William Brown was born on 2 September 1798, the son of "Elder" William Browne, a Baptist preacher in the Virginia Portsmouth Association. William Brown the younger was twelve years old when his father died in 1810. In 1816, the young man turned eighteen, and he received his share of his father's estate: an enslaved woman named Fanny (who had belonged to Elder Browne) and an enslaved male named David. William also received a horse, saddle, and bridle.
Three years later, on 25 October 1819, William Brown married Mary Bendall in Sussex County, Virginia. Mary was the daughter of Isaac Bendall, and Mary was granddaughter to a wealthy planter named Richard Rose.
Throughout the 1820's and 1830's, things went well for William Brown and Mary Bendall. They had nine children. William eventually owned a 360-acre plantation plus a separate 220-acre tract (which he bought from his wife's grandfather, Richard Rose), and fourteen slaves. By 1827, William Brown was a member of the Raccoon Swamp Baptist Church (where his father had preached years earlier). William agreed to take over the care of the meetinghouse in 1828. He was later on a building committee, and he remained a prominent layperson throughout the 1830's.
Also in the late 1830's, William Brown became a Life Member of the Baptist Home Mission Society. This required a donation of $30 – a significant gift. William soon made another, smaller gift: the 1841 annual report of the Baptist Home Mission Society shows that William Brown of the Raccoon Swamp Church has made a donation of $10.00 "to make his wife Mary a L[ife] Member, 1st Install[ment]."
William never followed through with the remaining $20. And there's a simple reason why not: soon after the first installment, William was expelled from the church. The minute books at Raccoon Swamp show that William Brown had first been accused of drunkenness in July 1840, but he was acquitted. He was accused of drunkenness again in April 1841, and this time he was excluded from the congregation.
By the close of 1841, William was heavily in debt. He stated that he was "anxious and desirous of paying his legal liabilities with as little expense and delay as practicable," and so he appointed trustees to take over his plantation and personal property, including the fourteen slaves. The trustees were instructed to conduct a public auction of the property, but that they should "only sell so much as shall be sufficient, and surplus of money or property shall be paid over to the said Brown."
William Brown lost his 360-acre plantation, but he managed to hang onto the 220-acre tract that had belonged to his wife's family, and he retained ten of the slaves. The family's finances continued to deteriorate, however. Two years later, the number of slaves was down to two.
William Brown had not given up on the Raccoon Swamp Church. He wrote a letter to the church in May 1845, asking to be reinstated. The church considered the matter for some time, and then on 13 September 1845, there is this entry: "On application Captain Wm. Brown was restored to the fellowship of the church." It didn't last. William Brown was expelled once again for drunkenness in March of 1846, and there is no further reference to him in the minute books. The following month, April 1846, William Brown and his wife Mary sold their remaining 220 acres.
William, his wife Mary, and most of their children then moved west into Tennessee. They settled in the town of Franklin, the county seat of Williamson County. Not long after the move, however, William Brown died, at age forty-nine, and was buried in the Old City Cemetery in Franklin. William had not been restored to the Baptist church, so his funeral was preached by a Methodist, Mark Lyle Andrews.
Three years later, on 25 October 1819, William Brown married Mary Bendall in Sussex County, Virginia. Mary was the daughter of Isaac Bendall, and Mary was granddaughter to a wealthy planter named Richard Rose.
Throughout the 1820's and 1830's, things went well for William Brown and Mary Bendall. They had nine children. William eventually owned a 360-acre plantation plus a separate 220-acre tract (which he bought from his wife's grandfather, Richard Rose), and fourteen slaves. By 1827, William Brown was a member of the Raccoon Swamp Baptist Church (where his father had preached years earlier). William agreed to take over the care of the meetinghouse in 1828. He was later on a building committee, and he remained a prominent layperson throughout the 1830's.
