Benjamin Webster Brown, 1807, New York State
I've run into a dead end with Benjamin Webster Brown (who apparently preferred to use his middle name). He was born in 1806 in New York State, reportedly Perry City, Tompkins County (now Schuyler County). He died in Camden, NJ, in 1878. Family tradition says he was of Welsh descent, but DNA suggests more likely Scottish.
I can trace him back to 1835, when he moved to NJ, but not before then. He may also have lived in New Jersey some six years before 1835, where I suspect he met his future wife, Elizabeth van Zandt, whom he took with him back to Schuyler County, NY. He probably worked as a steamboat engineer.
He left descendents in the area of what is now Watkins Glen, NY, but I know of only one of them. I am anxious to confirm his place of birth and the names of his children by Elizabeth. The early censuses for New Jersey were burnt, and I have not had access to the 1825 and 1835 state censuses for New York.