Brushfields here & there

The Brushfields of Madison, Indiana came from the Brushfields I have been reading about here and there in England. Until I started this blog I had no idea there was a Brushfield anything other than the name of a man who once owned the property on which I reside in Madison, Indiana. Today I found out Brushfield is also the name of the street on which one finds the Christ Church of Spitalfields (England). The street was re-named for a member of that  family in England. When I make that connection, to a local church there, it makes me wonder if Mr. Benjamin Brushfield was one who first initiated the idea behind the beginnings of the Christ Church in Madison, since he is one of the original vestry in Madison. I guess there is no way to know for sure.  It just seems a coincidence to me, and makes me think this little Brushfield project is more worthwhile  than it first seemed. All I was trying to do was help the neighborhood not be bulldozed for a new bridge.

Today’s research took me off in dozens of directions, but I am trying to keep it simple for this post. Obviously, the Brushfields were special people, not only in the old country, but here, in America. Though I did not come onto the information directly about Benjamin, the information I did find pertains to the family in such a way that I decided to use it as is. After reading it, I am sure you will see the correlation.

 The name Brushfield is well-known because it’s the name of the street where one finds the Spitalfields Christ Church of England (see the illustration above from Brushfield Street, 1816). I have no doubt that the church and Mr. Brushfield’s family had an influence on the person he would become in America..maybe not well-known, but a man of well deed.

 A little family background: George and Ann Nadauld, (George’s second wife) daughter of the Reverend Thomas Nadauld of Ashford(1771-1855), were the parents of six boys and three girls: Richard Nadauld, Thomas (born 16^th of February, 1798), George H. (christened the 9^thof OCT., 1803), Joseph Blackden (1800- to 29^th of August, 1849), Benjamin, Peter, Elizabeth, Anne, and Margaret. (I will add other dates as I lose my numbers headache). In a few searches online I found the following excerpt about Thomas Brushfield which gives a good background on the family.

From The Reliquary for April, 1876, vol. XVI, Llewellynn Jewitt writes of his dear friend:

 

“Born in the village of Ashford-in-the-Water, in Derbyshire, on the 16th of February, 1798, Thomas Brushfield was the son of George Brushfield, of that village, and Anne, his second wife (his sole issue by his first wife being a daughter, Frances, married to Mr. Willliam Bramwell). His grandfather, descended from a family of very high antiquity in the county of Derby—the Brushfields of Brushfield— was Richard Brushfield, who, although but a village blacksmith, was a man of understanding, and had acquired some property by marriage.

 

The son, George Brushfield, was brought up by his maternal uncle, who, for some reason that it is not necessary to inquire into, ” cut him off with a shilling,” and left, his property to his brothers and sisters. Being a man of strong judgment and of more than average powers of mind, he rose above the disappointment, and, became the ‘ counsellor and friend ” of his poorer neighbours, and the constant and respected companion of the village magnates.

 

He married, as his second wife, as just stated, Aune, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Nadauld (successively incumbent of Great Longstone, Ashford-in-the-Water, Belper, Turn- ditch, and Kilbourne, in Derbyshire, and son of Peter Nadauld. of Ash- ford, surgeon, and Margaret, his wife), and Elizabeth his wife.* ” She was,” my friend wrote, ” fitted in every respect to fill a high and honourable position in society ; she was a woman of strong mind, and was possessed of extraordinary fortitude, perseverance, and sound judgment. The reverses to which my father and she were subjected (and they were very severe ones), she bore up against and struggled through in a manner worthy the bravest and greatest of her sex.” Her epitaph, literally a true one, says ” Her life was a living lesson of piety, benevolence, and usefulness.” She died on the 26th of November, 1855, in her 84th year, and her husband on the 25th of February, 1825.

