My Genealogy Hound

PETER R. BROWNELL, of Jamestown, is a son of Joshua and Elizabeth (Reasoner) Brownell, and was born in Dutchess county, New York, April 20, 1806. His father, Joshua Brownell, was a native of Long Island, N. Y., and was a man of much more than ordinary prominence. About 1812 he left Long Island and settled at a point near Elmira, this State, and engaged in the purchase and sale of cattle for the New York and Philadelphia markets. He was a large dealer, and bought and sold a great many. An active whig, he was an ardent supporter of De Witt Clinton when he was a candidate, and was probably one of his strongest workers. He married Elizabeth Reasoner and had nine children. He died near Elmira in 1822.

Peter R. Brownell received his education in the public schools of Jamestown, and when he left his paternal home he began life as a laborer, working by the month until twenty-eight years of age, when he bought a farm in the town of Ellery, upon which he lived until 1870, a total of thirty-six years. After this he bought a property consisting of three houses and lots in the city of Jamestown, and moving in one of them has lived there ever since. Some years ago he retired from business and is now enjoying the fruits of the labor of his early life.

On August 31, 1834, P. R. Brownell married Rhoda Putnam, who bore him three children: Smith H., whose first wife was Mary Strong, and after her death he married Minerva Dunn; Mary Ann, married to John B. Rush, a prominent farmer living at Jamestown; and Bessie M., wife of the well-known Jamestown livery-man, John Peregrin. After Mrs. Brownell’s death Mr. Brownell married for his second wife Mrs. Mary Van Dusen.

In politics he adheres to the tenets of the Republican party, and with a kindly disposition he has many friends, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.