William Dinsmore

  General Notes:

William was born in Londonderry, N. H., April 18, 1787. He moved to Charlestown, Mass., for business affairs, and married September 15, 1803, Katherine, daughter of Gawen Brown, and wife Elizabeth Hill, and lived in Boston, where his children were born.

Gawen Brown was spoken of in Drake's "History of Boston" as "An Englishman residing in Boston." He had a large mansion on King Street (now State Street) where the "Merchant's Bank" now stands. The Boston Massacre took place almost in front of his house, and a story is told of the sudden alarm and departure ff the Brown family, when they hastened to their country home at Weston, a few miles from Boston, only returning three days after, and to their astonishment found that although, in their fright, they had forgotten to close the door, it was still open, but nothing had been disturbed in the house.

Gawen Brown, as a boy in England, had a great fancy for the mechanism of clocks, so he adopted clock-making as his occupation when he came to Boston. He chose coming to this country in preference to entering the Army or Navy of England. He made the great clock which is still in the spire of the historical Old South Church, corner of Washington and Milk Streets, Boston. At the beginning of the Revolution he feared harm would be done to the great clock, so he took it away in pieces, and hid it in the cellar of his house until the war was over. It is said in the family that his son John Flagg Brown (son of the first marriage) was one of the Boston youths dressed as Indians who threw overboard the tea from the British ship on the night of the "Boston Tea Party."

Gawen Brown's first wife was Mary Flagg. The second wife was Elizabeth, daughter of the famous Tory, Rev. Mather Byles, of Hollis Street Church. By that marriage was one son, Mather, who became an artist, and lived with relatives in London, where he painted portraits and decorated several interiors of London churches. The third wife was Elizabeth (widow of Dr. Joseph Adams, brother of "Samuel, the Patriot"), daughter of John Hill of Boston. Elizabeth was born 1769.

Gawen Brown is thought to have come from Northumberland. He only returned to England twice, the last time being for his sister Annie's (or Amy's) "marriage to a nobleman," as tradition says. Gawen Brown died in Boston, August 8, 1801. His wife Elizabeth's father, John Hill, was a son of Henry Hill, who was prominent in Boston affairs in its early days. John and his brother Thomas inherited a large distillery, and much land in and near Essex Street, from their father, and Hill's wharf was also built by him. John Hill's wife was Elizabeth Maxwell of Boston, born February 9, 1699, daughter of John Maxwell; he was baptized December 23, 1669, and was a son of James Maxwell (probably born in Scotland). John Maxwell married, November 5, 1696, Elizabeth Codner. The Hills and Maxwells were successful merchants in Boston's early days. The Maxwells are thought to have come from Glasgow, Scotland.

Source: "Historical and Genealogical Record of Dutchess and Putnam Counties, NY", Genealogy Trails 2018.