Portal:Brimberry family history/The Seven Brimberry Lineages

Matthias and Mary's Seven Sons
THE SEVEN SONS OF MATTHIAS BRIMBERRY AND MARY ANDERSON form the seven branches of the Brimberry family. They were:


 * 1) Peter Brimberry (1767-c.1831) m. Dicey Walker 1790 Washington Co., VA
 * 2) Jacob Brimberry (1768-c.1823) m. Jane Cunningham 1808 Indiana Territory
 * 3) Joseph Brimberry (1770-1820/30) m. in KY or IL, last appeared Ouchita Pr., LA
 * 4) John Brimberry (1772-1830/40) m. Agness Beethe 1797 Bourbon Co., KY
 * 5) Isaac Brimberry (1775-1847) m. Mary Beethe 1798 Bourbon Co., KY
 * 6) William Brimberry (1778-c.1836), m. Catherine Duggins 1807 Wilkinson Co., MS
 * 7) Samuel Brimberry (1785-1837) m. Mary Jones 1816 Crawford Co., KY

In some respects, it has been easier to trace Matthias and Mary's ancestors than it has been to trace the footsteps of their sons as they moved about the frontier. The couple moved with Mary's family to Orange Co., NC in 1768; thence to Washington Co., VA in 1785, the same year son Jacob signed a petition at Ft. Boonesborough, KY. During this period, they were often accompanied or joined other Swedish kin (Anderson, Lynam, Stalcup, Hendricks).

Jacob, John, Joseph, Isaac and Samuel are subsequently found in Kentucky by 1791 and Illinois by 1813. Peter, who like his father before him, was a wagon maker. Peter moved from SW Virginia to Greenville Co., SC where he lived out his life. His brothers, Joseph, John and William are also found in early Greenville Co., SC records.

William eventually settled along the Ouachita River in LA by 1810 and served in a La. Voluntary Infantry Regiment at the Battle of New Orleans. By 1830, he was joined in northern Louisiana by his brothers, Joseph and John, who moved there from Illinois. Isaac and Samuel, who was a captain in the Black Hawk Indian War, moved to Texas from Illinois when Texas was still a part of Mexico. Jacob apparently died or was killed by river pirates as he transported produce on a flatboat enroute to New Orleans from Illinois on the Mississippi River.

Peter's children all moved to Georgia; some remaining there, others westward to Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. Through out all of these movements it appears that the brothers maintained contact with one another. Their constant search for land or a better life, and overlapping presence in the same locations, has caused confusion and presents questions which the Brimberry DNA project strives to answer.

KNOWN ADOPTION LINES: (1) Jacob Brimberry's son, John, married Margaret Higgins who had a son by Leonard Simons. John was a veteran of the Black Hawk War in Illinois and his stepson, also named Leonard, adopted the Brimberry surname. (2) Jacob Brimberry's son, Joseph, and Joseph's wife Nancy Jones reared three children of Clarissa Seaney and William Fuller. "Orphaned" Perry adopted the Brimberry surname and enlisted in the Union army in another man's place at the age of 15. (3) Peter Brimberry's son, William, owned a slave named John who adopted William's surname. The former slave, John Brimberry, was born in Rockbridge, VA and lived to be 106 years old (1800-1906). His descendants live in South Georgia and Florida. The DNA of male descendants of these "adoption" lines will therefore not match that of male descendants of Christiern Brunberg.

The descendants of these surname-adoption lines are still viewed as much a part of the Brimberry family history as anyone else. While we may not share the same genes, we nevertheless share the same family history!