Henry Nicholas Brown, [Sr.]

(1831-1908)

Portrait of Henry Nicholas Brown Sr.
Historic Hillsborough Commission

At a Glance

A dry goods merchant in Hillsborough, Orange County, NC., he married Margaret Parthenia Evelyn Hooker on July 25, 1855 in Orange County, NC. Together they were the parents of 7 children. Margaret Parthenia Evelyn Hooker (1839-1923) was a Burwell School student in the late 1840s or early 1850s. She would have been a day student at the school. She is the sister-in-law of Burwell School students Charlotte Ann Brown and Laura H. Brown. She and her husband rented the Burwell School property as a residence when the Burwells moved to Charlotte, NC in 1857. Tradition indicates they stayed on the property for about 5 years [1].

Biographical Data

Henry [Sr.] was called Nate.

Important Dates

Henry Nicholas Brown, [Sr.] was born on August 16, 1831, in North Carolina. He died on January 15, 1908, and was buried in Hillsborough Townl Cemetery in Hillsborough, NC.

Occupations

• Dry goods merchant.

Relatives

• Parents: William Henry Brown (1809-1865) and Mary Louisa Vasseur (1813-1868).
• Spouse: Margaret Parthenia Evelyn Hooker  (1839-1923), married July 25, 1855.
  Children:
  
  • two sons, LeClair Hooker Brown (b. 1857) [2] and Henry Nicholas Brown, [Jr.] (1864-1922) [2]. Henry Nicholas Brown, [Sr.] planted the great sugar maple tree on the front lawn in 1857 to mark the birth of his first son, LeClair Hooker Brown [2].
  • two daughters, Anne Vasseur Brown (1859-1884) [2] and Julia Estelle Brown (1861-1885) [2].
• Maternal grandparents: Toussaint Vasseur (d. 1815) and Charlotte Ann Layssard (d. 1856).
• Siblings:
  • six brothers, Ferdinand Brown (1833-1836), Morry J Brown (b. 1835), William Pearmain Brown (1836-1837), Oliver B. Brown (1846-1870), Edwin Lewis Brown, [Sr.] (1850-1919) and Leigh Olin Brown (1856-1932).
  • eight sisters, Charlotte Ann Brown (1838-1880) , Laura H. Brown (1840-1915) , Mary Jane Brown (1834-1906), Louisa Brown (b. 1834), Julia Frances Brown (1842-1925), Lucy Rebecca Brown (1844-1907), Olivia Bosanquit Brown (1845-1911) and Arabella William Brown (1848-1880).

References

1. http://www.findagrave.com/
2. Mary Claire Engstrom. The Book of Burwell Students: Lives of Educated Women in the Antebellum South. (Hillsborough: Hillsborough Historic Commission, 2007).