Category: Brownlee Family

I can’t say that the brick wall that was broken is my brick wall necessarily, however it does include my ancestors. And therefore, my extended family.

Several years ago when I was researching Ezekiel Currey and Elizabeth Brownlee I came across a website that has a lot of Currey information (genealogies HERE and notes HERE).  It was through this website that I was able to get into contact with Imogene Bennett, an absolutely lovely woman with whom I speak with roughly twice per year.

Imogene has searched for so many years for evidence that Ezekiel and Elizabeth had a daughter named Jane who married a man named David Wood. Not having found any documentation to prove that Jane was a Currey, I mentioned that mtDNA could be used IF we could find a direct maternal descendant of Jane. Enter in Doug Wood and Michael Kenning.

Now, I don’t want to give the whole story away here.  Doug wrote a wonderful piece explaining everything, with charts and everything!

You can read more at his website Tangled Wood, and see a picture of the beautiful Imogene!

Sometimes getting historic records is more difficult than pulling teeth.

Back in mid-September I sent off a money order for $25 to the Old Swede’s Foundation to get a copy of the marriage record for Ezekiel Currey and Elizabeth Brownlee.  I had put in a note along with the money order that I wasn’t sure if they had married in November or December of 1759.  About two weeks after I mailed it, on September 30th, I realized that I couldn’t remember if I had included my email address, so I emailed the Foundation, knowing that they would probably prefer to contact me that way if they were unable to find the record.  I never heard back from them. 

I then waited about a month and called them them the last week of October asking about how long it would normally take to receive the record.  I was informed that they had sent me an email letting me know that they never received my money order.  I told them I would pay over the phone and that I wanted the record.  I was told it would be about two weeks until they could get to it because of how busy the Foundation was at that time. 

I waited two weeks, until November 7th, then cancelled the money order (because when I checked it still hadn’t been cashed) and sent another email asking how the search was going.  I didn’t hear back from them. 

I called the following Wednesday, November 9th, I was told it would be another two weeks.  So I waited. 

On November 30th I called again, asking the progress of finding the record and attempting to pay for it over the phone again, thinking that perhaps that was why they were taking so long.  I was told that she (the executive director) had been about to email me to let me know that they were going over the next day to make the copy.  She asked if I wanted it sent through the mail or through email, to which I told her if they claimed to be sending me all of these emails I wasn’t getting then perhaps snail mail might be best.  She sent me a test email, which I got, and so I waited to hear back from them regarding payment (she had told me that once they had the record in the mail they would send me a message so I could pay). 

I waited two days and sent an email asking about the progress of the record, and I was sent a short email telling me that she was working on the accompanying letter.  So I waited.

Finally, on Friday, December 9th, seven days after I was told that the accompanying letter was being written, I still had not received the record, nor had I received an email or phone call regarding payment, so I sent an email to the Old Swede’s Foundation letting them know how disgusted I was with their lack of service.  I let them know that I was considering a complaint to the Chamber of Commerce, the BBB, not to mention any other organizations that they may be, or may in the future be, involved with.  I received a phone call within an hour, but I was unable to get to my phone, and no voicemail was left.

Then yesterday, December 16th, eleven weeks after my first email to the Foundation and roughly 13 weeks after I initially sent in my request, the record arrived (with an accompanying letter), stamped by the United States Postal Service as having been mailed December 12th.  No apology, of course.  As soon as it arrived I sent an email asking how they wanted me to pay for the record and I have yet to hear from them.

So let’s go through the time line:

about September 16-money order and request mailed

September 30-emailed Foundation, no response

about October 28-called, told wait two weeks

November 7-cancelled money order, sent email and never heard back from them

November 30-called, was sent test email, was told it would be a couple of days

December 2-sent email, was told accompanying letter was being written

December 7-sent email of disgust

December 12-record finally mailed

December 16-record received in my hot little hands, emailed them asking how to pay, no response yet

Dear Record Keepers of the World:  this experience with Old Swede’s Foundation is an example of WHAT NOT TO DO.  The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and, honestly, I will never deal with Old Swede’s Foundation again.  If I ever need another record from them I will hunt down someone who might be willing to share the record they have from that place, or just go without.  If you want a good example of WHAT TO DO, just look at Lauderdale County Department of Archives & History Inc., Lauderdale County, Mississippi.  They have been overwhelmingly helpful and quick to respond and send out records.

Anyway, I present to you the long awaited marriage record of Ezekiel Currey and Elizabeth Brownlee, Old Swede’s Foundation, Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware dated November 6, 1759.  Something I found interesting about this record is that Elizabeth Brownlee’s name is recorded as Elisabeth Brownlees, which leads me to think that I should start researching Brownlees, rather than Brownlee.  I know that Ezekiel Currey's family is from Belfast, County Antrim/County Down, Northern Ireland.  Now I need to find where Elizabeth and her Brownlee family is from!

Through my research I have been able to follow my direct maternal line all of the way back to my 7th great-grandmother, Elizabeth Brownlee.

The information that I have so far for Elizabeth Brownlee came from Houston County, Tennessee: History and Families (1995, Turner Publishing Company).  I have seen a few websites that mention her, along with further information, but I have yet to gain permission from them to use their information, nor do I know exactly where their information came from.  I have contacted the Delaware Historical Society to see if they have any further information, so now it’s just a waiting game!

Elizabeth Brownlee (birthdate unknown, parents unknown) married a merchant and farmer named Ezekiel Currie (birthdate, place unknown, died sometime after 1800 in Nolensville, Tennessee).  The marriage took place in Wilmington, Delaware at Holy Trinity Church on December 6, 1759. 

The children born to Elizabeth and Ezekiel were:

Samuel (1761-sometime after 1830)

Ezekiel (1763-1851)

Margaret (1764-1858)

Elizabeth “Betsy” (1764-1850) (Margaret and Betsy were either twins, or Elizabeth Brownlee got pregnant really soon after giving birth to Margaret)

Sarah (1766-1843)

Nancy (1768-1840)

Susan (1770-sometime after 1830) (my 6th great-grandmother)

Robert Brownlee (1774-1848)

Mary (1775-death unknown)

Isaac (birthdate, death date unknown)

Mattie (birthdate, death date unknown)

Elizabeth Brownlee died in Rockingham, North Carolina sometime after 1790.

I am awaiting the arrival of the Houston County book so I can see if there is anymore information in it.  And, of course, waiting to hear back from Delaware.  And hopefully I can track down information on her death.  It would be pretty marvy if I can find who her parents are!

If you have any information on Elizabeth Brownlee, contact me!