James Brown | Pearse Family Connections

Very little is known about the family of James Brown (ca. 1802-1867) outside of his children and his second wife, Rachel Pearse. (Note on spelling: earlier records typically used a Pearse/Pearce spelling; later records typically used a Pierce spelling)

A rough outline of Brown’s life can be reconstructed through census records and his daughter’s obituary. Elizabeth Anderson died in 1886 in Greenwood County, Kansas and her obituary outlines her birth in Virginia (consistent with the birthplace provided for James in the 1850 & 1860 census), the family migration to Ohio in 1826 and later to Fulton County, Illinois in 1841.

Belmont County, Ohio has been identified as the county of residence for the family from the birthplaces listed for Thomas J Brown and William Brown, the sons of James and Rachel Brown. They mustered into the 84th Illinois Infantry during the Civil War and both list LLoydsville, Belmont County, Ohio as their birthplace.

Pearse Family

An 1832 marriage record for James Brown and Rachel Pearse exists for Belmont County, Ohio, suggesting that his first wife died after the 1830 census and prior to 1832. Rachel Pearse, James’ second wife, was born around 1810 according to the US Federal Census records from 1850-1880; she would have been 22 when she became the wife of James and stepmother to the Brown children. The census records from 1850-1870 provide her birthplace as Ohio, while the 1880 census provides her birthplace as Maryland.

A decade later, in 1842, Josiah T Pierce married Nancy Craig in Belmont County, Ohio, one year after the Brown family left Belmont and migrated to Fulton County, Illinois. Like the Brown family, Pearce and his family migrate to Fulton County from Belmont County.

Josiah and his family disappear from the census records until 1860, when he is living in Astoria Township, Fulton County, Illinois, the same township as the Browns. His family is enumerated as Dwelling Number 2562, which is likely in the vicinity of Devine and Elizabeth Anderson, James Brown’s daughter, who are enumerated at Dwelling Number 2557 while James Brown is enumerated at 2381.

The dwelling numbers for the 1860 Census allows us to tentatively place the Brown, Anderson and Pearce Family on the 1871 Plat Map for Astoria Township, Fulton County, Illinois (historicmapworks.com). The red numbers of the map reference the Dwelling Numbers for the Head of Households in the 1860 census.

Devine Anderson, enumerated as DN 2557, is likely living in the vicinity of the land marked with Rachel Brown’s name on the 1871 map (the land could have been sold to the Brown family when the Anderson family left in 1866 or the Andersons lived on her father’s land).

James Brown, enumerated as DN 2381, is likely living in the vicinity of the grist mill marked southwest of the Astoria Town. History of Fulton County, Illinois recorded James Brown as one of the first operators of the saw and gristmill of Astoria who operated it for about 12 years. In 1867, when Brown died visiting Greenwood County and his daughter, he left behind an estate lumber that was sold to pay off his debts. The Fulton County probate records the value of the lumber as $795.

Josiah Pearce, enumerated as DN 2562 would likely have been north of the Devine Anderson household in the southeast quarter of Section 2.

There is an additional piece of documentary evidence that suggests that Josiah Pearce and Rachel Pearse were relatives beyond the geographic reasons (i.e., same path from Belmont County to Fulton County and close proximity in the 1860 Census).

1860 Census and later

In 1860, Thomas Brown appears in the US Census twice. He appears with his father and mother and siblings in the James Brown household at DN 2381, as a twenty-six year old farmer. He is also enumerated in the Josiah Pearce household at DN 2562 as T. J. Brown as a twenty-seven year old farmer. His birthplace is consistently given as Ohio and the initials T. J. are consistent with Thomas Brown in other documents, namely the 1850 Census and his Civil War pension for his service in Company F of the 84th Illinois Infantry, both of which lists his name as Thomas J.

After 1860, Josiah T Pearce is not identified in the census again. Many of his children (Narcissa, Tabitha, Mary E) marry in the late 1860s and move out of Illinois. Narcissa and her husband, Lewis Purnell, moved to Vernon County, Missouri and were enumerated there in the 1870 Census with Minnie Pierce. By 1880, Minnie Pierce has moved back to Fulton County and is living near Rachel Brown (DN 225) and Swepston Brown (DN 226), working as a servant in a nearby household (DN 222). Tabitha (Pearce) Armour had also returned to Fulton County after migrating with her husband to Michigan and Missouri by 1880, living near Woodson Brown.