I am the son of Philip Dewitt Brown and Helen Louise Maxson of Van Wert, OH where both families were of long standing. Part of the "Great Black Swamp," Van Wert County was one of the last organized in Ohio. The Browns arrived from Lawrence County, PA in the mid 1840s while the Maxsons -- an old 17th century Rhode Island family -- came from Knox County at the close of the Civil War from Knox County following brief stays in Tuscarawas, Hocking and Harrison counties, Pennsylvania and NJ. I have subjected both the Brown & Maxson male lines to FTDNA's "Big Y-700" testing: R-Y61291 (Brown) and I-BY98512 (Maxson).

I am the son of Philip Dewitt Brown and Helen Louise Maxson of Van Wert, OH where both families were of long standing. Part of the "Great Black Swamp," Van Wert County was one of the last organized in Ohio. The Browns arrived from Lawrence County, PA in the mid 1840s while the Maxsons -- an old 17th century Rhode Island family -- came from Knox County at the close of the Civil War from Knox County following brief stays in Tuscarawas, Hocking and Harrison counties, Pennsylvania and NJ. I have subjected both the Brown & Maxson male lines to FTDNA's "Big Y-700" testing: R-Y61291 (Brown) and I-BY98512 (Maxson).