Re: Bethina BRIGGS- Providence RI- 10/1/1773

Well, a little more information on this family, for whomever is interested.

Bethina (variously spelled Bethia, Bethany, or Bethune), maiden name unknown, was born in Providence, Rhode Island on 1 Oct 1773.She married a Benjamin BRIGGS, presumably before their son Samuel was born on 11 Oct 1792.Samuel died 20 Apr 1818.They also had a daughter June or perhaps Jane, born 29 Jul 1795.

Benjamin BRIGGS died 20 Dec 1795.His widow Bethina remarried, probably in Saratoga County, N.Y., to Valentine BROWN Sr. on 15 Jul 1801. Valentine was born in Rhode Island on 8 Mar 1755 and died in Saratoga 25 July 1817.

Valentine BROWN had previously been married to a Seviah SPINK in 1771, and had at least 11 children by her.Seviah died 23 May 1800 in Half Moon, Saratoga, N.Y.

Valentine BROWN and Bethina had another five children after their remarriage.One of them, George Washington BROWN, became a prominent businessman in Galesburg, Ill., and it is here that Bethina (BRIGGS) BROWN died on 28 Sep 1865. She is buried in the Galesburg cemetery.

Valentine and Bethina are my 4th-great-grandparents, but all research on their ancestry has hit a brick wall for decades.Valentine is, by family tradition, a descendant of the well-known early Rhode Island immigrant Chad BROWN, but no proof of this has been found.