The Family of Peter and Elizabeth (Smith) Brown

It's amazing, I think, to find information about people with the common surnames of Smith or Brown. This couple has both of these common names! In addition, they were born in the early 1600s, making it even more difficult to learn much about them. I credit FamilySearch.org for their efforts here, as you will notice in the list of sources at the bottom of this blog.

It seems that Peter used both of his given names, Peter and Thomas, interchangeably, in the available records about him. He was born in 1610 in Rye, Sussex, England. He married Elizabeth Clawson Smith about 1632 in England. I know of one child, a son,  Deliverance, who was born in 1650. Deliverance is our ancestor.

In 1683 Peter appears among the proprietors of Rye, Westchester, NY where he was a large owner. He was constable in 1696, justice in 1698 and suspervisor in 1701. When the inhabitants applied in 1697 to be taken back into Connecticut, he and Thomas Merritt were sent to represent their wishes. ( Mr. Merritt is another Shepard ancestor.) Peter was admitted as deputy to the next General Court. The records indicate he had left Rye by 1724 and died in or before 1727. 

In my original research re this family, in the 1990s, I have a note that Peter died in 1658, one year after his wife's death. I have to wonder if the same Peter Thomas Brown, born in 1610, was still living and so active in 1724, as indicated in the previous paragraph. Perhaps there was a son who was named Peter or Thomas? More work and research needs to be done on this family.

PETER THOMAS BROWN
BORN: 1610 in Rye, Sussex, England
MARRIED: abt 1632 in England
DIED: 1658 (or bef 1727)

ELIZABETH CLAWSON SMITH
BORN; 16 Aug 1612  in England
DIED: 21 Sep 1657 in Stamford, Fairfield, CT
Sources: www.familysearch.org Compact Disc #18 Pin #626118; Father of Deliverance: Thomas or Peter Brown b: 1610 in Rye, Sussex, England. Mother: Elizabeth b: 16 AUG 1612 in England; Legacy NFS Source: Elizabeth Smith's Death: - Individual or family possessions: death: 21 September 1657; Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States; Source text: Published information: Family genealogies: birth-name: Elizabeth Published information: Family genealogies:  Family genealogies: birth: 1612; England Published information: Family genealogies: death: 21 September 1657; Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States; Published information: birth-name: Elizabeth Jane Smith Published information: female Published information: birth: 16 August 1612; England Published information: death: 21 September 1657; Connecticut, United States; !Death of Elizabeth: Recorded in Stamford Ref: Huntington's History of Stamford. Peter was appointed a Justice 1698-1716 Commissioner of Arbitration 1697 Representative 1698.