John Brewster & (1) Rebecca Farr, (2) Sophronia Elizabeth Price Howard

John Brewster spent his entire life in the Cumberland Plateau region in Tennessee. He was born on 3 August 1823 probably in the portion of Morgan County that became Fentress County three months after his birth. He was the son of James Brewster and Phoebe Cox, who moved to Tennessee from their native Virginia by the 1820s. (We don’t yet know if they met and married in Virginia or in Tennessee.) (Footnotes 1, 2, 3)

John grew up on his father’s main farm, a 200-plus acre property that lay on both sides of the Clear Fork River dividing Fentress and Morgan Counties. This area is rugged, with heavily forested hills, deep ravines, and many creeks, and lies about three miles southwest of what is now the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, known for its whitewater rafting and challenging hiking trails. (FN 4, 5)

John married Rebecca Farr about 1848; according to John’s grandson, Andy Marion Brewster, they married in Clinton County, Kentucky (most pre-1860 marriage records no longer exist). Rebecca was born about 1823 in Wayne County, Kentucky, to William Farr and his second wife, Elizabeth Holmes. (FN 6, 7)  

Brewster and Farr residences in the 1830s

The Farr family lived in Wayne and then Clinton County, Kentucky, until the late 1840s, when they moved to Tennessee.  However, the family had connections in and with Fentress County before then; Elijah and William Farr, two of Rebecca’s older brothers, married in Fentress County in 1838 and 1843, respectively. (FN 8)

While John and Rebecca’s household was not enumerated in either Tennessee or across the line Kentucky in the 1850 census, they likely had stayed in the area; the 1860 census, where they were enumerated in Fentress County, indicates that all their children had been born in Tennessee. Four months after the 1860 census, John bought 300 acres across the Clear Fork River in Morgan County, where the family lived from then on. (FN 9, 10)

The Civil War brought significant hardship to eastern Tennessee and Morgan County, in particular, that John Brewster and his family would not have escaped. This part of Tennessee was strongly pro-Union and anti-secession, and the Confederate government in the county and state, as well as Confederate troops and guerrilla bands, did their best to suppress any expressions of support for the Union.   Even in 1867, two years after the war officially ended, naturalist John Muir wrote about the devastated and abandoned farms he saw scattered across Morgan County while walking through on his way to the Gulf of Mexico. (FN 11, 12)

After the war, the Brewsters diversified and expanded production on their family farm.  In 1860, for instance, the farm had one milk cow, two sheep, and a dozen pigs; by 1880, the family still had just one cow, but had added three oxen, a flock of 29 sheep, and a herd of 60 pigs. The range of farm products they cultivated was also wider. In 1860, they reported that they grew no oats, Irish potatoes, buckwheat, Indian corn, or rye. However, in 1880, the family reported producing 25 bushels of oats, 20 bushels of Irish potatoes, 35 bushels of buckwheat, 200 bushels of Indian corn, and 18 bushels of rye, in addition to 400 bushels of orchard crops. It’s hard to say whether the difference between 1860 and 1880 was simply because they were still young and starting out in 1860 and had time to expand twenty years later, or whether the difference was in land that was a poor choice for farming (in Fentress County) but a much better property in 1880 (in Morgan County). (FN 13)

One interesting note is that the Brewster farm produced 11 pounds of flax in 1870. The Brewsters were one of only seven farmers in the district producing flax at all that year.   It is worth noting that John’s father-in-law, William Farr, had produced 20 pounds of flax and 3 pounds of flaxseed in 1850. Flax cultivation (and spinning linen threads from the plant) is a very localized tradition that was carried on from generation to generation; it is quite possible that Rebecca Farr Brewster may have learned the art of making linen from her mother, Elizabeth Holmes Farr. (FN 14, 15, 16)

In all, John and Rebecca Brewster had nine known children; their names and birth order come mainly from a family history written by James Thomas Brewster, with census records, cemetery records, and death certificates providing additional documentation.  Of their children, only three survived to adulthood and married: James Thomas, Jasper Newton, and Farsina. Several of the children died during or immediately after the Civil War, and all died from illnesses that today would be curable with modern medicine. (FN 17, 18)

At some point, probably in the 1870s, John became a Free Will Baptist minister and eventually oversaw several churches. In 1879, John was an elder in the Old Stone Association of churches, where he preached the introductory sermon for the annual assembly of delegates at the Laurel Creek Church; was voted in as a presbyter, and appointed to minister to the Crooked Creek and Mount Pisgah churches.  Two years later, John assisted another well-known local minister, the Rev. A.B. Wright, in preaching the funeral of Elijah Yorke in Fentress County.  Even at the turn of the century, John was still ministering. A history of the Rugby community, founded in the 1880s by English novelist Thomas Hughes, described “old preacher Johnny Brewster” who rode his ministerial circuit on a grey donkey (named “old Jude”). (FN 19, 20, 21)

