THEOPHILUS BROWN, a retired
sea captain, who is now engaged in farming in Groton, New London County,
Conn., was born in that part of the town which is now Ledyard, on January
12, 1824. His parents were Aaron and Mary (Wilcox) Brown, both of old Colonial
stock of English origin. Nathaniel Brown, the earliest known progenitor
of Captain Brown on his father's side, married a Miss Haines in Groton,
Conn., in 1715. Their son Comfort was the father of Nathaniel, second,
the father of Aaron Brown. Nathaniel Brown, second, was one of the minute-men
during the Revolutionary War. His wife, whose maiden name was Deborah Morgan,
was a native of Groton. They reared two sons — Nathaniel, third, and Aaron—and
seven daughters, all but one of whom had families. Grandfather Brown lived
to be threescore years and ten. His property at his death was inventoried
at twenty-five hundred dollars. His widow, who survived him twelve years,
died in 1830, at the age of eighty.
Aaron Brown engaged in farming on part of
the original home farm. He married, in 1807, Mary Wilcox, of Groton. They
reared seven children — Robert, Eleazer, Sabrina, Allura, Laura, Theophilus,
and Jeffrey. Robert Brown, who was a master mariner, went to Seattle, Wash.,
in 1873, and died there in 1894, at the age of eighty-five. He and his
wife reared a family. Eleazer Brown died single, at the age of twenty-two
years. Sabrina married Jeremiah Wilcox, had two daughters, and died in
1881. Allura died at the age of eighteen. Laura married Thomas Lanphere,
and died, she and her only child, an infant, being buried in the same coffin.
Jeffrey died in 1868 on the old farm, at the age of forty-two, leaving
two sons and three daughters. The father, Aaron Brown, died in 1871, and
the mother, Mary Wilcox Brown, in 1877, at the age of eighty-four. Their
remains rest in the Brown burial-ground with several generations of their
family, Comfort, the donor of the ground, being its first occupant.
Theophilus Brown was reared on the homestead
farm, and there remained until he was twenty years of age, receiving a
limited district-school education. In 1843 he shipped as sailor before
the mast, with Captain Jonathan Nash, on the bark "Vermont," of Mystic.
They went round Cape Horn to the Pacific, and were gone twenty-nine months,
making a very poor voyage as to profits, oil at the time of their return
being only twenty-five cents a gallon, and bone but twenty-seven cents
a pound, his entire earnings amounting to but one hundred and twelve dollars.
His second voyage on the "Vermont" was still more disastrous, the vessel
and her cargo being cast away on Amsterdam Island, seventy-eight degrees
east longitude, and forty-one degrees south latitude, the crew being rescued
by the whalers. For sixteen years he was a master mariner, for several
years sailing the "Elector." In 1869 Captain Brown settled down on a small
farm in Groton, where he now lives. His fine, large mansion-house was built
by a Mr. Perry, who died shortly after it was finished. Captain Brown has
expended thousands of dollars in clearing and cultivating the grounds,
beautifying the place by setting out shade, fruit, and ornamental trees
and shrubbery. The house can be seen from New London and other points;
and it affords a commanding view of the majestic Thames River flowing by,
opposite Fort Trumbull and the lovely banks and lawns of Pequot and New
London. As the eye follows the many sailing and steam craft gliding out
of the harbor and river into Long Island Sound, it sees in the distance
Fisher's Island and other smaller islands, apparently floating on the waters.
Captain Brown was first married in 1857 to
Julia Mallet, a native of that part of Groton now known as Ledyard. She
died, childless, two years later, of consumption. In 1868, after leaving
the sea, he was united in marriage with Mary Louisa Geer, daughter of Isaac
and Experience (Avery) Geer. Captain and Mrs. Brown have two daughters,
namely: Alice Experience, a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in South
Hadley, Mass., now living at home; and Clara Louise, who was graduated
from Williams Memorial High School in New London in 1895, subsequently
taking a post-graduate course. Mrs. Brown was one of a family of four children.
One brother and one sister have passed away. Isaac Geer, her surviving
brother, is now living on the old Geer homestead; and she has nieces and
nephews of education and refinement, who are filling positions of trust
and honor.
Biographical Review Volume
XXVI
Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens
of New London County Connecticut
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1898
pgs 184 - 185
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