>From the book "History of Washington and Kent Counties, Rhode Island" by J.R. Cole, published 1889, New York, W.W. Preston & Company. Beginning on page 542. [xxx] respresents either notes or the page number. THE BROWN FAMILY. – From J.A. Brown, West Kingston, we learn the following concerning the Brown family. He says: "My father's great-grandfather, John Brown, died January 2d, 1764, aged 68 years. He lived near the Great Swamp. His son, Robert Brown, died August 2d, 1794, 60 years of age. His widow, Elizabeth Cook Brown, died November 27th, 1815, 72 years old. His son, my grandfather, John Brown, died at the age of 72 years, and my grandmother, Rebecca Clarke Brown, died April 5th, 1841, 74 years old. Captain Silas Brown, for many years town clerk, was the son of Robert and Elizabeth Brown. John Brown, son of John and Rebecca, died February 6th, 1880, in his 85th year, and his wife, Abby Adams Brown, died April 27th, 1877, in her 77th year. They had six children: Elizabeth Cook, Albert, Edwin, Abby, John F. and Joseph A. The children of Silas Brown and his wife, Frances Brown, were: Robert, Peleg, James, Henry and Elizabeth." DEACON WILLIAM BROWNING was a settler of South Kingstown and lived near Burnside, owning the farm and hosue now occupied by George W. Browning, his grandson. His house was frequently used for religious gatherings as meeting houses in those days were few in number. This farm was deeded to him by his father and descended to his son George H. Browning, who was born on the place, lived there until eighty-two years of age, when he died in 1885. The children of William Browning were: William T., whose daughter became the wife of William F. Segar; Stanton, who at one time operated a mill here: Abial Tripp and George H., who remainded on the homestead. George H. Browning married Eliza W. Browning, his cousin, who was the daughter of Stephen Browning, who lived where Stephen W. Browning now lives. George H. Browning was a farmer and was a deacon of the Baptist church for forty years. His son, George W. Browning, [543] lives on the homestead. He was a member of the town council 1870–71, 1881–82, 1884–87. By his first wife, Elizabeth N. Crandall, he had two children: Mrs. Edwin S. Agard of Tolland, Conn., and Frederick D. Browning, a graduate of Columbia College. He married for his second wife Miss Waity E. Tefft. MISS ESTHER BERNON CARPENTER, of Wakefield, is a name now frequently mentioned by the people of South Kingstown and by the reading public generally. She is the daughter of Reverend James H. and Mary Hazard Carpenter, and is known in literary circles by her frequent contributions to first-class magazines and other publications. Her father at one time was rector of the Church of the Ascension, Wakefield, and her mother was the daughter of Doctor George Hazard, so well known to the people of Washington county, both of whom reflect credit upon the parental training of their daughter, now recognized as a skillful writer. Miss Carpenter began writing prose and verse contributions for the Providence Journal in the year 1872, and still corresponds for the Sunday edition of that paper. She also contributed some verses to Longfellow's Collection of Poems of Places, also to the Poets' Tribute to Garfield, published by Moses King, Cambridge, Mass. She assisted Doctor Greene in part on the History of East Greenwich, and in 1885 she read a paper before the Rhode Island Historical Society on the Huguenots and their Influence on Rhode Island, which paper has been published by the society. Miss Carpenter is also the author of "South County Neighbors," published by Roberts & Brothers, Boston, 1887, a work which is having a good sale at the present time.