The Brownings of Pictou, Nova Scotia

The name Browning is English, coming from Anglo-Saxon origins, meaning a person with brown hair or a dark complexion.  There are many spelling variations for this name, including Brownrigg, Brownrig, and Brownridge.  However, the name Brownrigg/Brownridge has additional roots tied to the ancient Scottish Boernician clan.  I'm not certain which direction to take the research at present, but I can list what I know so far, in the event that other researchers can comment.

My Browning ancestors come from Nova Scotia (New Scotland), so I'm more tied to the idea that their original name was actually Brownrigg.  However, their names and their descendants' names all carry a variety of name differentials, including Brownrick, Brownsby and Brownrig (with one 'r'). 

William Brownrigg, my fourth great grandfather, was born around 1775 in Cumberland England, moved to Truro, Nova Scotia, and died around 1810.  He was a merchant marine and died at sea, according to family legend.  Apparently the Brownrigg family were original settlers of Pictou and Truro Nova Scotia.  Nobody appears to know much more about William, though.  He married Mary Jeffers (of French extraction) in 1797, and had five children:

1.  John Robert Browrigg (1799-abt 1860) (also known as Robert Brownrigg) and his wife Isabel Blair (1795-1869) (these were my third great grandparents), were both born in Colchester, Nova Scotia.  For the 1850 Census, John was serving time at the Maine State Prison in Thomaston for attempting to poison someone.  In the 1860 Census, John & Isabel were living in East Machias, Maine, with their daughter Joanna (aged 30), and her three young children.

2.  Jacob 1799-1864, married Janet Currier

3.  Jane (birth/death date unknown) married William Holstead

4.  Anne 1806-1880 married John Copeland

5. William, Jr. (1809-1895) married to Joanne Kitchin.

John & Isabel definitely had three confirmed children in Truro, Pictou, Nova Scotia, two of whom moved to the Greater Portland area of Maine in 1851:

1.  Isabel Browning (1821-1896) born in Truro, moved to Salem, Massachusetts with her husband, John Brown, and had at least one child (Esther Brown).

2.  Sarah Jane Browning (1825-1892), who married Marcus Temm, a merchant seaman from Hamburg Germany and settled in Scarborough Maine.  These were my 2nd great grandparents.

3.  Joanna Browning (1829- ), who may have had three children (James W., John and Isabella).  I'm only assuming the three children are Joanna's, since they are on a census with her along with John & Isabel in Machias in 1860, and since the children were much too young to be John & Isabel's own children.

4.  Robert Browning (1832-1905), who married Catherine Whalen (1838-1874) from Ireland (whom I believe was related to the Whalen family that intermarried with my Leonard family from Ireland/Portland, but I've yet to prove it).  They married in Portland in 1864.  In 1866, he was working as a provision dealer on 127 Fore Street under the name Robert Brownrig.  In both 1865 and 1866, his name was published in the Portland Daily Press for an unclaimed piece of mail, a practice I was unaware that the post office did.

In 1868, Robert was sued for wine ordered by his servant:

Portland Daily Eastern Argus
Dec. 31, 1868

In July 1869, he purchased several properties on Fore Street for $1,391.00, retained domestic servants, and called them the Brownrig Boarding Houses for Merchant Seamen.  They were located at 103, 125, 299 and 301 Fore Street.  103 & 125 were on the corner of Mountfort Street (125 was torn down to build a ship forge owned by Thomas Laughlin Company.  299-301 was on the corner of Pearl Street, next door to the Hub Furniture building across from the Customs House).  I wonder if Robert's sister Sarah Jane met her future husband Marcus at one of these boarding houses?  I also wonder what went on at these businesses...

101-103 Fore Street (in 1924)

(Corner of Mountfort Street)

299-301 Fore Street

(somewhere in this picture from 1924 City Planning Tax Records Collection)

Robert's niece Lizzie Temm worked as a servant at 103 Fore Street when she was a teenager.  Robert naturalized as "Robert Brownrig" in Portland Superior Court in February of 1876.  

