To this date the earliest known ancestor of Orson Pratt Brown is his great, great grandfather William Brown, born near Edinburgh, Scotland around 1693, and later lived in the vicinity of Darlton, Nottingham, England. It is believed that William was a Scotsman and that he was married to a woman of "Portigee descent" named Margaret. This information is read in Captain James Brown's autobiography.

Their only known child is William Brown II born around 1713 possibly in Maryland or in Rowan County, North Carolina. This William married in 1748 to a woman named Margret (surname unknown) possibly at Rowan County, North Carolina. William II was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War 1775-1783.

William Brown II and Margret Brown had 9 children:
1- William Brown b. 1753; md. Diana Davis on 6 May 1772 in Rowan County
2- John Brown b. 1755,
3- James Brown, Sr. b. 1757; md. Mary or Polly Williams Emberson or Emmerson; d. 1823
4- Charity Brown Robson/Robeson/Robison b. 1749,
5- Hannah Brown Elliott b. 1751; md. Joseph Elliott or Ellit, 4 June 1767 in Rowan County
6- Constant Brown Wynn/Winn b. 1758 ; md.John Wynn or Winn
7- Susannah Brown Brown b. 1760; md. Brown, daughter named Margaret Brown
8- Elizabeth Brown Hendrix/Hendricks b. 1762,
9- Margaret Brown Stillwell Roberts b. c.1763; md. Thomas Stillwell in Rowan County c.1778, had a son named Thomas Stillwell.  In the late 1770s or early 1780s, they moved to Johnston County, North Carolina, where Margaret later married a Mr. Roberts c.1780.

All born in Rowan County, North Carolina, during pre-American Revolutionary War (1775-1783).

William's friends and/or neighbors: Henry Strange, John Bentley, Abner Cotten, John Northen.

Kristine A. Card's Notes on the will of William Brown (he died 1772):

In August 1985, Kristine A. Card, a 2nd great granddaughter of Captain James Brown, living in North Carolina, noticed that some of the printed copies of the will of William Brown (d. 1772) left out one daughter, namely, Margaret. This prompted her to go to the State Archives in Raleigh, North Carolina, to look at the original. She made copies of the original will and noticed that the fold in the paper had made it difficult to read the line which included the name of his daughter, Margaret.
For this reason, some transcribers had left the name out entirely. Kristine's description of the will and its contents are found below.

The will is in good condition. The paper is a light brown color and the ink is dark brown, but it is very readable. The will was folded in half right along the line which reads "I give and bequeath to my daughter Margaret Brown one Cow and one year old lamb and". The ink on this line is much more faded than the rest of the document, but it is still readable. However, it is easy to see how the line could be missed if not studied with care.

The children listed below had their temple work done in the Logan Temple, by three of the children of Captain James Brown, on 23 June 1891. They listed their relationship as great grand niece or nephew, showing they had knowledge of the below mentioned persons from their father.

This will is in the State Archives in Raleigh, North Carolina. Will Transcribed 8 August 1985

The will was obviously written by a scribe and William Brown signed with his mark. The mark is visible between the words William and Brown with the word his over it and the word mark below. The mark is difficult to describe. There is a strong slanted line as in the letter X from upper right to lower left. The cross the other direction is very short and faint above the line of the other diagonal and below is looped and bent.

Almost every word was readable. The few words that were questionable I have marked with a question mark in brackets following the word, like this [?]. Also in one instance the word my was written where I believe he meant may. I have put may in brackets following my. I have done the same with Being !been].

I have kept all spellings as they are in the original document and capitalizations as best I could determine. I have preserved all line divisions; because his lines are longer than mine, I have indented all continuations. There were no indentations in the original.

After the final word in the first paragraph, following, there is a broken line (dashes) from the end of the word to the right edge of the paper; likewise after the word distributed in the next sentence. At the end of each sentence that begins "I give and bequeath" there is a solid line from the last word to the right edge of the paper.

The word Seal after the name of William Brown is encircled with small, continuous arches, each interior point looped in a small circle. The best description I can think of is an elementary drawing of a cloud.

After the names of witnesses John Bentley and John Northen, them is something written in very small letters. It looks like the two are identical, and I believe both begin with the letter I, but that is all I could determine.