photo courtesy Brown County Historical Society
The Brummetts of Brown County
T
he Banner Brummett log cabin at Johnson and Gould Streets is one of the architectural treasures in Nashville, Indiana. It was built in 1830 and remodeled with board and batten sections in 1871. There are 4 inch square gun ports on three sides. It’s reported to be the oldest log house in town and stories of the Brummett family can be traced before and after its construction. The Brummett family has roots in Franklin County of colonial Virginia, where James Brummett I was born in 1746. It’s an accepted tradition that members of the Brummett family seemed to migrate whenever the population of the area in which they lived had grown to the point that “smoke could be seen rising from another resident’s chimney on a clear morning.” From a treasure trove of government and Brummett family records, including family Bibles, are gleaned some of the highlights through the years of some of the members of this well-known Brown County family:
24 Our Brown County • March/April 2013
~by Julia Pearson
Brummetts are listed in the Monroe County 1820 Census, and the marriage record of James Brummett III is recorded in Monroe County in 1819. The family settled on Brummetts Creek Road, which runs from State Road 46 to State Road 45 in Unionville. All the children of George Brummett were among the first settlers in Brown County. When the county of Brown was created by an Act of the State Legislature, brothers Banner Brummett Sr. and Pierson Brummett were already living in the area. They were named county commissioners along with James Huff, William Dowson, John Followell, and Henry Jackson. The Brummett brothers also donated land for the county seat along with six other men. Banner Brummett, Sr. was the first county agent. He is credited with choosing the sites of the jail and courthouse. Banner Sr. also suggested the name of Jacksonburg for the name of the county seat in honor Continued on 30