Mr. Speaker, I rise today to the following comprehensive history of Browntown, and to include in the Record in perpetuity. Physical Location of Browntown In what is known as Browntown, near present-day Snow Hill, located in Greene County,…
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to the following comprehensive history of Browntown, and to include in the Record in perpetuity.
Physical Location of Browntown
In what is known as Browntown, near present-day Snow Hill,
located in Greene County, North Carolina, centuries of human
presence, resilience, and cultural exchange have shaped the
land. Long before Europeans or Africans arrived, the
Tuscarora Nation, part of the Iroquoian speaking people,
inhabited this region as early as the late 15th and 16th
centuries, establishing an Indigenous cultural and
agricultural presence along the Contentnea Creek and its
trade areas. By the time of European contact in the late
1600s, explorers such as John Lederer had passed through and
began to map the area. Followed by John Lawson, whose
writings in the early 1700s documented the complexity of
community life and culture among the Tuscarora living within
the land's boundaries.
Although Greene County, originally named Glasgow County
formally established in 1791 and renamed Greene County in
1799, its origins were deeply entwined with those of the
Tuscarora stronghold of Cotechney, located near what would
later become the county seat. As settlers arrived in the
early 18th century, they interwove their lives with those of
Native Tuscarora through conflict, cooperation, and kinship.
The town of Snow Hill, founded in 1828, emerged later in
Greene County.
Yet, beyond these chartered towns and official records, a
different legacy took shape: one of kinship ties, spiritual
traditions, and cultural memory of the rural settlement that
became known as Browntown. Never incorporated, Browntown
emerged as a self-sustaining community built on shared land,
interwoven ancestry, and mutual survival. Its roots reflect a
unique blend of African, Tuscarora, and European heritage,
forming a tri-racial community whose resilience and cultural
impact continue to shape Greene County's identity to this
day.
Browntown lies along ancient Native American trade routes
and waterways, connecting to Contentnea Creek, located just
south at a distance of 2-3 miles, and near the Neuse River,
approximately 7-10 miles away. Browntown took form as a
significant settlement and hunting area for the Tuscarora,
located less than 10 miles away from the final, most decisive
battle of the Tuscarora War in 1713 at Fort Neoheroka.
Browntown is also home to several blended cemeteries,
including at least one known unmarked Indigenous burial
ground, as well as unmarked slave graves and colonial and
antebellum burial sites. The presence of these sacred sites,
ranging from Native burial grounds to unmarked family plots
and church cemeteries, reflects the deeply intertwined
histories of the people who once lived and blended on this
land.
Browntown also sits near the intersection of North Carolina
Highways 11 and 13, which connect to Indian Woods to the
North in Bertie County. Indian Woods was the Tuscarora
Reservation established in 1717 after the Tuscarora War,
which also contained blended people. Essential highways, such
as Routes 58 and 70, once served as key routes for both
Indigenous nations, like the Tuscarora, and later colonial
settlers. Browntown runs parallel to Highway 258, a route
constructed initially by the British for trade between
Eastern NC and Southeast Virginia. It is where the
descendants of tri-racial communities continue to live, such
as those in the Winton Triangle of Hertford County. These
trading paths were and still are conduits for agricultural
exchange, tribal passageways, and rural resettlement areas
before and after emancipation.
Browntown in the Making
Browntown in modern times has been a part of Hookerton
Township, which lies within a deeply historical corridor that
connects the lived experiences of tri-racial descendants
throughout eastern North Carolina. The Browntown Community
stands as a living testament to the enduring spirit of people
of tri-racial heritage. Forged not by municipal charter but
by the shared tenacity of descendants from African, European,
and Tuscarora people of rural eastern North Carolina.
Browntown's legacy is one of resilience and unity.
Established as a free, autonomous, and safe haven before and
after the Civil War, it was home to pioneers of land
stewardship and mutual aid, all woven together by distinct
cultures into a thriving, mixed-rural community. The
Browntown community is also not far from Wheat Swamp, as the
wooded wetlands offered natural seclusion for worship and
reflection during antebellum times. This uncharted
settlement, born outside the boundaries of conventional
towns, cultivated a unique social fabric that honored mixed
people while cherishing common purpose.
Place of Worship and Study
Before the formalization of land deeds and property
holdings in Browntown, the people came together to worship.
Although not located in Browntown, Shady Grove Church is
closely linked to the community's history and identity, as it
was the first organized church established nearby as a place
of worship near Hookerton Town in Greene County. Shady Grove
Church is the oldest known church serving people of mixed
race in the community, established in 1867 as a bush shelter
(a bush arbor) made of leaves and branches to offer shade
during worship. Considered the mother church, Shady Grove
gave rise to several churches, reflecting its profound
spiritual influence.
The founding landowners Ellis Dixon, Ellis Suggs, Lewis
Dunn, Squire Turnage, and Ephraim Dixon laid the groundwork
for faith-based resilience in post-Civil War Greene County.
It is located approximately 6 to 9 miles from Browntown.
Shady Grove church represents the early roots of communal
worship that would later continue within Browntown itself
through Brown Chapel, Oak Grove, McCoy's Chapel Church, and
other churches in the community. Established in 1899 and
formally deeded by Richard Brown in 1918. The creation of
this church further cemented the community's spiritual
legacy. As a central landholder and patriarch of the
Browntown community, by deeded land ``for church purposes
only'' to the United America Free Will Baptist Church, Brown
Chapel, later known as Brown Chapel. This land, situated
along the public road from Brown's Crossroads to Glenfield
Road and near the cemetery road, served as sacred ground for
religious practices, fellowship, and ancestral remembrance.