Also in the late 1830's, William Brown became a Life Member of the Baptist Home Mission Society. This required a donation of $30 – a significant gift. William soon made another, smaller gift: the 1841 annual report of the Baptist Home Mission Society shows that William Brown of the Raccoon Swamp Church has made a donation of $10.00 "to make his wife Mary a L[ife] Member, 1st Install[ment]."
William never followed through with the remaining $20. And there's a simple reason why not: soon after the first installment, William was expelled from the church. The minute books at Raccoon Swamp show that William Brown had first been accused of drunkenness in July 1840, but he was acquitted. He was accused of drunkenness again in April 1841, and this time he was excluded from the congregation.
By the close of 1841, William was heavily in debt. He stated that he was "anxious and desirous of paying his legal liabilities with as little expense and delay as practicable," and so he appointed trustees to take over his plantation and personal property, including the fourteen slaves. The trustees were instructed to conduct a public auction of the property, but that they should "only sell so much as shall be sufficient, and surplus of money or property shall be paid over to the said Brown."
William Brown lost his 360-acre plantation, but he managed to hang onto the 220-acre tract that had belonged to his wife's family, and he retained ten of the slaves. The family's finances continued to deteriorate, however. Two years later, the number of slaves was down to two.
William Brown had not given up on the Raccoon Swamp Church. He wrote a letter to the church in May 1845, asking to be reinstated. The church considered the matter for some time, and then on 13 September 1845, there is this entry: "On application Captain Wm. Brown was restored to the fellowship of the church." It didn't last. William Brown was expelled once again for drunkenness in March of 1846, and there is no further reference to him in the minute books. The following month, April 1846, William Brown and his wife Mary sold their remaining 220 acres.
William, his wife Mary, and most of their children then moved west into Tennessee. They settled in the town of Franklin, the county seat of Williamson County. Not long after the move, however, William Brown died, at age forty-nine, and was buried in the Old City Cemetery in Franklin. William had not been restored to the Baptist church, so his funeral was preached by a Methodist, Mark Lyle Andrews.
William Brown was born on 2 September 1798, the son of "Elder" William Browne, a Baptist preacher in the Virginia Portsmouth Association. William Brown the younger was twelve years old when his father died in 1810. In 1816, the young man turned eighteen, and he received his share of his father's estate: an enslaved woman named Fanny (who had belonged to Elder Browne) and an enslaved male named David. William also received a horse, saddle, and bridle.
Three years later, on 25 October 1819, William Brown married Mary Bendall in Sussex County, Virginia. Mary was the daughter of Isaac Bendall, and Mary was granddaughter to a wealthy planter named Richard Rose.
Throughout the 1820's and 1830's, things went well for William Brown and Mary Bendall. They had nine children. William eventually owned a 360-acre plantation plus a separate 220-acre tract (which he bought from his wife's grandfather, Richard Rose), and fourteen slaves. By 1827, William Brown was a member of the Raccoon Swamp Baptist Church (where his father had preached years earlier). William agreed to take over the care of the meetinghouse in 1828. He was later on a building committee, and he remained a prominent layperson throughout the 1830's.
Also in the late 1830's, William Brown became a Life Member of the Baptist Home Mission Society. This required a donation of $30 – a significant gift. William soon made another, smaller gift: the 1841 annual report of the Baptist Home Mission Society shows that William Brown of the Raccoon Swamp Church has made a donation of $10.00 "to make his wife Mary a L[ife] Member, 1st Install[ment]."
William never followed through with the remaining $20. And there's a simple reason why not: soon after the first installment, William was expelled from the church. The minute books at Raccoon Swamp show that William Brown had first been accused of drunkenness in July 1840, but he was acquitted. He was accused of drunkenness again in April 1841, and this time he was excluded from the congregation.
By the close of 1841, William was heavily in debt. He stated that he was "anxious and desirous of paying his legal liabilities with as little expense and delay as practicable," and so he appointed trustees to take over his plantation and personal property, including the fourteen slaves. The trustees were instructed to conduct a public auction of the property, but that they should "only sell so much as shall be sufficient, and surplus of money or property shall be paid over to the said Brown."