The area around John and Rebecca Brewster’s farm became known as Brewstertown. They sold 75 acres to both of their two adult sons, James Thomas and Jasper Newton, and probably to their daughter, Farsina Davis, and her husband (though no deed survives for that transaction). Modern signs of where their farm was located include the now-abandoned Brewster Bridge across the Clear Fork River; the bridge was built on the site of a ferry that was run for decades by their son James Thomas. In the Rev. A.B. Wright’s memoirs, he praised James for having saved his horse’s life when the minister was trying to cross a flooded Clear Fork River. (FN 22, 23, 24)

According to family tradition, Rebecca died in 1892 at the family farm in Morgan County. After her death, John married a second time to Elizabeth Trail Crabtree, who was the widow of Thomas Crabtree; no marriage record survives.   Elizabeth apparently died sometime before 1900, when John was enumerated as a widower in the census that year living next door to his daughter, Farsina Brewster, and her husband William Davis. (FN 25, 26, 27)

John married for a third time in 1902, this time to Sophronia Elizabeth (Price) Howard. In the 1910 census, both John and Sophronia reported that this was the third marriage for each of them. (FN 28, 29)  

John and Sophronia Brewster, unknown date

John wrote his will in 1904, leaving his property to Sophronia. Family tradition holds that he died on 23 December 1911 in Morgan County; his will was proved in court six months later, on 24 June 1912. Afterwards, the Brewster family helped Sophronia move in with her widowed daughter, Sarah Tennessee Elmore, in Cumberland County, where she died in 1922. (FN 30, 31)

*****

John Brewster (b. 3 Aug 1823, Morgan (now Fentress) County, TN – d. 23 Dec 1911, Brewstertown, Morgan County, TN)
m1. ca. 1848/49, probably Morgan County, TN 
Rebecca Farr (b. 1826, Wayne County, KY – d. 1892, Morgan County, TN) (FN 32)

Children of John Brewster & Rebecca Farr:
i. Jesse Brewster (b. 1849, Fentress County, Tennessee – d. after 1870, location unknown); no marriage records found (FN 33)
ii. William Sheron Brewster (b. 1852, Fentress County, Tennessee – d. 1865, Morgan County, Tennessee) (FN 34)
iii. James Thomas Brewster (b. 16 Dec 1854, Fentress County, Tennessee ­– d. 26 Oct 1941, Morgan County, Tennessee); m1. Mary Catherine Brown, m2. Mary E. Criswell (FN 35))
iv. Fairbee E. Brewster (b. 1855, Fentress County, Tennessee – d. 1866, Morgan County, Tennessee) (FN 36)
v. Phoebe Brewster (b. ca. 1856, Fentress County, Tennessee – d. ca. 1858, Fentress County., Tennessee) (FN 37)
vi. Jasper Newton Brewster (b. Mar 1859, Fentress County, Tennessee – d. aft 1950, specific location unknown); m1. Martha A. Epperson, m2. Letha Ellen (Jones) Virden (FN 38)
vii. Andrew Brewster (b. 1860, Fentress or Morgan County, Tennessee – by 1880, Morgan County, Tennessee) (FN 39)
viii. George Brewster (b. 1865, Morgan County, Tennessee – d. 1870 or 1872, Morgan County, Tennessee) (FN 40)
ix. Farsina Brewster (b. Sep 1867, Morgan County, Tennessee – d. 21 Jan 1922, Bearden, Knox County, Tennessee); m1. William Davis, m2. Hugh Berry (see separate profile)

© 2022 Donna Rowland Gough, all rights reserved

Sources:

