THE BROWN FAMILY
of
THE SAND HILLS
CAMDEN COUNTY, GEORGIA
Marguerite Marreé Evans Mathews: Owner/Copyright 1999
e-mail: mmevans@worldnet.att.net
Brown History
Warrant for Land
Descendants of Hugh Brown
Junior & Elizabeth Dean
BROWN HISTORY
*HUGH BROWN SENIOR*
*HUGH BROWN JUNIOR*
Virginia, South Carolina, East Florida, Camden County, Georgia
Hugh Brown Senior, born in Virginia about 1749, was the son of Robert Brown. The family moved to South Carolina,
although the exact date is not known. Deed records show that they owned land in Craven and Berkeley counties. During
the Revolutionary period, Hugh Brown Senior was among those living in District Ninety-Six who chose to remain sympathetic
to the British Crown (History of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, by A. S. Salley Jr., Orangeburg: R.
Lewis Berry 1898). This decision resulted in: The confiscation of his estate; and, banishment from the state (Biographical
Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution with An Historical Essay, by Lorenzo Sabine, Boston: Little,
Brown & Co. 1864). He left Charleston for St. Augustine in British East Florida. However, the British were
defeated by the American colonists and their occupation in East Florida was about to come to a close. Florida was
ceded back to Spain, thus the beginning of the Second Spanish period (East Florida 1783-1785: A File of Documents
Assembled and Many of Them Translated, by Joseph B. Lockey, Berkeley: U of CA Press 1949). Spain issued an
ultimatum, notifying all residents to leave Florida or remain loyal to Spain and embrace the Catholic religion.
Hugh (Hugo) Brown, his wife and four unnamed children, were listed on the first Spanish Census taken in 1784 (East
FL Papers). By 1786, he was in Camden County, Georgia, and had applied for five hundred acres of land near the
Satilla River in what is now known as the Sand Hills area (Brown History & Lineage, by Marguerite Marreé
Mathews 1996). He was among the early settlers of Camden County and became a prominent leader: Voted in the first
election on record held at the town of St. Patrick; elected to the General Assembly; was Justice of the Peace;
was one of five men commissioned by the Legislature to buy land and erect the Courthouse at the town of Jeffersonton;
was a member of the Coleraine Troop of Horse stationed at Burnt Fort; was commissioned Capt. 4th Militia Dist.;
owned parcels of property throughout Camden County; cultivated a rice plantation at Brown's Ferry (now Owen's Ferry)
on the Satilla River.
Hugh Brown Junior, born (1788-1851) in Camden County, Georgia {CCG}, was the son of Hugh Brown Sr. & Sarah
(last name unknown). He probably had siblings, but nothing absolutely confirms affiliation with other Browns on
county records. Hugh Brown Jr. served as a member of the House of Representatives, which met at Georgia's capital
(then) Milledgeville (A History of Georgia, by Kenneth Coleman, Athens: U of GA Press 1991). While there,
he met and married Elizabeth Dean (Baldwin Co., GA Record Book A). She was born (1796-1861) in Baldwin Co., the
daughter of William Dean and Jane Sessions. Hugh Brown Jr. acquired land holdings of considerable portion in the
Sand Hills area, becoming a prosperous planter (Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, by Judge Folks Huxford).
He served during the War of 1812; was a Major of the 8th Battalion in Camden County. Throughout his life, he remained
active in the political arena: Justice of Inferior Court; Sheriff; Representative from Camden County; State Senator.
"He was a man of great intellect and became one of the most prominent citizens of the county. He has the honor
of having represented the county longer in the legislature than any other man" (History of Camden County,
Georgia, by James T. Vocelle, Camden Printing Co. 1989 reprint). Both he and his wife are buried in Burnt Fort
Cemetery in Camden County, Georgia.
WARRANT for LAND
In 1829, Hugh Brown Junior received 311 acres of "Pine & Swamp Land" in the Sand Hills of Camden
County. It was bordered by land belonging to Stephen Eliott, William Brown, Basil Low, Mills Drury, J. Sheffield,
E. Parrish and more of Hugh Brown's land; it was surrounded by cypress, pines and live oak; contained an alagator
[sic] Pond; and, a portion of the Post Road ran through the angled-shaped southern tip (Camden County Georgia
Land Plat Book F 1816-1837, p. 158 - in the Bryan-Lang Historical Library, Woodbine, GA).

