John Wrightson Brown ^{28488,28493,28522,28523,28524,28525,28526,28527,28528,28529,28530,28531}

   Another name for John was John Rightson Brown.

  General Notes:

Parish baptism recorded in the name of John Rightson Brown.

The correct spelling of John's second given name (Wrightson) confirmed by U.S. and International Marriage Record. His name is also recorded as 'John Wrighton Brown' on his son, William Speight Brown's baptism record

The following courtesy of Dee Findley:

JOHN RIGHTSON BROWN (20 DECEMBER 1818 - 23 SEPTEMBER 1887). John Rightson Brown, our emigrant ancestor from England, was born 20 December 1818, on Bank Street, in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. He was baptized 11 April 1819, in the Parish Church of St. Peter (Church of England), in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, son of "Hugh and Mary Brown". The baptism record misspells his name as John "Rigton" Brown. The name Rightson (spelled "Wrightson" in English records) is his mother's maiden name. The baptism record also includes the information that the family's abode in Leeds at that time was on Bank Street; and further mentions that his father's occupation was plumber and glazier.
Family tradition says that John Rightson Brown spent the next forty years, prior to his emigration from England to America, in the Leeds area attending school, serving in the King's Guard, learning the skills of silk weaving, marrying, and rearing seven children. This tradition also includes the information that John and his wife, HARRIET SPEIGHT, were married in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, in 1838. However, to date, a record of their marriage in the city of Sheffield has not been found. This is noted with particular interest because his wife Harriet and the children were residing in House #66, at "23 Sheffield Street", in Leeds, when the 1851 Census was taken in England, which raises the possibility that this street may have been the "Sheffield" referred to as their marriage place.
With reference to the 1851 Census, it should also be noted that John Rightson¹ Brown was not among those included as being a member of the household on Sheffield Street when the census was taken, nor was he found elsewhere in the index to the city of Leeds. Harriet Brown, his wife, was listed as the head of the household, her occupation was given as "seamstress", and a notation was included to the effect that she was a "pauper". Possibly this infers that John was elsewhere in England at that time earnestly looking for work to help his family, and that their economic circumstance is one of the reasons they later came to America.
John Rightson and Harriet (Speight) Brown, along with their seven children who were born in England (William, Emily, Edwin, Mary Ellen, Harriet, John, and Thomas) immigrated to the United States early in 1857. They arrived in New York City from Liverpool, England, aboard the sailboat, Fidelia on 2 January 1857. During the journey they were berthed in steerage, starboard, between decks. The ship list gives his occupation as "farm worker", but the History of Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota (1872-1972) includes the information that he was a silk weaver by trade in his native land.
The John Rightson Brown family settled first in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, near Otter Creek, where they were living when their our direct-line ancestor, Charles Andrew Brown, was born in 1858. Two more children, Alice and Isaac Newton (Ike), were born in Wisconsin, making a total of ten children. Following his arrival in Wisconsin, John Rightson¹ Brown encouraged his youngest brother Edwin M. Brown and his sister Catherine (Brown) Lawler and their families to join him which they did later in the same year.
In 1860, the John Rightson Brown family moved to a nearby neighborhood called Bridge Creek where they purchased a farm. This farm was their home until they moved to Minnesota in 1878. The U.S. Census of Wisconsin in 1860 includes John R. Brown and his family in Bridge Creek Township, Eau Claire County. This county was organized by an act of the Wisconsin state legislature in 1856, shortly before our Brown family emigrated. At that time, there were but few settlers in the eastern part thereof where Bridge Creek is located. Probably the first settler in the township was Andrew Thompson, who came, it is said, in 1854, and settled and built a house on what was later Henry Brown's pasture in Otter Creek. This Henry Brown may possibly have been a relative, as Edwin M. Brown's eldest son was named William Henry Brown. The valley was named Thompson Valley.
During the Civil War, two of John Rightson Brown's sons, as well as his youngest brother Edwin M. Brown and his son-in-law, Dennis Lawler, enlisted in the defense of their adopted country. It has been said that the county of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, furnished more than their quota of men in the war between the North and South; and in like manner, it may also be said that the Brown family, who were new immigrants to our country, did more than their share.
