Melanie, I think you are exactly right on John Brawner, since his brothers were charged with his care, further research in Court Records will probably show he was incapiciated , or mentally incompetent. If the person that claims descent has no documentation, I would ignore their claim. Has the querist seen a copy of the actual Will? frequently it will state as much, or later account books should show a guardianship accounting. regards, Margie Brown
Margie, the will that actually applies to the researcher's family isn't used to prove descent of her lineage. As a matter of fact, the researcher's descent is probably through one Benjamin Brawner, the brother of the John that I think was impaired in some way. Benjamin died 1809 in Pittsylvania County, leaving a will naming an entirely different set of offspring than she uses. That's why she needs John. This (Benjamin) was a Catholic family, so records are very hard to come by, except through the Catholic Church. I have no idea if they practiced their religion. I know my John Brawner's line, while marrying into Catholic families, actually endowed or helped to endow Baptist and Methodist Episcopal Churches. While I don't think this particular line had any ministers, we had one grandfather who was quite vocal in his love of the Lord. Several "savings" were credited to his rather loud pleas. I guess no one told him God saves souls, not lives. Norma ----- Original Message ----- From: <Mgbrown105@aol.com> To: <VAPITTSY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2000 4:53 PM Subject: Re: [VAPITTSY-L] Re: John Brawner > Melanie, I think you are exactly right on John Brawner, since his brothers > were charged with his care, further research in Court Records will probably > show he was incapiciated , or mentally incompetent. If the person that > claims descent has no documentation, I would ignore their claim. Has the > querist seen a copy of the actual Will? frequently it will state as much, or > later account books should show a guardianship accounting. > > regards, Margie Brown > > > ==== VAPITTSY Mailing List ==== > New folks are joining the list everyday. Have you posted your surnames and/or queries recently? > >