there names "Capt. George Brown" as the neighbor on the north.

Brown rose through the militia and the town offices together. In December 1714 the town paid "sargt Brown" for his work as assessor; by 1718 the record calls him lieutenant, and by 1733 captain. He was a selectman for sixteen years between 1710 and 1729, and the town sent him as its Representative to the General Court in 1716 and 1717, from 1721 to 1724, and in 1727, seven sessions in all. In the tax list of 1733, the first the town clerk entered in the records, Capt. George Brown stands on the south list with a minister's rate of twelve shillings tenpence.

His wife Sarah died on February 27, 1717/18, aged 50. Their children were Joseph, who settled beyond the Shawshin in what became Tewksbury; Elizabeth, who married Oliver Whiting; Josiah; William; Samuel, later a lieutenant and selectman; Ephraim, who lived in Townsend; Dorothy, who married Samuel Crosby; and Sarah, who in 1741 became the second wife of Jacob French. Several others died young, among them the twins Mary and James in 1698, the twins John and Thomas in 1699, and a daughter Sarah in 1704. Captain Brown died on September 28, 1738, aged 71, and was buried in the Old South Burying Ground.

References

1. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 18: George Brown (no. 3), parentage, oath of fidelity 1685, marriage to Sarah Kidder, children, death
2. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 191: list of those taking the oath of fidelity, May 18, 1685, including George Browne
3. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 201: town rate of Dec. 9, 1714, payment "to sargt Brown as assessor"
4. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 203: 1733 tax list, Capt. George Brown on the south list
5. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 304: list of representatives (George Brown 1716-17, 1721-24, 1727)
6. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 306: list of selectmen (George Brown, 16 years, 1710-1729)
7. Vital Records of Billerica (1908), deaths p. 346: George Brown, Capt., Sept. 28, 1738, aged 71 (gravestone, Old South Cemetery)
8. Vital Records of Billerica (1908), deaths p. 347: Sarah, wife of Lt. George Brown, Feb. 27, 1717-18, aged 50; twin sons 1699
9. Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 57: Jacob French (no. 12) married 1741 Sarah Brown, daughter of George