Roxanna “Roxey” Brown was born in 1793 in Mansfield, Connecticut. She was the oldest of five known children born to Jonathan and Clarissa (Newcomb) Brown. Roxey’s fourth great grandfather, on her mother’s side, was William Bradford, a passenger aboard the Mayflower and Governor of Plymouth Colony.
Jonathan brought his family here, to the western wilderness of New York State, in April 1803. He died seven months later, leaving Clarissa and the children, the youngest about one year old, alone. Ten-year-old Roxey and her mother kept things going as best they could. Clarissa remarried around 1806 and started another family. Roxey and her siblings were no longer alone.
On April 7, 1811, Roxanna Brown married Aaron Arnold in what was then Parma, Genesee County, New York. Five years later, Aaron’s brother Enoch, future Ogden Supervisor, would marry Roxey’s sister Sally. Five years later, Enoch was a widower and chose the remaining Brown sister, Clarissa, as his second wife.
Aaron, also of Connecticut, was born in 1787. He was the fifth of thirteen children born to Daniel Arnold and his wife, Esther Fox. Daniel was a Revolutionary War Veteran and surveyor. In 1801, Daniel was contracted to prospect the lands west of the Genesee River. It was his favorable report of the town of Northampton in the county of Genesee that sparked immigration to the settlement of Fairfield. The Arnold family didn’t arrive here until 1804. Aaron’s aunt, Lydia Arnold, would marry Samuel Latta, an early settler of Charlotte, a merchant seaman and later a rumored conductor on the underground railroad. Aaron’s father and some of his brothers continued west. They settled in Bergen and prospered. Daniel died there in 1813 from Black Tongue Disease.
In June of 1812, America declared war on Great Britain. Aaron joined the New York State Militia. He wasn’t gone for the entire conflict. Their first two known children were born during the War of 1812. Roxey and Aaron had at least eight children:
•Esther – born May 1813, died 1888; she married John West Webster, the boy next door
•James Newcomb – born October 1814, died 1891; he married three times
•Aaron Bradford – born October 1816, died 1904; he married twice, he moved to Niagara County
•Shurwell – born 1818, died 1819
•Harriet – born 1821, died 1822
•Sarah Maria a.k.a. Maria H.S. – born May 1824, died 1899; she moved to Michigan
•Henry S – born December 1830, died 1916; he married twice, he moved to Michigan
•Edwin Brown – born December 1835, died 1916; he married twice, he moved to Michigan.
Using all the skills she had learned from her mother, Roxey made a comfortable home for her growing family. In 1816 Roxey and Aaron bought the homestead of Col. Eastman Colby. Aaron and Eastman had served together during the war of 1812. Aaron was well known throughout the area as a distiller of whiskey; he supplied his neighbors and sold any excess in Rochester.
Roxey and Aaron were active in the Presbyterian Church. He was a Deacon. The church stands on property once owned by Roxey’s father.
Roxanna Brown Arnold died in 1857 when she was 64 years old. Aaron laid her to rest in Fairfield Cemetery. He joined her in 1859.
When Aaron died, the homestead was passed to his daughter Esther and her husband. It was expanded when John’s father died. Roxey and Aaron’s home still stands today on Colby Street as the headquarters of the Ogden Historical Society.
Note: This is a companion to the Settlers Cabin video tour posted on the Ogden Historical Society’s Facebook page, Ogden Historical Society – Ogden, New York.
