DNA Testing for the Purpose of Determining the

Ancestry of Benjamin Brown of Townsend, MA

“The History of New Ipswich, NH” by Charles Chandler stated that Benjamin Brown, who married Azubah Searle and lived in Townsend, MA, was born in Coventry, CT on Feb. 1, 1787 although no vital record of his birth has been found. Also stated was that Benjamin Brown and Jerusha Edwards were his parents and Joshua Brown and Prudence Welch were his grandparents. Records show that Joshua is the great-grandson of Richard Browne who came to MA in 1633/4. Y-chromosome DNA analysis is being used in an effort to substantiate the ancestry of Benjamin of Townsend. So far, the DNA results have not yielded a conclusive affirmative answer but did not reject the stated ancestral linkage.

My 37 marker DNA was assessed early in 2007 but did not come close to matching any other Brown in the Brown data base at www.BrownSociety.org. I began a search to find another living male Brown descended from an ancestor prior to Joshua. Some were listed in “Descendants of Walston Browne.” Kerry Kellermeyer, a Brown descendant, was able to supply the address of Gene “Scott” Brown. According to available information Scott and I are related through Tristram Brown, Joshua's grandfather, who is 8 generations back for Scott and nine for me. Scott agreed to a 25 marker test. I owe a big thank you to Scott and Kerry for their help.

A comparison of Scott's and my 25 markers were disappointing at first. These are the four markers with different values:

392 458 464b 464c

Scott 14 18 14 17

Bob 13 19 15 16.

This result was discussed in a series of emails with Jim Brown, Project Co-Administrator Brown/Browne/Braun DNA Study, and Colleen Fitzpatrick, co-author with Andrew Yeiser of “DNA & Genealogy.” Both had similar opinions that Scott and I are likely related but the DNA results do not prove that our most recent common ancestor was Tristram. Jim has created a new group 71 with Scott and I as members on the BrownSociety.org website.

Establishing an ancestral relationship using DNA is statistically based. Depending on the assumptions made, a probability is computed. In this particular case the probability of Scott and I being related through Tristram is somewhat low, perhaps on the order of 10%but that does not reject the relationship possibility. Perhaps we are related through an earlier Brown and the available information is incorrect. Tristram's stated ancestral line is Joshua, Richard, Joseph, and Walston (born in England in 1568).

Robert F. Brown

9-9-07

Y-DNA to Help Determine the Ancestry

of Benjamin Brown of Townsend, MA

(updated, 8-5-08)

“The History of New Ipswich, NH” by Charles Chandler stated that Benjamin Brown, who married Azubah Searle and lived in Townsend, MA, was born in Coventry, CT on Feb. 1, 1787 although no vital record of his birth has been found. Also stated was that Benjamin Brown and Jerusha Edwards were his parents and Joshua Brown and Prudence Welch were his grandparents. Other genealogical records state that Joshua is the great-great-grandson of Richard Browne who came to MA in 1633/4. Y-chromosome DNA analysis is being used to provide more information about the ancestry of Benjamin Brown of Townsend.

Y-DNA for 37 markers has been assessed for four descendants of three sons of Tristram Brown who was born in Newbury, MA in 1672. According to various genealogical sources these four men descend from three sons of Tristram Brown b. Dec 21, 1672 Newbury, MA (grandson of immigrant Richard Browne). Scott descends from Richard Brown b. Oct. 22, 1720 Norwich, CT per “Descendants of Walston Browne” at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/4897/brown.html. Alanson descends from Tristram Brown b. Mar. 17, 1702 Newbury, MA per “The Genealogy and History of the Brown/Browne Family of Granville, NY and Granville, WI” by Cynthia Ingalls Brown. Frank and Robert (son of Frank) descend from Joshua Brown b. Mar 27, 1704 Newbury, MA per “The History of New Ipswich, NH” by Charles Chandler.

The included table lists the y-DNA values for the four men compared to modal values which are the most likely values of our most recent common ancestor (MRCA) who is believed to be Tristram Brown. The marker values in red are the values which differ from the modal values. Alanson has one difference, Frank and Robert have two differences and Scott has four differences. The 464 series is not well understood and sometimes ignored. If ignored, the differences of Scott, Frank and Robert are reduced by one.

Scott was the first Brown found who was likely to be related to Robert based on genealogical records. The y-DNA comparison was somewhat disappointing. Scott and Robert matched far better than any other Browns in the BrownSociety.org database but the number of differences suggested that the MRCA would have to be a number of generations back in time from Tristram Brown. So the search went on and Alanson was found. Fortunately, his y-DNA results were a better match with Robert's. My personal opinion is that the genealogical records are correct for Alanson and Robert in that they descend from Tristram Brown. I believe that Scott's descent is also likely from Tristram even though the number of mismatches is on the high side. This is a very gratifying result since the ancestry of Benjamin Brown of Townsend, MA is likely established with a high probability.

A valuable outcome of this study is that research of the Richard Browne line can be continued with some confidence that the effort is not being wasted on the wrong line.

Robert F. Brown robert_b_45011@hotmail.com