Dr. Robert and Elizabeth Broun (108)

Dr. Robert Broun (1715- Nov. 23, 1757) Elizabeth Thomas Broun (1722-June 6, 1766) Mary Broun Loocock laid this box tomb monument to honor her parents, Dr. Robert and Elizabeth Broun (aka Brown). In 1735, Mary's father, physician Robert Broun (1715 - 1757), immigrated to Carolina from Scotland along with his parents, George (b. 1680) and Lady Mary Broun, when he was 21 years old. It is not known where Dr. Broun received his medical degree at such a young age, but he was readily welcomed into the homes of the "best" families in the area (1), leaving one to assume he was well educated and competent.  Though his parents continued on to Virginia, Dr. Broun settled here in Goose Creek, married Elizabeth Thomas, and established Bounfields Plantation on the headwaters of Foster Creek, where Mary and her siblings - Archibald, Elizabeth (m. Nowell) and Ann (m. Huger) - were born (2).  Some time after the chapel's destruction, an individual headstone for Dr. Robert Broun was moved to a location just inside the gates of the St. James Goose Creek Parish Church (3) for better protection from the elements and vandalism, as seen in the photo at right. There is no documentation confirming the location of Mary Loocock's grave, though one might easily assume she was interred with her husband, Aaron Loocock, between her brother Archibald and their parents. Text and photo at left by Leigh Jones Handal of Charleston Raconteurs. Photo at right from http://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23200719/robert-broun. You can help support the gravestone restoration and research efforts at the St. James Goose Creek Chapel of Ease/Bethlehem Baptist Church Historic Site is by shopping at our online store or by making a donation. Notes: 1. Heitzler, Dr. Michael J. Jr. Goose Creek: A Definitive History, Vol. 1 (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2005) p. 265. 2. FindaGrave.com/memorial/31481035/archibald-broun 3. FindaGrave.com/memorial/23200719/robert-broun