 

They had nine children, viz;, Richard Nadauld Brushfield, baptized Nov. 9th, 1796,who died on the 13th of March, 1871, leaving among other bequests, the sum of £250, the interest of which was to be given annually to ” such of the inhabitants of Ashford ” as the Trustees shall ” deem to be most needy and deserving,” and irrespective of their religious opinions; Thomas Brushfield, whose memoir I am now writing ; and four other sons, and three daughters, viz., George Brushfield, who died in the United States; Joseph Blackden Brushfield, who died in 1849. and is buried at Ashford ; Benjamin Brushfield, still resident in the United States; Peter Brushfield, who died in the United States ; Elizabeth Brushfield (married to Mr. Henry Gadsdon), who died in London ; Anne Brushfield, who died at the age of of nineteen, at Ashford ; and Margaret Brushfield, married to Mr. W. Darwent, and also deceased.

 

Mr. George Brushfield lies interred in the graveyard attached to the now destroyed Baptist chapel, situated on the roadside from Ashford to Wardlow, not far from the Edge Stone Head. His son, Mr. Thomas Brushfield, placed there a gravestone to his memory, bearing the lines of his own composing; the stone is now ruthlessly broken to pieces and scattered about.”

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The original family came from Ashford-in-the-water, located in the county of Derby. ASHFORD, a township,chapelry and picturesque village, is situated in a valley on the east bank of the river Wye. The township of Brushfield is annexed to the above chapelry.

 

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I think it helps that George, Benjamin and Peter were mentioned (via Mr. Jewitt’s memoir) as having been in the United States.

 

The fact that members of this family came to Madison to start a new life and started a neighborhood should be enough reason for those in historic preservation to take a serious look at who these people were, where they came from, and what their contribution was in the Madison, Indiana neighborhood in which I live. 

 

According to the Madison Jefferson County Public Library’s History Rescue pages for the Christ Episcopal Church these are their Brushfield listings:

 

Brushfield, Alice Maud Bapt. July 10, 1864

Brushfield, Annie Ment. Easter 1855

Brushfield, Arthur Lionel Bapt. Oct. 18, 1885

Brushfield, Mrs. Arthur Patterson Dd. Dec. 23, 1908

Brushfield, Benjamin Dd. Oct. 8, 1885

Brushfield, Benjamin Ment. March 23, 1845

Brushfield, Bery Ment. Oct. 1, 1848

Brushfield, Elva Maud Bapt. Nov. 25, 1900

Brushfield, Mrs. Henry Dd. Sept. 1888

Brushfield, Joseph George Dd. Feb. 10, 1901

Brushfield, Lou Ella Bapt. June 13, 1886

Brushfield, Martha Ann Bapt. June 13, 1886

Brushfield, Martha Grace Bapt. Jan. 14, 1866

Brushfield, Mrs. Martha Ment. Oct. 1, 1848

Brushfield, Martha Dd. July 30, 1887

Brushfield, Richard Blackden Bapt. Oct. 18, 1885

Brushfield, Richard N. Dd. Apr. 23, 1900

Brushfield, Mrs. Sarah Dd. Oct. 16, 1918

Brushfield, Thomas Dd. Dec. 21, 1879

Brushfield, Nadir Myrtle Bapt. Nov. 25, 1900

Brushfield, William Wilberforce Bapt. Nov. 25, 1849 (infant)

 

Though originally listed as Burchfields, these are, no doubt, Brushfields as well thus I will write them as such so it is easier to find the listing:

Brushfield, Benjamin Bapt. Apr. 25, 1862

Brushfield, Darling Grace Bapt. Mar. 1, 1871

Brushfield, Martha Ment. May 11, 1845

Brushfield, Victoria Constance Bapt. Mar. 1, 1871

 

 The origin of the family’s surname can be found in a chapter in the book, The Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist , Volume XXVI., July 1885, to October 1886 (as  found on googlebooks).

 

I will continue my research on the Brushfields, here and there, in other posts.

**I received an email from a family member who wrote a comment on this entry. Since he said he could provide me with a photo of the Christ Church area (as it is today) I included a link to that photo here.