Lorenzo Dow Brittain, son of James Brittain, Sr. and Delilah Stringfield, was born on 1805 in Buncombe Co, NC, and died December 1832 in Cedar Twp, Boone Co, Missouri. Since Lorenzo died before reaching the age of 30, he did not leave many records. The first record of him is a deed recorded in Buncombe Co, NC, Bk. 13, page 385: “James Stringfield, Sr., of Barren Co, KY, deeds 100 acres lying on Mills River, Buncombe Co. (now Henderson), to James Brittain, Sr., James Brittain, Jr., and to Lorenzo Dow Brittain.” (Several have questioned this and said that James Jr. and Lorenzo would have to be of age to be granted land. This is not so. Many deeds are given to minors, even infants.) This deed was dated 2 Dec. 1812. Then on 3 November, 1826, Bk. 19, page 400, Buncombe deeds, Lorenzo deeds his “one third share in 100 acres lying on Mills River to James Brittain, Jr.” Lorenzo Dow Brittain married ca 1826/27 in either Buncombe or Haywood Co, NC (marriage not found), to Arminta Russell, born ca 1809 in Rutherford Co, NC, and died after 1850 in either Missouri, Arkansas, or what is now Pittsburg Co, Oklahoma. Arminta was a daughter of George Russell, Jr., born 1772, and died after the 1850 census of Camden Co, MO, and his wife, Rhoda Reavis, born 21 Sept. 1769, and died after the 1850 census of Camden Co, MO. Arminta Russell Brittain’s paternal grandparents were George Russell, Sr., born ca 1735 in County Antrim (now Northern) Ireland, died 1782 in what is now Rutherford Co, NC, and his wife, Mrs. Mary (Underwood) Whiteside, widow of John Whiteside, Sr. Arminta’s maternal grandparents were also from Rutherford Co, NC, they were David Reavis, born 16 Nov. 1748, died 29 Sept. 1826 in Cooper Co, MO, and his wife, Gemima Reid, born 18 Nov. 1750, and died in Cole Co, MO, 20 April 1841. Both David and Gemima Reavis are buried in their family burying ground on their farm in Cooper Co, MO.
Lorenzo Dow Brittain was evidently very close to his brother, Benjamin Stringfield Brittain, as he went to Haywood Co. to live near him. The only record of Lorenzo in Haywood Co. is that he appears on the delinquent tax list for 1832-34 for 50 cents.
Lorenzo and Arminta Brittain had one child born in North Carolina. She was Sarah Elizabeth Brittain, born ca 1828/29, and died in Cass Co, MO. Sarah Brittain married in Camden Co, MO, ca 1847 to James A. Wilson.
Their second child was Jams [sic] Overton Brittain, who married Martha H. Hammer, daughter of Felix and Ellen (McCombs) Hammer of Camden Co, MO.
Their third child was William Lafayette Brittain, married in Camden Co, MO, to Henrietta Clinton, of Kentucky.
The last child was David Lorenzo Brittain, born in Boone Co, MO, in 1832 and died on 1 March 1869, in Lake Co, California. David was a freighter in the Nevada Territory and California.
Lorenze Dow Brittain must have known he was dying because he made a deed of trust, naming Benjamin F. Proctor as guardian of his children and his estate which was very small.
–ALOB, August 1984, Vol. V, #8, p. 84-71
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