The original obituary appeared in the Pensacola Commercial of 1871. In 1933, at the time of Dr. George O. Brosnaham's death, a clipping of his father's obituary was found in a family bible belonging to a Mrs. W.B. Ferriss. The clipping was then republished in the Sunday, January 22, 1933 edition of one of the local papers, probably either the Pensacola Journal or the Pensacola Herald. A copy of this article, entitled "Aged Clipping Announcing of Death of John Brosnaham Is Found in 107-Year-Old Bible."

The obituary notes that he was born in the town of Algiers, New York, but no Algiers has been found even in old gazeteers of New York nor in local histories of the area around Catskill where his tombstone says he was born. There was a small town of Athens, just north of Catskill. The Hudson River was sometimes known as the North River. In the marriage records at St. Michael's Church his place of birth for both his marriages was Liverpool. In different census records his birthplace is given as England, New York, and Algiers.

A copy of the clipping was provided by Cynthia Brosnahan Richardson.