William Brown lost his 360-acre plantation, but he managed to hang onto the 220-acre tract that had belonged to his wife's family, and he retained ten of the slaves. The family's finances continued to deteriorate, however. Two years later, the number of slaves was down to two.
William Brown had not given up on the Raccoon Swamp Church. He wrote a letter to the church in May 1845, asking to be reinstated. The church considered the matter for some time, and then on 13 September 1845, there is this entry: "On application Captain Wm. Brown was restored to the fellowship of the church." It didn't last. William Brown was expelled once again for drunkenness in March of 1846, and there is no further reference to him in the minute books. The following month, April 1846, William Brown and his wife Mary sold their remaining 220 acres.
William, his wife Mary, and most of their children then moved west into Tennessee. They settled in the town of Franklin, the county seat of Williamson County. Not long after the move, however, William Brown died, at age forty-nine, and was buried in the Old City Cemetery in Franklin. William had not been restored to the Baptist church, so his funeral was preached by a Methodist, Mark Lyle Andrews.
Three years later, on 25 October 1819, William Brown married Mary Bendall in Sussex County, Virginia. Mary was the daughter of Isaac Bendall, and Mary was granddaughter to a wealthy planter named Richard Rose.
Throughout the 1820's and 1830's, things went well for William Brown and Mary Bendall. They had nine children. William eventually owned a 360-acre plantation plus a separate 220-acre tract (which he bought from his wife's grandfather, Richard Rose), and fourteen slaves. By 1827, William Brown was a member of the Raccoon Swamp Baptist Church (where his father had preached years earlier). William agreed to take over the care of the meetinghouse in 1828. He was later on a building committee, and he remained a prominent layperson throughout the 1830's.
Also in the late 1830's, William Brown became a Life Member of the Baptist Home Mission Society. This required a donation of $30 – a significant gift. William soon made another, smaller gift: the 1841 annual report of the Baptist Home Mission Society shows that William Brown of the Raccoon Swamp Church has made a donation of $10.00 "to make his wife Mary a L[ife] Member, 1st Install[ment]."
William never followed through with the remaining $20. And there's a simple reason why not: soon after the first installment, William was expelled from the church. The minute books at Raccoon Swamp show that William Brown had first been accused of drunkenness in July 1840, but he was acquitted. He was accused of drunkenness again in April 1841, and this time he was excluded from the congregation.
By the close of 1841, William was heavily in debt. He stated that he was "anxious and desirous of paying his legal liabilities with as little expense and delay as practicable," and so he appointed trustees to take over his plantation and personal property, including the fourteen slaves. The trustees were instructed to conduct a public auction of the property, but that they should "only sell so much as shall be sufficient, and surplus of money or property shall be paid over to the said Brown."
William Brown lost his 360-acre plantation, but he managed to hang onto the 220-acre tract that had belonged to his wife's family, and he retained ten of the slaves. The family's finances continued to deteriorate, however. Two years later, the number of slaves was down to two.
William Brown had not given up on the Raccoon Swamp Church. He wrote a letter to the church in May 1845, asking to be reinstated. The church considered the matter for some time, and then on 13 September 1845, there is this entry: "On application Captain Wm. Brown was restored to the fellowship of the church." It didn't last. William Brown was expelled once again for drunkenness in March of 1846, and there is no further reference to him in the minute books. The following month, April 1846, William Brown and his wife Mary sold their remaining 220 acres.
William, his wife Mary, and most of their children then moved west into Tennessee. They settled in the town of Franklin, the county seat of Williamson County. Not long after the move, however, William Brown died, at age forty-nine, and was buried in the Old City Cemetery in Franklin. William had not been restored to the Baptist church, so his funeral was preached by a Methodist, Mark Lyle Andrews.