In May of 1876, his business was referred to as "Brownrig's" and "Bob Peel's" in a pleading at Superior Court.  I wonder if Bob Peel was a nickname for him? (Portland Daily Press, 5/12/1876, pg. 3)

In May of 1877, he was tried and discharged at Municipal Court for search and seizure.  Perhaps related to one of his roomers. (Portland Daily Press, 5/3/1877, pg. 3)

In December 1879, he sold off all the Fore Street properties to William Morton.  

In 1880, his name was published in the Portland Daily Press for failing to pay his 1879 taxes.  Interesting to learn that the newspapers routinely embarrassed or shamed folks who were delinquent.

In 1891, his name was listed in the paper as living at 299 Fore Street, and some kind of registrant for vital records (birth/marriage/death).  Unclear what this was 

By 1900, he was renting property and working as a day laborer, at 67 years of age.  I wonder how he lost all his money? 

Robert & Catherine had five children in Portland, and they chose the "Brownrig" spelling at some point after 1871, dropping one of the g's at the end.  Three of their children died in infancy (Isabella, John & Gertie), and the two who survived to adulthood were:

-Mary Elizabeth "Minnie" Brownrig (1865-1925).  Minnie also grew up on 103 Fore Street.  She never married, but lived with her brother Thomas for a time on 267 Congress Street (corner of India Street).  Each census showed her as having no occupation.  I wonder how she filled her days.

-Thomas A. Brownrig (1868-1950).  Thomas also never married, and was frequently mentioned in the local papers, as will be shown below.  He was a saloon keeper and beer retailer at 39-49 Commercial Street (where the AutoEurope building is as of 2011) and 342 Fore Street (currently Paragon Barber Shop as of 2024).  He grew up in his father's boarding house on 103 Fore Street, and later lived and helped manage one of the other boarding houses on 299 Fore Street.  He also lived on 45 Commercial Street and 267 Congress Street.  In 1887-1888, his name was regularly listed as being members of the Dirigo Boat Club (Portland Daily Press 11/9/1887, Page 4).  Similar announcements in this same publication from 1889-1891 show him as a member of the Argonauts.  He apparently was a rower and participated in regattas and scull races, when he was young, but was known for his liquor consumption as he got older.

Also in 1889, Thomas A. Brownrig's name was featured in this publication as a prominent member of the city supporting the Industrial Exhibition, which movement later led to the Exposition Building being erected on Park Avenue in 1914.  

In January 1892, at age 24, Thomas was indicted for "liquor nuisance."  Interesting article above.  This was one of five different postings in this publication during that month.  It's interesting to think that you could be arrested simply for drinking inside a building.  The Maine Law only existed between 1855-1856.

In subsequent years, Thomas had more run-ins with the law for liquor nuisance, including being arrested in 1894 for simply having liquor at his place of business at 42 Fore Street.  (Portland Daily Press, 6/1/1894, pg. 8), and multiple search and seizure trials through 1896, because he cops kept taking his booze.

By 1897, Thomas was the manager of the Gaiety Theater, a burlesque dance hall (owned by Alderman Edgar Rounds) at 382 Congress Street (where the firehouse currently sits), which had angered the parishioners of the Second Parish Church across the street, as it was apparently distracting the boys attending Sunday School, who were more interested in watching the bawdy shows. Thomas applied for a business license in order to legitimize the theater, and it was rejected due to the immorality of the shows witnessed by parishioners who dared enter, and because Thomas had a criminal record.  The Alderman separately applied for this business license, promising that the shows would become more family friendly, but he too was rejected, and then sold the theater.

Thomas' own father Robert appeared in a search and seizure trial over booze yet again being illegally seized by police in 1899, and testified that his son lived there and he himself was just a boarder, and that Thomas should be held liable.  (Portland Daily Press 2/11/89, pg. 8) Father of the year there...

Also in 1899, Thomas was credited for alerting the fire department of a blaze occurring on Fore Street (Thomas Laughlin's machine shop) across the street from his own business.  Later that year, he appeared in the paper for being on the winning team of a final game of bowling for the season.