The deed signed and witnessed on February 28, 1918,
represents one of the earliest documented acts of faith-based
land transfer by a mixed landowner in the county, reinforcing
the continuity of spiritual life that began at Shady Grove
and anchoring a new generation of worship in Browntown's
evolving identity.
Additionally, Browntown School served as an educational
center for generations of children in this rural tri-racial
community. Though no longer standing, the school's memory
lives on through oral history and preserved photographs. Its
foundation may remain buried on the original site, offering
future potential for archaeological or cultural recovery.
Browntown School was more than a building; it represented
self-determination, literacy, and intergenerational legacy
during a time when rural education for African American and
mixed, heritage children was underfunded and overlooked by
formal systems. Its presence reinforces the longstanding
footprint of Browntown residents in shaping Greene County's
educational and civic landscape.
Living Summary of Browntown
A living testament to the complexity of North Carolina's
and America's rural past, it includes Richard Brown, a
cornerstone figure in Browntown's development. Born in 1852,
to formerly enslaved or free parents, after living through
Emancipation and Reconstruction, a photograph taken of him
highlights a prominent figure. It captures not just his face
but also his determination. Born just before the Civil War,
Richard would raise a family amid the struggles of
Reconstruction and segregation, passing on values of land
stewardship and kinship.
His daughter, Annie Jane Jones (1884-1950), and her
marriage to John C. Grant (1878-1936), represent the enduring
lineage that remained on the land. Browntown stood as a
sanctuary for those born of blended lineages, offering
dignity where societal bonds of rigid racial hierarchies were
enduring. Historical records document Browntown's origins, at
least, as far back as 1880. A warranty deed executed in 1887
by Chappel H. Churchill and M.E. Churchill, transferring land
in Hookerton Township to William Brown, born in 1874, an
African American landowner
whose wife, Addie Grant Brown, born in 1881, to Needham
Grant, 1845, of mixed ancestry, symbolizes remarkable self-
determination during the post-Reconstruction era.
The records for Greene County confirm that members of the
Brown family legally held property in the area now known as
Browntown. This deed serves as tangible evidence of
landownership by a mixed, heritage family during an era when
such claims were not only rare but often met with resistance.
Unlike chartered townships, Browntown emerged as a self-
defined community operating outside formal governance but
deeply rooted in traditions of kinship, survival, and
cultural unity. The legal documentation, when paired with
oral histories passed down through generations, affirms that
Browntown was not a place imagined but a living, land-based
community that sustained itself through shared heritage,
mutual protection, and pride in place.
The Act of Preservation
The Browntown Annual Community Picnic is a living act of
preservation. For over 300 years, people and families of
Tuscarora, African, and European descent have lived in this
community in Greene County. The people return to honor their
lineages, which shaped a rural community that continues to
unite in celebration of a shared heritage, family ties, and
collective memory. Preserving traditional foods, stories, and
customs that contribute to the culture of Greene County and
the State of North Carolina, the Annual Community Picnic is a
living tradition that stands as both a homecoming and a
cultural archive. This gathering is more than a reunion; it
is an act of generational memory, where traditional foods,
stories, and customs are passed down under the shade of
longleaf pines. Generations in Browntown have thrived by
blending traditions, celebrating lived experiences, and
fostering a sense of belonging that transcends historical
significance.
Special Thanks
A special thank you to the many groups and people whose
contributions helped capture history and now are living
history to Browntown. Dr. Arwin Smallwood--for his writing,
research insight, and peer review guidance, enriching this
work with scholarly depth and cultural integrity. Mr. Earl
Ijmes--for his historical consultation, community
storytelling, and grounding wisdom that shaped our
understanding of the past. The 2025 Browntown Picnic Planning
Committee: Mona Warren, Sharon Bright, Shaniqua Jones, and
David Brown--for their tireless coordination, vision, and
commitment to honoring tradition and bringing our people
together. Penny Wade, Lucy Suggs, Arlena Brown, Helen Scott,
and Reginald Sutton--for their historical fact-checking and
family research, your voices carry the weight and beauty of
generations. Billy Dale, Ruffus Grant, Dorris Speight--for
nourishing the community with love and generosity, and who
made the 2025 picnic day itself possible through food,
fellowship, and celebration. Steven Dale--for sharing his
gift of music and creating the joyful rhythm that tied the
day together with pictures. The Greene County Board of
Commissioners: Chairman Bennie Heath, Commissioners Jerry
Jones, Ray Johnson, Robert (Bobby) Taylor, Jr., Derek
Burress, and former Commissioner James Shackleford--for
officially recognizing Browntown and passing the community
resolution. Their leadership and support help ensure the
story is appreciated. Kathy Mooring, Deputy Clerk to the
Board--for her administrative coordination and
professionalism. lgnacia Joyner--At the heart of this
initiative, formally launched the Browntown Legacy effort to
safeguard the cultural and historical identity of this tri-
cultural community. Her leadership galvanized community
collaboration, garnering recognition at both the county and
federal levels as a contributing preservation Author and
Community Historian.