Notes for: Ammi Tufts Brown
The birth of Ammi T. Brown is documented in "Connecticut Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection)," Brooklyn Vital Records, Vol. 1, p. 232, in which he is identified as Amma Tufts Brown, b. Nov 22 1799 in Brooklyn, Connecticut, son of Rufus & Mary. Although other variations of his name have been found in census records, he seems to have generally identified himself as Ammi T. Brown. He was named for his uncle, Ammi Tufts, the husband of his mother's sister Lucy.
His marriage to Annis is documented only by their appearance together in the 1850 Census of Otsego County, New York. Other than the births of his sons Ammi A. in Boston in 1829 and Andrew in New York in 1834, we have no record of Ammi T. Brown's whereabouts between his birth in Connecticut in 1799 and his appearance in the 1840 Census in Otsego County.
1840 Census, Burlington, Otsego Co, New York:
Household of Ammi T. Brown
1 male age 40-50 (i.e., Ammi T. Brown, who we know from his birth record was born in 1799)
1 male age 10-15 (i.e., son Ammi A. Brown, b. 1829)
1 male age 5-10 (i.e., son Andrew Brown, who we know from the 1900 Census was born Sep 1834)
1 female age 40-50 (i.e., wife Annis Brown, who we know from the 1850 Census was born about 1801)
1850 Census, Pittsfield, Otsego Co, New York, enumerated on Sep 6 1850:
Amina Brown, male, 50, b. Connecticut, occup house joiner; Annis Brown, female, 49, b. New York; Andrew Brown, male, 15, b. New York, farmer.
1870 Census, town of Guilford, Chenango Co, NY:
Ami Brown, 39, b. Massachusetts, occup house carpenter; Almira Brown, 28, b. New York; Edwin Brown, 11, b. Wisconsin; Ami Brown, female, 71, b. Connecticut, occup carpenter & joiner.
Ami is clearly a misspelling of Ammi, and labeling the elder Ami (Ammi) a female is considered to be a clerical error, especially in view of the listed occupation.
No record of this Ammi Brown was found in any 1860 or 1880 Census.
The 1830 Census of Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, had the following entry:
Household of Arnum Brown
1 male age 30-40
1 male under 5
2 females age 20-30
1 female under 5
Despite the name variance, the handwriting is not entirely clear, and the possibility cannot be discounted that this is the household of Ammi T. Brown.
"Gazetteer and Business Directory of Chenango County, N.Y. for 1869-70," compiled & published by Hamilton Child in 1869, p. 205, has the following consecutive entries for the town of New Berlin:
"BROWN, AMMI A., (South New Berlin), carpenter and joiner.
Brown, Ammi T., (South New Berlin), lot 41, T. 16, house joiner and farmer."
The preface to the publication states "Name set in CAPITALS indicates subscribers to this work." It also states "Post Office Addresses in Parentheses" and explains that "T." stands for Township.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nychenan/69nbrlin.htm
A similar publication five years later, "Boyd's Elmira and Corning Directory" for 1874-75, published by Andrew Boyd and W. Harry Boyd, contains the following entry on page 58: "Brown Ammi A., carpenter, h 258 W Hudson ." The key to abbreviations indicates that the "h" stands for house.
Since there was no entry for Ammi T. Brown, we can only speculate that he may have died in the intervening five years. He also was not found in the 1880 Census.
http://www.joycetice.com/director/1874p058.htm
The name Ammi is from the Hebrew, meaning "my people."
http://www.meaning-of-names.com/hebrew-names/ammi.asp
http://www.zelo.com/firstnames/findresults.asp?name=AMMI