Holbrook line: John Brown of Rhode Island, Immigrant

I've written earlier about Chad Brown or Browne, John's father, the immigrant ancestor to America.  But John was an immigrant, too, a wide eyed boy of somewhere around 10 years old when he arrived in Boston in 1638 with his parents and possibly with siblings.  He is reported to have been about 8 when the trip was made, which would put his birth date at 1630 but some sites are showing a birthdate of March 9, 1627 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England.

John's parents didn't stay long in Boston, so within months our wide eyed hero was in Providence, Rhode Island.  A man by that name was given a free grant of 25 acres of land, and a right of commanage, then promised obedience to the State of England in 1645.  He would have probably needed to have been at least 18 to obtain a land grant, unless some sort of exception was made for him.  Had he done something special for the plantation?  We don't know.  He was taxed in 1650, and in 1651/52 pledged allegiance to England "as it now stands", meaning with no king or House of Lords due to the English Civil War.  He was a juryman and a constable, as well as a surveyor of highways.  He was made a freeman in 1655, and was deputy in 1663-64 as well as being on the town council.

In 1654 he married Mary Holmes, the daughter of Obadiah and Catherine Hyde Holmes of Newport.  Holmes was a rather famous Baptist minister (at least, he became famous later) and our John Brown has been variously described as "Elder" and "Reverend".  He was also of the Baptist faith.  John and Mary had at least five children, but probably there were more who were not living when John died.

John's date of death is disputed.  Some say he died in 1677.  If this is so, then he's been confused with another John Brown, because one John Brown, or another was taxed in 1679 and in 1701 helped ordain James Clarke of Newport as pastor of the Newport church.  He sold the land the family home was on in 1672, but great grand children purchased it back and this eventually became what is now known as Brown University.

 I have not been able to determine what happened to John Brown and his family during King Philip's War.  Almost all of the homes in Providence were destroyed, either by the native American's setting fire to them or by decay, as it took years for some of the families to return.  Did they go to Newport, perhaps, or to safer locations in Massachusetts?  We don't know.  I know there were several John Browns who were listed as soldiers during that war, and it seems logical to think that John, being under 50 years of age, would have been in the militia, but I can't state that categorically.

I've not yet located a will or probate for John.  Mary died in 1696 and John died either 19 years earlier or ten years later.  Finding the probate papers would likely shed some light on that puzzle.
John Brown, one of our Baptist ancestors, whether he lived 50 years or 80, had an influence on his family and his church family as well as his community.  He was a man of service and we can be glad he is part of our family.

The line of descent is:

John Brown-Mary Holmes
Sarah Brown-John Pray
Mary Pray Richard Brown
Deborah Brown-Othniel Brown
Sarah Brown-Enos Eddy
Enos Eddy-Deborah Paine
Joseph Eddy-Susan Lamphire
Susan Eddy-Hiram Stanard
Louis Stanard-Mary Alice Hetrick
Etta Stanard-Loren Holbrook
Gladys Holbrook-Richard Allen
Their descendants