BROWN LINEAGE
*CHILDREN
OF HUGH BROWN JR. & ELIZABETH DEAN:*
- JANE DEAN BROWN b. 19 Jan. 1817 Camden Co., GA; m. JACOB TAPLEY
GOODBREAD (1811-1869) on 18 Oct. 1832 (CCG Marr. Book B p. 13) - 12 kids. Abt.1832/1834 he built a two-story
house located in Midriver (The Goodbread House, said to be haunted by the ghost of a doctor who was shot to death
on the front porch; was purchased in 1914 by Phillip Cato Brown, son of William Dean Brown - locals call this The
Brown House = demolished as of May 1999). He was sheriff in CCG when he was ordered to hang a man he believed was
innocent; in 1842 fam. moved to Columbia Co., FL; they founded Corinth Methodist Episc. Church. She d. 11 June
1861; both bur.Corinth Methodist Ch. Cem. Columbia Co., FL.
- Hugh Brown Goodbread (1833-1853 FL) never m.
- Phillip Goodbread (1835-?) m. Elizabeth Ann Parrish
- Adam Souder Goodbread (1836-1842-bur. Burnt Ft. Cem. CCG-oldest marked grave)
- America Goodbread (1837-1912 FL) m. John Vincent Brown
- John Houston Goodbread (1841-1853 FL)
- Pernelia Gray Goodbread (1842-?) m. Joseph D. Watts
- Elizabeth Brown Goodbread (1844-1906 FL) m. John P. B. Goodbread
- Jacob Tex Goodbread (1847-1887 FL) m. Josephine Parrish
- Missouri Jane Goodbread (1848-1909) m. William F. Parrish
- Georgia Vincent Goodbread (1850-?) m. A. S. Farnell
- Augustus Session Goodbread (1851-1916 FL) m. Nancy Smith; 2nd Nettie Moore
- Kansas Goodbread (1853-?)
- WILLIAM DEAN BROWN b. 23 Oct. 1818 in CCG; m. HATTIE C. HOLLAND
(1829-aft. 1900) - 9 kids all b. CCG. He was Adm. for estate of Hugh Brown Jr.; built a large house in the Sand
Hills at Burnt Fort nr. the Satilla River; was Justice of Peace; during Civil War was a Private in CCG Chasseurs;
d. 16 July 1873; bur. Burnt Fort Cem. CCG. She m. 2nd David Higginbotham in 1883 - no issue.
- Marietta Virginia Brown (1854-1932 FL) m. Robert Wiley Surrency
- James D. Brown (1857-?)
- Georgia Ophelia Brown (1858-?) m. Jake Stokes
- John Houston Brown (1859-1937 Brunswick) m. Mary Rebecca "Minkie" Godley
- Mary Ann Brown (1861-?) m. Silas?
- Frances "Fanny" Dean Brown (1864-1923 Burnt Ft. Cem.) m. Francis Joseph Hopkins
- Phillip Cato Brown (1866-1934 Burnt Ft. Cem.) m. Allie Agnes Readdick
- Hattie Olivia Brown (1868-?)
- William D. Brown (1871-?)
- HUGH BROWN III b. 07 Dec. 1820 CCG; m. THERESA ANN JONES
(1837-1882) on 28 Oct. 1851 in Lake City, FL - 9 kids - first four b. CCG. He owned land in Brown's Dist. in CCG;
soldier in Civil War; in 1860's fam. moved to Columbia Co. FL; d. 19 Jan. 1880; both bur. Oak Lawn Cem. Lake City,
FL.
- Sarah Jane Brown (1851-1880 FL) m. Roy L. Taylor
- Hugh Brown IV (1857-?)
- George W. Brown (1858-?)
- John Collier Brown (1859-1931 FL) m. 1st Mary McKinlay; 2nd Margery McGinnis
- James A. Brown (1862-?) never m.
- Elizabeth Dean Brown (1866-1906 FL) m. John Quincy Adams
- Phillip R. Brown (1869-?)
- William C. Brown (1872-?)
- Mary V. Brown (1875-?)
- JOHN HOUSTON BROWN b. 23 Sept. 1822 CCG; never m.; Rep. CCG in State Legislature;
d. 18 Dec. 1886; bur. Burnt Fort Cem. CCG.
- SARAH ELIZABETH BROWN b. 15 July 1824 CCG; m. NATHANIEL J. PATTERSON
JR. (1818-aft. 1880) on 15 Oct. 1840 (CCG Marr. Bk. B p. 53) - 4 kids all b. CCG; d. 13 June 1846; bur.
Burnt Fort Cem. CCG (2nd oldest grave).
- Eleanor Elizabeth Patterson (1841-1910 FL) m. Jesse Thomas Cooper Sr.
