Bill’s Family: Ancestors of Eldora Beahm |
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| These pages are a compilation of my work and that of others. You are welcome to use anything on this page, but be aware that although I have been as careful and accurate as possible, I am not a professional genealogist. I have been working on our genealogy for over 25 years, and started the website in 2005. Some of the lines I have researched myself; some, especially on Rita’s side, we inherited the research of other family members over the past 75 years. Still, the majority of these pages are limited to compilations from published books and what I could find on the internet. The target audience was and remains our family, so the family pages are limited to our own ancestors. I have set it up so that each page is one set of ancestors, with their descendants. For the most part I have limited my scope to their great-grandchildren (second cousins to us); in some cases I list sources which may continue further. | HOME | |
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62. Ezekiel Brownell {a,b,c,d,ca} was born in 1814 in New York, and died
in 1874 in Juneau County, Wisconsin. He married in 1838 in Rock County, Wisconsin,
63. Adeline Pratt {a,b,c,d,ca}. Adeline was born in 1818 in
New York, and died sometime after 1860, probably in Wisconsin.
The origin of Brownell is uncertain, other than that it has something to do with the color brown. Different
sources ascribe it to a person living near a brown hill, or a brown spring, or to a person having brown hair. They could have come from
anywhere in England, and there are many unrelated lines.
The name Pratt comes from Latin for meadow. It is found throughout south and east England by the 1200’s.
This family has been one of the most frustrating for me. They are both common names in New England from the 1600’s, but I have been unable to make any connections further back than Ezekiel and Adeline. I normally blame this on Wisconsin’s poor record-keeping in the 1800’s, but both of these people were born in New York before 1820 -- there should be something out there....
[I did find a family on alden.org, Alfred Pratt and Lucinda Moulton, who had a daughter Adeline. No date or place of birth was given, but they were in New York, and the dates for some siblings indicate Adeline would be born around the right time. I am tempted to make this connection, but there is no evidence.]
Ezekiel and Adeline were among the earliest settlers in Rock County, Wisconsin, arriving in 1837 along with Oscar H. Pratt (probably
Adeline’s guardian, possibly an uncle), Stacey L. Pratt (perhaps Adeline’s cousin, and son of Oscar), Humphrey Brownell (Ezekiel’s brother) and some sisters {d,ca}. They were
Methodist Episcopalian.
The very first wedding performed in Clinton Township, Rock County, was that of Ezekiel and Adeline, performed by Justice of the Peace Joseph
S. Pierce {d}. They appear in the 1850 census in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Living next to them is a Clark Brownell age 33 (3
years younger than Ezekiel), who is probably a brother. Based on land plat records, Clark is probably the same person as the Humphrey Brownell who arrived with Ezekiel in the preceding paragraph {ca}. With Clark is his wife Laura age 31, and children George (8), Pamela (6),
Louisa (4) and Laura (2). Ezekiel and Adeline are listed in the 1860 census in Germantown (Juneau) Wisconsin, and owned a 500-acre farm
at that time.
Ezekiel and Adeline had nine children:
62.1. Celestia Brownell {b,c} was born about 1840 in Wisconsin.
62.2. Elvira Brownell {b,c} was born about 1842 in Wisconsin.
62.3. Hellen Brownell {b,c} was born about 1845 in Wisconsin.
62.4. Martha Brownell {b,c} was born about 1847 in Wisconsin.
62.5. Adaline Brownell {c} was born about 1850 in Wisconsin.
62.6. Oscar Brownell {c} was born about 1854 in Wisconsin.
62.7. Clark Brownell {c} was born about 1858 in Wisconsin. He has descendants, but they are unknown to us.
62.8. Josephine E. Brownell [31] {a,c} (1859 WI - 1898 SD) and Willard Vining are direct ancestors, separate page.
62.9. George Brownell {cb} was born probably in the early 1860’s in Wisconsin. He has descendants, but they are unknown to us.
Sources:
a. Marriage certificate for Josephine
b. Census, 1850 Wisconsin
c. Census, 1860 Wisconsin
d. “Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History”; William F. Brown, ed.; publ CF Cooper, Chicago 1908
Correspondence from family members
ca: C. Nelson
cb:
Compiled by Bill Stupak. Last update: Sep 2010