Strenghthening The McPike And Browning Lines, Indiana and Tennessee

I made out and mailed the "First Families Of Tennessee" application. As I was doing that I was thinking how do we know the Nathan Browning in Roger Browning's 1828 Greene County, TN Will is our Nathan? Our Nathan in Indiana is definitely our progenitor because he and his wife Obedience McPike are named as parents on a couple Browning death certificates and a marriage certificate. I was thinking how would I prove the Nathan in Greene County, Tennessee was the same person as our Nathan in Indiana? This is a common problem the farther back we trace the family. How do we establish someone with the same name in another state is actually our ancestor? It's been a while sense I've looked at the Browning line. For my purposes I was convinced the Brownings in Greene County were the same, and they migrated to Indiana.

We are definitely blood relatives of Nathan Browning and Obedience McPike. My late mother has many DNA matches with descendants of this couple. Here are a few of the lines we match:

Why do we believe Nathan Browning and wife Obedience McPike originally came from Tennessee and specifically the Greene County area? We have the Roger Browning Will stating he has a son named Nathan. There were several Nathan Browning's in the US who were contemporaries of our Nathan Browning. Can we be sure which one is ours? Looking at Census records of the children of Nathan Browning (Nathan died before the 1850 Census contained birthplaces, as did his wife) the older children state they were born in Tennessee. This would support Roger Browning as being Nathan's father since there were no other Nathan Browning's in the early Tennessee records.

Probably the strongest supporting circumstantial evidence is the fact Lina Dayton, named as Roger's daughter in his 1828 will, ends up with her husband Joseph in Pleasant Run Township, Lawrence County, Indiana. The same township Nathan Browning and Obedience McPike lived in.

Roger Browning's 1828 Will Greene County, TN naming daughter Lina Dayton

How do we know Lina Dayton, named in her husband Joseph Dayton's will, is the same Lina Dayton named in her father Roger's will? A very strong piece of evidence appears in her husband Joseph Dayton's will. One of Lina and  Joseph's children is named Browning Dayton. We have to thank Joseph and Lina for solidifying the Browning connection by naming a son Browning!

Joseph Dayton's will Lawrence County, Indiana

To make these connections even firmer Nathan Browning and Obedience McPike had a daughter named Melinda. Lina's name was actually Melinda, this niece appears to have been named after her.

Here we have Melinda Browning/Ramsey 1850 Census

States she was born in Tennessee

 

My mother matched a descendant of Melinda "Lina" Browning/Dayton at AncestryDNA, which provides even more support for our Browning pedigree (we also match a descendant of Roger's daughter Sala Dewes, she was also named in his will).
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Edna Kapple DNA match

I'm always on the lookout for more information. It would be great if a document specifically stated the Browning's of Lawrence County, Indiana came from Greene County, Tennessee. Haven't found a document with that direct statement yet. The evidence we have is strong anyway.

William McPike is the only McPike I can find on early records for Tennessee. All of Obedience McPike/Browning's children agree that she was born in Tennessee about 1789. Obedience also named a son William. I'm confident William is her father. I'll keep looking for more evidence however.

Everyone seems to have William McPike's wife, and Obedience's mother, as Obedience Holloway. I can't find any documentation to support this? Apparently William McPike and William Holloway built a road in Washington County, according to a minutes book for that county. Not sure what sort of document states that William's wife was a Holloway? I do find a William Holloway on an 1805 Taxlist for Greene County, TN. If she was a Holloway William may have been her brother?

I'm still trying to figure out where in Greene, Sullivan,  and Washington counties the Brownings and McPikes lived. I need to collect up the deeds. It appears William McPike purchased land 140 acres of land from Shadrack Hale (Washington County Deeds book 4, page 23 July 20, 1789). Since William McPike appears on a Greene County tax list in 1783 (Nolichucky Settlers) it appears he was living on land in Washington bordering Greene County? On February 8, 1796 William McPike buys 250 acres of land from William Rosberry. It was located on the Limestone Fork of Lick Creek in Greene County (book 2, page 445 Greene County Deeds). He sold this land December 28, 1796 (book 6, page 156 Greene County, TN Deeds). The following year on Christmas day William bought 220 acres on Tory creek (now Long Creek?) in Cocke County, TN. I don't have any of the actual deeds. I am hoping the actual deeds contain more family information?

As for Roger Browning I don't have any deeds or deed index information. I had associated him with Greene County more than his in-law William McPike. Now it appears William McPike was in Greene County in 1783 with the other Nolichucky Settlers. Roger doesn't appear in Greene County until around 1800. Before that he is living in Sullivan County, where his likely brother Amsey Browning also lived. He first purchased land in Sullivan County in 1789. Apparently the deed says the land is on Kendrick Creek? I'm not sure where his land in Greene County was, but it may have been near his son's land on Caney Branch?

1919 DAR magazine

I've written to the North Carolina Archives to get a copy of William McPike's Revolutionary War file. I think it may just be a voucher? I thought I saw somewhere that he hired a substitute? I may be completely wrong? According to a 1919 article from DAR magazine all of the able bodied men living in Washington County in 1780 would likely have fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain, and some would have went on to Yorktown. The McPike's seem to believe William did serve at both of these locations. There was another William McPike from Pennsylvania who was indeed at Yorktown. Not sure if two William McPike's were at Yorktown?

Naming patterns, Roger Browning's 1828 will in Greene County, TN, documents naming the birthplaces of the Browning family of Indiana, and DNA have been important in establishing our Browning lineage and roots in Tennessee.

I'll be collecting up the actual deeds, and hopefully getting a copy of the Revolutionary War document or documents soon.

Visiting the Sycamore Shoals Museum sparked my interest in finding out
whether William McPike fought at King's mountain