- Annabella J. Patterson (1842-?)
- James Patterson (1844-?)
- Sarah Patterson (1845-?)
- MARY ANN BROWN b. 01 July 1827 CCG; m. NATHANIEL J. PATTERSON
JR. (1818-aft. 1880) on 24 Feb. 1848 (CCG Marr. Bk. B p. 112) - 10 kids all b. CCG. She raised her sister's
kids. He was justice of Inf. Ct.; a CCG Rep. & Senator; owned a rice plantation at Jeffersonton in CCG; served
in the Civil War. Aft. 1870 fam. moved to Hamilton Co., FL; he worked in the turpentine business; was a Rep. in
the Jasper area. She d. (nd); both bur. unmarked graves Jasper, FL.
- T. B. Patterson (1848-?)
- Mary Ann Patterson (1849-?)
- Hugh Brown Patterson (1851-1886)
- Nathaniel John Patterson (1853-1914 FL) m. Sarah J. Smith
- Alexander C. Patterson (1856-?)
- Camden C. Patterson (1858-1937 FL) m. Mary (last name unknown)
- Theodosia Patterson (1861-?)
- Scott D. Patterson (1863-?)
- Virginia A. Patterson (1865-?)
- Elizabeth D. Patterson (1868-?)
- JAMES DAVID BROWN b. 18 July 1831 CCG; m. 1st MARY POPE GODLEY
(nd for birth or death-presumably bur. Burnt Fort Cem.) - 4 kids all b. CCG. He m. 2nd CLARA
ANN GELZER (1854 SC-1919 FL) on 11 Aug. 1872 (CCG Marr. Bk. B p. 231) - 5 kids all b. CCG. He owned
property in Midriver in the Sand Hills of CCG; was a planter; served during the Civil War; d. 30 April 1888; bur.
Burnt Fort Cem. CCG. In 1898, Clara Ann & her youngest son, Claude, took the train out of Woodbine, GA to Miami,
FL (her four older children had moved there). She is bur. at City Cem. Miami, FL.
- Hugh Crawford Brown (1859-1938 FL) m. Alice Charlotte Gelzer (sister of Clara Ann)
- William Weston Brown (1865-1920 Ware Co. GA) m. Mary Alice Frances Day
- Nathaniel Brown (1866-?)
- John Pope Brown (1868-1908 Lumpkin Co. GA) m. Birdie Meaders
- Annie Marion Brown (1874-1940 FL) m. Edwin Newton King
- James Bedell Brown (1876-1951 FL) m. Harriett Guild Richardson
- Frank Hopkins Brown (1878-1954 FL) m. Marguerite Jule Pacetti
- Mary Alice Brown (1880-1970 FL) m. Edgar Cooper Gaunt
- Claude Eugene Brown (1887-1971 FL) m. Edna Earl Cheves
- GEORGIA BROWN b. 18 May 1834 CCG; m. ANDREW JACK READDICK
(1828-1900) on 28 Feb. 1854 (CCG Marr. Bk. B p. 141) - 2 kids b. in CCG; d. bef. 1860 in CCG. He m. 2nd Carolyn
Drury who raised the two children; he was a farmer & is bur. Black Point Cem. CCG.
- Peter Readdick (1855-?)
- Georgia Readdick (1857-?)
- VIRGINIA JANE BROWN b. 18 May 1836 CCG; m. WILLIAM LANG
(1831-1892) - 3 kids b. CCG; d. 08 (13?) Aug. 1860. He lived at Langsbury in CCG; was Justice of Peace; was a planter;
served in Civil War; he m. 2nd Frances Dorinda Grooms. All three bur. Burnt Fort Cem. CCG.
- Jane Virginia Lang (1857-1927) m. Lucius Mahlon Bedell
- Rufus Sumner Lang (1858-1912) m. Beatrice Gertrude DuFour
- William Colton Lang (1860-1906) m. Mary E. Watson
- CRAWFORD PARRISH BROWN b. 09 April 1838 CCG; m. LAURA JANE PARRISH
(1843-1886) on 19 July 1863 (CCG Marr. Bk. B p. 170) - 5 kids - 1st b. in CCG; four b. in FL. Aft. 1866 they moved
to Columbia Co., FL; he served in the Civil War; d. 07 July 1878; both bur. Corinth Methodist Ch. Cem. Columbia
Co., FL.
- John R. Brown (1866-?)
- Henry P. Brown (1870-?)
- Crawford P. Brown (1872-?)
- Mary V. Brown (1874-?)
- Annie Brown (1876-?)