In 1900, Thomas' shop on 45 Commercial Street was burglarized (currently this is where the parking garage for the Maine Street Pier sits).  Later that year, he suffered multiple more search and seizures for liquor by the police at his place of business, as well as a flood of his basement based upon a November downpour (Portland Daily Press, 11/9/1900, pg. 7)  

There are many dozens of citations in the paper for liquor nuisance attributed to Thomas Brownrig, from 1892-1910.  I find it curious, because he wasn't indicted for any serious crimes, other than possession itself.  He was a liquor retailer, it would stand to reason that he would be in possession of this, and legally, so I can't make heads or tails of the charges that were routinely against him.  By all other accounts in the paper, he was a trusted member of society and involved in local groups.

In 1901, Brownrig's business at 45 Commercial was known as a restaurant, and he was burgled yet again with the vagrants running off with a slot machine, according to article in Portland Daily Press 9/17/1901, pg. 10.  They were jailed for five months for the act.

In 1902, both Thomas and his former colleague, Alderman Edgar Rounds, were named in a large seizure of liquor, regarding the transport of liquor to and from Portsmouth. (Portland Daily Press, 1/17/02, pg. 6).  The case dragged out for several weeks thereafter, and involved accusations of bribery of sheriffs and fist fights. (PDP, 5/22/02, pg. 1)

He purchased a house on Sebago Lake in 1904.  In 1911 he was bequeathed the Commercial Street properties from the will of William S. Perry of Brunswick (not sure of the relation).  He kept the properties until 1921.  Throughout the 20's and 30's he was a cigar retailer at 115 Center Street while boarding at 122 High Street and 141 Cumberland Avenue, according to Portland City Directories.  In 1940 census, he was still listed as a restaurateur, though.

In 1918, Thomas was pallbearer at Mary Deehan's funeral.  In 1925, his sister Minnie died in his care at 141 Cumberland Ave, with whom she always lived as an adult.

In 1950 Census, he was living at the Wadsworth Hotel on Congress Street, and died that year.

***

Thomas and his sister Minnie share a gravesite at Calvary Cemetery in Plot N 349.

Robert (under the name Browning), his wife, the three deceased infants, and also Catherine's brother, Thomas Whalen, are all buried in Calvary Cemetery, South Portland, in Plot H 8.

However, in 1868, Robert had purchased an additional lot in Forest City Cemetery, South Portland, where a seemingly random mix of people happen to be buried, and it's a mystery I've yet to uncover the answer to...I firmly believe that his sister Sarah Jane's husband, Marcus Temm, was the first buried there, since the date of lot purchase was just weeks after Marcus' death.


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In doing some research at the Mormon library, I was pleased to see that someone had saved a document that indexed all birth, marriage and death records from Nova Scotia newspapers in the 1800s.  Here is an abstract of the announcements I found as they relate to Brownriggs living in Nova Scotia:

-25 Dec 1829, by Rev. J . Waddell:  Alexander Archibald, Esq. married Ann, only daughter of late William Brownrigg

-27 May 1833, at Helstone:  Gen. Sir Robert Brownrigg

-9 Mar 1837, at Truro by Rev. Mr. Burnyeat:  Marriage of John Copeland of Musquodoboit & Miss Ann Brownrigg

Colchester Historical Museum Archives sent me an email with the following information:

"Hi Scott: The only Isabel Blair that I found in our records that married a Browning was born Jan. 17, 1795 in Onslow Township and died 1868. She was the daughter of James Blair, Esq. and Isabella Catherwood. She had a family of 2 sons, and 6 daughters. However, the Browning she married was not named Robert but John. John Browning apparently died sometime before 1868. If in fact the family we found is the right one then he would have died between 1860- 1868.  On Ancestry.com we looked at the 1850 US census and put in Robert Browning born in Nova Scotia but only John turned up being born in Nova Scotia. He was in the Maine State Prison. It says he was born in Nova Scotia. In the 1860 US census he is in East Machias, Washington , Maine with his wife Isabella age 64 (he is 63) and 4 younger people - a couple could be children and two grandchildren maybe. Says he was a stone mason. Should see if they might be in the 1870 census. They shouldn't be if the above is correct for yours."

Here's a pedigree chart for Sarah Jane Browning.  Sarah was of 100% Scottish descent, and her mother was of a noble Scottish lineage.