www.ulsterclans.com

My Great-Great Grandfather, Thomas Brown told a story that was handed down:
Supposedly his last name was Jones, and he was from Dublin, Ireland. He lived with his father, step-mother and sister, Josephine.
One day, his sister brought in a load of wood, dropped a piece on the floor the step-mother had just cleaned, so the step-mother started beating his sister. In defense, he took a fireplace poker and struck his step-mother.
In fear of punishment from his father, Thomas ran away, hid on a ship bound for America. He changed his name to Brown (what an imagination)!!!
So, I have not been able to find him anywhere!
Someone posted on FamilySearch.org that his real name was George Thomas Brown...don't know where they got that, as there is no source listed.
On his son's death certificate (my Great-Grandfather), it lists Thomas' birth place as Augusta, Maine, USA, but I haven't even been able to find him there!
I am at a loss where to go next!
Can anyone help me?

Hi Karen, have you a rough year of birth for him?

marriage July 29, 1866 in Wayne Co., Kentucky, USA, age 21 (1845)
1870 Census he is age 24 (1845/1846)
1880 Census he is age 37 (1843)
1900 Census he is age 67 (1832)
died on or before 1910 as I find his wife Melissa living with her daughter Martha and family.
His son William's death certificate lists him as being from Augusta, Kennebec Co., Maine.
On the Find A Grave website, www.findagrave.com lists his name as George Thomas Brown. I am still waiting for a response to my query on that.
I am at a dead end!

From what I can see, none of the census give his place of birth as Ireland, sometime family lore is fiction, looking in Ireland without even his fathers name would be impossible to find a correct baptism record. You would be better to get his marriage or death cert to see if it lists his fathers name.

I'm afraid you may be right. I will continue searching this end, and maybe I'll be able to find that needle. Thank you for your input and taking the time to respond.

Hope you find luck in your search Karen x