The Edwin M. Brown and the Dennis Lawler families remained in Wisconsin. However, in 1878 when the U.S. Government opened up prairie lands in Minnesota for homestead claims, our John R. Brown and four of his sons, John, Thomas, Charles, and Isaac, set out for Minnesota to take claims. John R. Brown and his family settled in Tyro Township, in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, where he homesteaded on Section 30 of that township. His sons, Charles A. and Isaac N. Brown, also homesteaded on Section 30, while Thomas H. Brown, another son, and Andrew H. Olson (husband of Alice Brown, a daughter of John R. Brown) homesteaded nearby on Section 20. There were not enough inhabitants in this location to organize a township until 1879. That year several pioneers, including John R. Brown, Thomas H. Brown, Charles A., and Andrew H. Olson signed a petition requesting that township 115 range 42 be set aside for organization. This request was dated 21 April 1849, and came before the county commissioners on June 21st, but was not acted upon. It was brought up again on 6 October 1879, and the request granted. The organization was completed and the first town election was held. John R. Brown was elected clerk and justice.
It was during the move to Minnesota that one of their sons, John, disappeared from the family unit while changing trains in the St. Paul railway station and wasn't heard from again until sometime in the 1920's when he returned to live out his days in Minnesota. He had remained unmarried and had spent his life prospecting throughout the West.
Life was harsh on the prairie. People had to build sod houses for shelter since there were no trees. Prairie fires were a danger. Cow chips served as fuel. It wasn't until about 1885 that the railroad came to the area. However, the ground was rich and fertile, and the people survived the hard hard work, and prospered--as did John R. and Harriet Brown.
John R. and Harriet Brown continued to reside on their homestead in Tyro Township, but the three sons left and moved to nearby communities-- Thomas to live in Granite Falls, Charles to live in Hanley Falls, and Isaac to live in Boyd.
John Rightson Brown died 23 September 1887 (aged sixty-eight years, nine months, three days), and was buried in the Wood Lake Cemetery, in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota.
His widow Harriet (Speight) Brown then went to Hanley Falls to make her home with her son, Charles. She died several years later on 29 March 1900 at the age of seventy-eight years of heart trouble. Her death certificate lists her place of birth as England; and the 1851 Census further includes the information that she was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Harriet Speight was described as being jolly and red-haired. She was baptized on 22 May 1822, in the Parish Church of St. Peter (Church of England), Leeds, Yorkshire, England, as Harriet¹ Speight, daughter of William and Margaret Speight, whose abode at that time was "Matgate". Her parents were earlier living on Quarry Hill (Street?), in Leeds, on 4 January 1818, when their son, James Speight, was baptized, also in the Parish Church of St. Peter. In both baptism records, William Speight's occupation was included as "stuff weaver". Harriet1 (Speight) and John Rightson Brown's eldest son was later named "William Speight Brown" after her father, William Speight. A good many Speights are included in the records of various parishes during this time in and near Leeds; however, to date nothing further has been found that can definitely be said to be that of our Speight family.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Occupation: Silk dresser, farmer. ^{28522,28523,28524,28525,28528,28529,28530,28531}

• Registered Christening, 11 Apr 1819, St Peter, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

• UK Census, 1841, Kirkgate, Leeds, Yorkshire, England. ²⁸⁵²²

• USA Census, 1860, Bridge Creek, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. ²⁸⁵²³

• USA Census, 1870, Otter Creek, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. ²⁸⁵²⁴

• USA Census, 1880, Tyro, Yellow Medicine, Minnesota, USA. ^28525,28532

• USA Census, 1885, , Yellow Medicine, Minnesota, USA. ²⁸⁵²⁶

John married Harriet Speight on 13 Jan 1838 in St Peter, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.²⁸⁴⁹³ (Harriet Speight was born on 21 Mar 1822 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England ^{28523,28524,28525,28526,28527,28533,28534,28535}, christened on 26 May 1822 in St Peter, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England ²⁸⁵³⁴ and died on 29 Mar 1900 in Hanley Falls, Yellow Medicine, Minnesota, USA.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Registered Marriage. ²⁸⁵²⁷

• Registered Marriage, 13 Jan 1838, St Peter, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. ²⁸⁴⁹³

  Marriage Notes:

Both John & Harriet were minors when they married ²⁸⁴⁹³