Ten Browns made stand for 1 country

By David Maurer

Published: October 6, 2008

During the dark and trying years of the American Revolution, one local family paid dearly for the freedom won.

The offspring of Benjamin Brown Sr. had every reason to side with England during the conflict. It was, after all, King George II who had granted Brown a large tract of land in the mid-1700s, which became Brown’s Cove.

The beautiful and fertile area northwest of Charlottesville became known as the “Eden of Albemarle.” Brown’s family prospered and grew and apparently so did their disenchantment with the British crown.

By the outbreak of the war in 1775, Brown had seven sons eager to align their allegiance with the patriots and old enough to join the struggle. By the end of the war in 1783, the seven sons, as well as three grandsons, had fought for independence.

Historical marker

In the near future, a new historical marker will be placed next to Route 810 near White Hall in honor of the 10 patriots.

The marker is the result of years of work by members of the Albemarle Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. It will join the more than 2,200 other historic markers already in place along Virginia roads.

Rebecca Morgan Rogers started the effort to get the marker approved in 2005. Janet Webb, Linda Davies and a number of other chapter members also spent many hours doing the research needed to provide proof to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources that all 10 Browns had served during the Revolutionary War.

Local chapter

Dealing with the involved process to get approval for a historical marker isn’t anything new to the local chapter. It has been placing historical plaques and markers throughout Charlottesville and Albemarle County since 1924.

The chapter is responsible for the plaque on the Albemarle County Courthouse. It also placed the one at Buena Vista, which is the birthplace of George Rogers Clark, and one at Locust Hill, birthplace of Meriwether Lewis.

The new marker will serve as a reminder of the sacrifice entire families made for the cause of liberty.

“The Brown family shows us how close to their hearts patriotism was, and that freedom isn’t free,” Rogers said. “These men and women thought it was a life or death situation.

“And I say women because, while the men were away fighting, they had to hold things together at home. They were all willing to risk their lives in order to have the freedom and liberty to do as they wished instead of being constrained by the British.”

When people read the names of the seven sons on the marker they’re likely to notice all the first names start with the letter “B.” For a reason lost to history the parents decided to do that and it resulted in some interesting choices.

The boys became known as the “B” Browns of Brown’s Cove. Their names were, Billy, Bartlett, Bernis, Bernard, Benjamin, Bezaleel and Brightberry. The three veteran grandsons were named Bartlett, Tarleton and Bartlett Jr.

As soon as they were old enough, Billy and Bartlett Sr. moved to South Carolina to pursue opportunities there. When war came, they both joined militias to fight the British.

In 1780 Billy was killed in his home by Tories. His son, Bartlett, also was killed while serving with Gen. Francis Marion in South Carolina.

Marion earned the nickname “the Swamp Fox” while conducting guerrilla-type operations against the British. Bartlett was shot and killed by Redcoats as he tried to escape by swimming across a river.

Bartlett’s brother, Tarleton, also served with Marion. He survived the war and wrote his memoirs of the war. In the prose of the day, he described his feelings when he learned that his father had been killed by the Tories and their American Indian allies.

“Hearing that the British Tories and Indians had murdered our father and 16 more of his neighbors, burning to ashes his house and all within it, our mother and sisters escaping to the woods with little or nothing to support upon, and no male friend to help them, my blood boiled within my veins and my soul thirsted for vengeance,” Tarleton wrote.

By the end of the war, Tarleton so despised the British that he dropped the “e” from his name. He did it so as not to have the same name as Col. Banastre Tarleton, the British cavalry officer who almost captured Thomas Jefferson during a raid on Charlottesville in the late spring of 1781.

Bernis Brown stayed close to home, serving as a guard at the prisoner of war camp a few miles west of Charlottesville. Bernard Brown had one of the most dangerous and exciting wartime jobs of anyone in the family.

“Bernard was a dispatch rider for Gen. George Washington,” Rogers said. “He was chosen because of his ‘trustworthiness and his extraordinary powers of endurance.’

“He was never captured and never failed to get his dispatches through. He credited this in large measure to the superb mounts that came from his father’s stables in Albemarle.

“After the war, he served as an attorney as well as a magistrate for the county. He was killed by a falling tree in 1800 when he was in the prime of his life.”

Bezaleel served as a captain in the 9th Virginia Regiment. He also became an attorney and Albemarle County magistrate and was elected sheriff in 1805.

Brightberry Brown served as a sergeant major in a cavalry company made up of Virginia volunteers. After the war he played a major role in building Jarman’s Gap Turnpike.

During war and peace, the Brown family contributed much to the new nation they helped bring about. Now, because of the efforts of several modern-day patriots, 10 honored names will prompt many to reflect upon three words — duty, sacrifice and country.