  1. Place estimated from parents’ residence. See Tennessee, Land Grants, Mountain District, Vol. A (1826-1827), Tennessee to James Bruster, grant #506 (1826), Book A, p 341; FamilySearch #1013020 (image 176) : accessed 28 Sep 2022. 
  2. Private letter, Lola Brewster Crabtree (granddaughter of John Brewster) to Donna Rowland Gough, 1981; information from Brewster and Cochran family records, no photocopies provided.  For information on Fentress County creation, see Tennessee State Library & Archives, Fentress County Fact Sheet, https://sos.tn.gov/tsla/pages/genealogical-fact-sheets-about-fentress-county#F, accessed 28 Sep 2022.
  3. 1850 U.S. census, Fentress County, Tennessee, population schedule, Civil District 5, page 415, dwelling #518, family #518, Jas. Brewster household; Ancestry digital image, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8054/images/4205423_00488?pId=6102263, accessed 28 Sep 2022.  James Thomas Brewster, family history, written about 1939, transcription provided in 1981 to Donna Rowland Gough by Lola Brewster Crabtree.
  4. Tennessee to James Brewster, grant #465 (1826), Book 14, p 838; FamilySearch #1012805 (image 435). Also Tennessee to James Brewster, grant #467 (1826), Book 14, p 841; FamilySearch, #1012805 (image 436).  James Brewster sold the 106.5 acres from these two grants in 1841 in a deed not registered until 1890, although son John appears to have believed he owned the property as late as 1865; see Morgan County, Tennessee, Deeds, Vol. C-2 (Jul 1890-Jul 1891), James Brewster to Isaac Stockton, pp 40-41; FamilySearch #978859, item 1 (image 5) and Fentress County, Tennessee, Deeds, Vol. J (Feb 1861-Jan 1867), John Brewster to A.J. Smith and Co., pp 387-389; FamilySearch #978384 (images 638-639).
  5. Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, U.S. National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/biso/index.htm : accessed 9 Oct 2022.
  6. Fentress County marriage records were destroyed in a 1905 courthouse fire; early Morgan County marriage records were destroyed in a 1863 courthouse fire. Year of marriage is estimated by year of birth of their first known child. 
  7. For Rebecca Farr’s birthyear, see 1860 U.S. census, Fentress County, Tennessee, population schedule, District #10, p 126, dwelling #836, family #776, John Brewster household; Ancestry digital images. For more information and sources on William Farr and Elizabeth Holmes, see their upcoming family profile (to be published soon). 
  8. Elijah Fair (Co. E, 10th IL Cavalry, Civil War), father’s pension #315571; William Farr (Co. D, 5th KY Cavalry, Civil War), invalid pension #293053, widow’s pension #468406; Case Files of Approved Pension Applications, 1861-1934; Civil War and Later Pension Files, National Archives, Washington D.C.
  9. A search of the 1850 census in Ancestry.com for John or J Brewster or Rebecca or R Brewster using wildcards (J* Br*ster, R* Br*ster) yielded no family resembling that of John Brewster.  For children’s birthplaces, see 1860 U.S. census, Fentress County, Tennessee, population schedule, District #10, page 126, dwelling #836, family #776, John Brewster household; Ancestry digital images, accessed 10 Oct 2022.
  10. Morgan County, Tennessee, Deeds, Vol. S (1877-1880), Craun and E.R. Duncan to John Brewster, pp 514-516; FamilySearch, FHL #978854, item 1 (image 5).
  11. Terry L. Futrell and Michael W. Nancy, Civil War Sourcebook: Morgan County, Tennessee (Wartburg, Tennessee: 2019), p 32. In an 1861 vote, 93% of Morgan County men voted against secession; in neighboring Scott and Fentress Counties, 96.5% and 84%, respectively, voted against secession.
  12. John Muir, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf (New York: First Mariner Books, 1998), pp 17-32.  
  13. 1860 U.S. census, Fentress County, Tennessee, agricultural schedule, District #12, pages 41-42, John Brewster; 1880 U.S. census, Morgan County, Tennessee, agricultural schedule, Civil District 5, Enumeration District 133, pages 7-8, John Brewster; Ancestry digital images.
  14. 1870 U.S. census, Morgan County, Tennessee, agricultural schedule, Civil District #5, pages 15-16, John Brewster; Ancestry digital images.
  15. 1850 U.S. census, Morgan County, Tennessee, agricultural schedule, Subdivision 19, pages 101-102, William Farr; Ancestry digital images.
  16. Kenneth W. Keller, “From the Rhineland to the Virginia Frontier: Flax Production as a Commercial Enterprise,” The Virginia Magazine of History & Biography, Vol. 98 (Jul 1990): pp 487-511, specifically p 510; JSTOR online database : accessed 12 Oct 2022.
  17. See FN 3, James Thomas Brewster family history. See also the list of children at the bottom of this profile for specific sources for each child.
  18. Causes of death for the children were “brain fever” (George), now called encephalitis; “congestive chills” (Jesse), now known as malaria and diarrhea; and dropsy (Fairbee), called now edema and possibly caused by heart ailments. See FN 3 and 17, James Thomas Brewster family history.
