History of Bucks County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
Names and Page # Index

Mr. BROWN is descended on both maternal and paternal sides from the oldest and most distinguished families of Bucks county. George BROWNE and Mercy his wife, the pioneer ancestors of the family came from Lancashire, England, in 1679, and were married on their arrival at New Castle. They located in Falls township on land surveyed to them under warrant from Edmund ANDROS, governor-general under the Duke of York. This land fronted on the Delaware, above the Manor of Pennsbury, and a part of it has remained in the tenure of the descendents of George and Mercy BROWNE to the present time. He and his wife Mercy were said to have been members of the Established church, but most of their descendants of the third generation became members of the Society of Friends. They had fourteen children.

Joseph BROWN, the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a grandson of George and Mercy BROWNE and supposed to be a son of Joseph and Ann (HIGGS) BROWN. He was born in Falls township, Bucks county, and resided there all his life, dying in 1777. He married, May 27, 1760, Mary HUTCHINSON, eldest child of Joseph and Esther (STANSLAND) HUTCHINSON, and granddaughter of John and Phebe (KIRKBRIDE) HUTCHINSON, and great-granddaughter of Joseph and Phebe (BLACKSHAW) KIRKBRIDE. Many of the descendents of George and Mercy BROWNE became prominent in the affairs of the infant province, and later in that of the state and nation. His son, Samuel, was prominent member of the colonial assembly, as were George and John, sons of Samuel. The former was the grandfather of General Jacob BROWN, of the United States Army. Of Joseph KIRKBRIDE, the distinguished ancestor of the subject of this sketch, it is hardly necessary to state that he was one of the most productive and attractive farms in the neighborhood in the colonial history of Bucks county.

Joseph and Mary (HUTCHINSON) BROWN were the parents of six children: Joseph and Jesse, who died young: Levi, Stacy, Phebe and Letitia. Mary, the mother, died in 1783.

Levi BROWN, eldest surviving son of Joseph and Mary (HUTCHINSON) BROWN, was born in Falls township in the year 1765. On arriving at manhood he located in Buckingham and married Sarah BENNETT, daughter of William Bennett, of Holland and English ancestry. In 1791, while a resident of Buckingham, he purchased in partnership with Joseph HARROLD 150 Acres of land in Plumstead township, but probably never lived on it, as he was a resident of Warwick township, when he joined in its conveyance in 1793. Little is known of his subsequent history.

Stacy BROWN, son of Levi and Sarah (BENNETT) BROWN, was born in Bucks county, November 11, 1796. On December 17, 1826, he married Lenah BEANS, born August 5, 1896, * daughter of Thomas and Christiana (JOHNSON) BEANS, of Warminster, and located at the present site of the village of Brownsburg, Upper Makefield township, Bucks county, of which village he was the founder. He first purchased five acres of land there, but eventually became the owner of over 299 acres in that locality, and was a prominent and successful business man, establishing a store, hotel, sash and blind factory and coal and lumber yard, and doing an extensive and thriving business. He died September 20, 1879, and his wife Lenah on May 3, 1872. They were the parents of five children: Mary, the wife of Albert AGIN; Thomas B.; William B.; Sara, the first wife of the late Dr. J. P. AGNEW; and Harriet S., who never married.

William B. BROWN, second son of Stacy and Lenah (BEANS) BROWN, died, 1875, married Hannah HOUGH, daughter of Samuel Moore HOUGH, of Newtown, and granddaughter of Benjamin and Hannah (SIMPSON) HOUGH, of Warrington, and a descendant of Richard HOUGH, provincial councillor, (sic) an extended account of whose descendants is given in this volume. The children of William B. and Hannah (HOUGH) BROWN, were: Stacy, the subject of this sketch; Nellie, the wife of William HICKS, of Newtown; and Lizzie, who died in infancy.

Stacy BROWN was educated at the State Normal School at Trenton, New Jersey, and the First Pennsylvania State Normal School, Millersville, Pennsylvania. After a few years employment as clerk in a mercantile establishment he purchased the Thomas BETTS farm in Upper Makefield near Brownsburg on which he resided for about five years, and then removed to Newtown, where he has been engaged in the undertaking business with his brother-in-law, William HICKS, under the firm name of BROWN & HICKS. He married Lavinia, daughter of Dr. Howard and Kate (SMITH) TREGO, of Newtown, and they are the parents of two children – Ellen and Catharine.

*poss. 1796 not 1896

Test taken from page 352-353 of:

Davis, William W. H., A.M., History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III

Published June 2002 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/