[page break] The McDonald Interviews: Interviewees

BROWN, David

John Macdonald indicated that David Brown was 86 years at the time of his interview on December 5, 1848. He is listed as an 89-year-old farmer in the Town of Harrison, New York, in the 1850 United States Census. His tombstone in Greenwood Union Cemetery in Rye, New York, indicates that he was born on February 8, 1762, and died on September 7, 1850 (WCHS Book #15, p.31; #33, p.22).

BROWN, Major

Major was not a military rank, but rather the first name of interviewee Major Brown. His tombstone in the North Greenwich Congregational Church Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut, indicates that he died on September 8, 1847, aged 88 years and 10 months. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21508647/major-brown

BROWN, Merritt

Merritt Brown was the brother of interviewee Nehemiah Brown. He told John Macdonald that he was born in 1768. He is listed as an 82-year-old resident of the Town of Rye, New York, in the 1850 United States Census. His tombstone in King Street Baptist Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut, indicates that he died on October 12, 1851, aged 83 years, 8 months, and 16 days. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/163068335/merritt-brown

BROWN, Nehemiah

Two men named Nehemiah Brown were residing in Rye, New York, when John Macdonald was conducting his interviews: Nehemiah Brown (1766-1847), a son of Samuel Brown and Amy Merritt, and Nehemiah Brown (1775-1855), a son of Nathaniel Brown. It appears that Nehemiah Brown (1766-1847) was the only person by that name who was interviewed by John Macdonald. He was a brother of interviewee Merritt Brown. His tombstone in the Brown Family Burial Ground in Port Chester, New York, indicates that he died on December 4, 1847, aged 81 years, 10 months, and 11 days (WCHS Book #15, p.59; Book #17, p.82). See also Spencer P. Mead, Ye Historic or Ye Town of Greenwich (New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1911), p.506.