William Browne - Mary Chinn Family Group

What We Know About This Family

An Overview of Their Lives

William Browne immigrated to Salem, Essex, Massachusetts in 1635. By 1664, he had married Mary, probably the daughter of George Chinn. This relationship is established by the mention of his "brother-in-law John Chinn" in his will. If we assume "brother-in-law" was as precise a definition in 1683 as it is today, then our supposition is likely correct. Adding to the confusion, however, is a lawsuit filed in 1664 by John Brown against John Codner (another of our direct ancestors) for non-performance of a promise of land related to Browne's marriage to Codner's "daughter-in-law" Mary Chinn. Codner had two daughters, but no sons, so this reference would be a mystery, but George Chinn's estate in 1653 awarded Chinn's land to Codner in consideration of Codner "bringing up" Chinn's children and paying his debts. Mary as his"daughter-in-law" would have been a looser definition than what we would use today (she was his ward or at most, a step-daughter).

William Browne was a fisherman. He and Mary had nine children identified in his will written in November when he was "sick in body." The will was proved in 1684. His wife Mary was named the executrix. We do not have birth or baptism records for their children, but in his will, he bequeathed the five pounds left by his mother to his five eldest children: Elizabeth, William, Mary, Elenor, and Deliverance in that order. Elizabeth was defined as his eldest daughter having been "disposed and bought up already" and was bequeathed one shilling to be paid to her or her husband. One third was bequeathed to his wife Mary for the term of her natural life, the other two thirds to be divided equally among the eight youngest listed in this order: William, Mary, Elenor, Deliverance, Thomas, John, Sarah, and Samuel with the sons to receive the house and land and pay the sisters their proportional share. Overseers John Chinn and Benjamin Gale, our direct ancestor and husband of Deliverance Codner, were named as overseers.

After her husband's death, Mary married Richard Gross. From this marriage in 1684 and what we know we know of Richard, we can arrive at some conclusions. Richard died in 1711 and left a will where he identified his three living children: Richard Gross, Jr., Elizabeth Smith, and Lydia Serle. If we assume Lydia married at age 20, she would have been born before her father's marriages to either Mary Chinn Browne or Miriam Pedrick. Mary Chinn would have died between her marriage to Richard in 1684 and that of Richard's marriage to Miriam Pedrick (1688).

This couple's daughter, Mary Browne and her husband John Pedrick, were the parents of two of our direct ancestors who both were successful mariners leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Several helpful documents appear in the Documents section.

Proof of Relationship

Proof of relationship is proven with the vital records, genealogical articles, and the probate material.

What Else We Need to Learn

The goal of this project is to trace every line of ancestry to the arrival of its first immigrant to America. The basic information of each couple is considered complete when we know the dates of birth, marriage, and death for both spouses. their parents' names (or whether they were the immigrant), and the child or children in our ancestry line.

The research on this family is basically complete. Someday more information about George Chinn and his wife Elizabeth may surface.