This timeline is, more or less, a summary of the documented facts found in the sparse paper trail left by Thomas and Sarah (Constant) Brashier of Baltimore County, Maryland. They lived in the area that today is Harford County, Maryland.

While Thomas Brashier’s ancestry is unproven, without a doubt, he belongs to the Huguenot Benjamin (Benois) Brasseur (c1620, France – 1663, Calvert County, Maryland) family and descends from one of Benjamin’s sons – Robert, Benjamin or John.

Having said that, we can take Thomas back one more generation to his parents. Thomas is the son of William and Elizabeth (MNU) Brashier of Baltimore County, Maryland and that both parents were dead by November 1708, in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Sarah Constant also appears to have been of French ancestry. Although the Constant surname is found in Britain, it is primarily considered to be of French origin.

When did the Brashier-Constant family first appear in Baltimore County? Thomas Brashier’s marriage date is, indeed, recorded in Baltimore County, but I question whether he actually married there or moved into the parish with his wife and young family. My questioning is due to the fact that his marriage isn’t recorded separately among other events taking place in 1726, but, instead, is recorded withing a small family group entry with children born as late as 1731. Therefore, this entry was made probably in June 1731 or perhaps even slightly later.

1701, September 1 – Thomas Brashier born, undoubtedly in Maryland; his birth date is recorded in the 1712 court record in which he is bound out to John Webster.

c1705 – Sarah Constant, daughter of John Constant and Unknown (MNU), born, place unknown

1726, October 13 – Thomas Brashier and Sarah Constant married, place uncertain

1726, November 2 – Thomas and Sarah Brashier are gifted 50 acres of land by William Grafton, 1/3 of the 150 acres parcel named Grafton’s Gift, Baltimore County, Maryland

1727, November 18 – William, son of Thomas and Sarah Brashier, born in St. George Parish, Baltimore, Maryland

1729, May 15 – Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Brashier, born in St. George Parish, Baltimore, Maryland; died 22 May 1729

1731, June 18 – Thomas, son of Thomas and Sarah Brashier, born in St. George Parish, Baltimore, Maryland

1733, November 25 – Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Brashier, born in St. George Parish, Baltimore, Maryland

1736, May 23 – John, son of Thomas and Sarah Brashier, born in St. George Parish, Baltimore, Maryland

1740, July 28 – Aquilla, son of Thomas and Sarah Brashier, born in St. George Parish, Maryland

1741, August 2 – Thomas and Sarah Brashier sold 40 of 50 acres of Grafton’s Gift back to William Grafton

1744, June 12 – Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Brashier, born in St. George Parish, Maryland

1751, May 10 – William and Ann (MNU) Brashier convey 50 acres of Grafton’s Gift back to William Grafton. This is likely Thomas’s son. They sold for just £5, a nominal fee, so perhaps were informally given back the land that William Grafton had gifted to William Brashier’s parents.

There is no death entry for Sarah (Constant) Brashier, even though the St. George Parish records are accessible online for years way beyond 1762, when Thomas received land in Orange County, North Carolina.

Sarah was likely near the end of her childbearing years by 1744, when daughter Sarah was born, so it isn’t surprising that there are no further mentions of this family in St. George’s Parish.

However, the most that can be said for Sarah’s date of death is that she died after June 12, 1744 and before 1779, when Thomas’s widow, Hannah, sold land in Orange County, North Carolina. Realistically, because Thomas and Hannah had eight children of their own, with daughter Hannah born c1748, Sarah probably died between 1744 and 1748, but place unknown since Thomas doesn’t surface in any records until 1762.

So, to continue. . . .

c1747 – Thomas Brashier married (2) Hannah (MNU), place unknown

c1747, Hannah, daughter of Thomas and Hannah Brashier born. Hannah married Abraham Teague, who died intestate in October 1795, Rowan County, North Carolina.

c1750 – James, son of Thomas and Hannah Brashier born. James married Catie (MNU) before 17 October 1779.

c1752 – Mary, daughter of Thomas and Hannah Brashier born

c1754 – Cassie, daughter of Thomas and Hannah Brashier born

1755 – Tax list of Orange County, North Carolina shows Robert Brashear Sr, along with Basil and Jesse Brashear. The Brashers, of all spellings, were all related and it’s possible that Thomas followed his Brashear cousins to Orange County at about the same time or soon after.

c1756 – Samuel, son of Thomas and Hannah Brashier born

c1758 – Jean, daughter of Thomas and Hannah Brashier born

c1760 – Rachel, daughter of Thomas and Hannah Brashier born

1762, November 2 – Thomas Brashier entered his land grant for 259 acres in Orange County, North Carolina

1770, May 17 – Thomas Brashier wrote his will in Orange County, North Carolina

1779, October 17 – Hannah, along with James and Catie and Samuel Brasher sell 100 acres of land in Orange County, North Carolina to John Elliott. It is identified as the land and plantation on which James Brazier lives.

1784, April – Will of Thomas Brazier, dated 17 October 1779 proved in Orange County, North Carolina court.

There is one more clue left by Thomas Brashier that needs to be followed. Before Thomas and Sarah Brashier left Maryland, they sold to Isaac Webster 10 acres of a parcel called Brashiers Desire. There is no land record of them buying any such land and, since it is named for Thomas’s family, it is reasonable to believe he might have inherited that land, which was part of a larger piece of land totaling 100s for which Isaac Webster appears on the 1732 rent rolls of Baltimore County, Maryland. That parcel is just one of many which Isaac owned.

Before closing the book, so to speak, on this new look at the life of Thomas Brashier, we need to step back in time and look more closely at his purported parents, William and Elizabeth (MNU) Brashier and how does the Webster family fit into this puzzle