  19. 1879 Minutes, Original Stone Association of the Free Will Christian Baptist Church of Christ, established 1865; http://osafreewillbaptist.org/blog1/1879-minutes/ : accessed 12 Oct 2022. 
  20. A.B. Wright, Autobiography of Rev. A.B. Wright at the Holston Conference M.E. Church, 1826-1893. Williams Printing Company, Nashville TN, reprinted 1977, Fentress County Historical Society, Jamestown, Tennessee, p 199; FamilySearch, FHL #13200858, item 6, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/128785/ : accessed 12 Oct 2022. 
  21. Nelly Lender Brooks, Rugby Sketches, self-published, Rugby, Tennessee, May 1941; p 27. For “Old Jude,” letter from Wilma Crabtree Gibson to Donna Rowland Gough, 1983, privately held.
  22. Personal knowledge of the author, Donna Rowland Gough.
  23. Brewster Bridge, Bridgehunter.com, https://bridgehunter.com/tn/morgan/brewster/ : accessed 12 Oct 2022.
  24. Autobiography of Rev. A.B. Wright, pp 119-120.
  25. See FN 2, letter from Lola Brewster Crabtree, and FN 22, letter from Wilma Crabtree Gibson
  26. See FN 6, letter from Lola Brewster Crabtree.
  27. 1900 U.S. census, Morgan County, Tennessee, population schedule, Civil District #12, sheet #11, enumeration district (ED) 109, dwelling #205, family #205, John Brewster; Ancestry digital images.
  28. Morgan County, Tennessee, Marriages, 1901-1906 (1902), p 119, John Brewster Sr and Elizabeth Howard entry, County Court Clerk, Wartburg; FamilySearch digital images, FHL #978841 (image 309) : accessed 12 Oct 2022.  For Sophronia Elizabeth’s full name, see also Tennessee, State Board of Health, death certificate, file #451 (1922), Sephrona Elizabeth Brewester, Bureau of Vital Statistics; also Tennessee, Department of Public Health, death certificate, file #59-23130 (1959), Sarah Tennessee Elmore; Division of Vital Statistics; Ancestry digital images : accessed 12 Oct 2022.
  29. 1910 U.S. census, Morgan County, Tennessee, population schedule, Civil District #12, sheet #2B, Enumeration District 55, dwelling #34, family #37, John Brewster household; Ancestry digital images.
  30. Morgan County, Tennessee, Probate Records, 1866-1935 (1912), John Brewster entry, p 246; FamilySearch, FHL #978845, item 2 (image 200).
  31. See FN 28, Sephrona Elizabeth Brewester death certificate.
  32. For birth and death dates for both John and Rebecca, see FN 25.
  33. See FN 7 and 17; also, 1870 U.S. census, Morgan County, Tennessee, population schedule, Civil District 5, sheet 5, dwelling #33, family #33, John Brewster household; Ancestry digital images.
  34. See FN 3 and 7; also Autobiography of Rev. A.B. Wright, p 443. Also Ancestry, Find A Grave, database with images (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 9 Oct 2022), memorial 34506651, Sheron Brewster (1851-1865), Carpenter Cemetery, Morgan County, Tennessee; gravestone photo by Lillian A. Young Mioduski.
  35. See Tennessee, Department of Public Health, death certificate, file #25286 (1941), James Thomas Brewster, Division of Vital Statistics, Nashville; Ancestry online database, Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1965, accessed 13 Oct 2022. No marriage records have been found for either wife; however, see Mary Catherine (Brown) Brewster, Eastern Cherokee Applications of the U.S. Court of Claims, 1906-1909, National Archives, Record Group M1104; Fold3, https://www.fold3.com/image/222932747 : accessed 9 Oct 2022. Also FN 22, letter from Wilma Crabtree Gibson for second wife’s name.
  36. See FN 3 and 7; also Autobiography of Rev. A.B. Wright, p 443. Also Ancestry, Find A Grave, memorial 4506515, Fairbea Brewster (1855-1866), Carpenter Cemetery, Morgan County, Tennessee, gravestone photo by Lillian A. Young Mioduski.
  37. See FN 3 and 22. Also Ancestry, Find A Grave, memorial 34506639, Phoebe Brewster, 1857-1858, Carpenter Cemetery, Morgan County, Tennessee.
  38. See FN 3 and FN 7; also 1950 U.S. census, Upson County, Georgia, population schedule, Enumeration District 145-10, sheet 21, dwelling #195, Newton Brewster household; Ancestry digital images. For first wife’s name, see Tennessee, Department of Public Health, death certificate, file #57-24948 (1957), Nancy Florence Brewster, Division of Vital Statistics, Nashville. For second wife’s name, see West Virginia, Marriages Index, 1785-1971, Jasper Brewster and Letha Ellen Virden entry, 1933; Ancestry online database.
  39. See FN 3 for family history narrative; also FN 33 for 1870 census citation.
  40. See FN 3 for family history narrative. Also Ancestry, Find A Grave, memorial 34506520, George Brewster (1865-1875), Carpenter Cemetery, Morgan County, Tennessee. George does not appear in the 1870 census listing (even though he should).
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