John Brown Kin

Tombstone Tuesday - Owen Brown Headstone Repaired

2013-03-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

H. Scott Wolfe, Historical Librarian of the Galena, Illinois, Public Library District and frequent guest blogger on Louis DeCarlo's Blog "John Brown the Abolitionist -- A Biographer's Blog," contacted me recently to ask me a question about the family plot in the Old Hudson Township Burying Grounds, in Hudson, Ohio.

I wasn't able to answer his question, but he told me that the Owen Brown Gravestone had been repaired! Yeah. Great Great Great Great Grandpa's headstone is no longer languishing in the mud.

Photo by Alice Keesey Mecoy 2009

I first wrote about GGGG Grandpa Owen's broken headstone in this post in 2009.

At the time of my visit to Hudson, Owen's stone had broken off the base, and was lying at the base of his first wife's marker. I contacted the Parks and Recreation Department in Hudson, and they assured me that they were looking at ways to repair the headstone.

Scott graciously sent me a photo that he took at the Old Hudson Township Burying Ground in April 2012. Thank you so much Scott! I appreciate you sharing your photography with me.

Photo by H. Scott Wolfe 2012

I guess that great minds do think alike - I was going to do a followup writeup on the Old Hudson Township Burying Grounds, but while looking up the exact name of Lou's blog, I see that Scott beat me to it. So for more information about the Browns buried in Hudson Ohio, please see Scott's informative post on Lou's amazing blog.

To clarify - this is the grave of Owen Brown [B-1], John Brown's father, not the grave in California of John Brown's son Owen Brown [B1843]. We are still awaiting more information on that grave site!

2013 National Abolitionist Fall of Fame and Museum Inductees Announced

2013-02-10T17:40:00.001-06:00

Four Abolitionists Named to Hall of Fame

On January 31, 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was proposed to the legislatures of the States by the 38th Congress, and by the end of that year the amendment was ratified: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude … shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

On Thirteenth Amendment Day, 2013, the Cabinet of Freedom, the governing board of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) in Peterboro NY, announces plans to induct four 19th Century abolitionists on Saturday, October 19, 2013. The 2013 inductees are the fifth set of abolitionists to be inducted since NAHOF was formed in 2004. All four nominations were selected from public nominations to the Hall of Fame by the NAHOF Inductee Committee chaired by Cabinet member Carol Faulkner PhD. Dr. Faulkner worked with a committee of scholars from around the country who reviewed the written nomination forms.

An Abolition Symposia during the afternoon of October 19, 2013, will include lectures on each of the four inductees. Following the annual NAHOF dinner, evening induction ceremonies will include brief nomination speeches by family, associations, and societies, the unveiling of the official Hall of Fame portraits created by artist Joseph Flores of Rochester, and dramatic presentations. The public is encouraged to join.

The 2013 inductees to the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum:

Elijah Parish Lovejoy (1802 – 1837)
Born in Maine, Lovejoy later became editor of the St. Louis Observer and a teacher. After becoming a Presbyterian minister he preached abolition and continued his anti-slavery newspaper even as his presses were destroyed by pro-slavery mobs. As editor of the antislavery newspaper The Alton Observer in Alton, Illinois, Lovejoy committed himself to pursuing the ideals of universal freedom and human dignity. While defending his newspaper against threats from a proslavery mob in November of 1837, he was murdered. This early act of violence against abolitionists angered northern residents and stimulated participation in the growing movement to abolish slavery. In response to Lovejoy’s murder both John Brown, instigator of the Harpers Ferry invasion, and Wendell Phillips, wealthy Boston orator, committed their lives to the abolition of slavery.

Myrtilla Miner (1815-1864) was trained as a teacher in New York State and first taught in northern schools. Aware that slavery could not end if blacks were not educated, she dedicated her career to that purpose. As a teacher at the Newton Female Institute in Whitesville, Mississippi in 1845, she became appalled at the inhumanity of slavery, but was forbidden to teach blacks due to the intensity of local prejudice. In 1851, she established a school for black females in Washington, D.C. where she faced a constant barrage of bigotry, harassment and threats of violence. Her dedication to continue teaching arose, as she said, from the “moral courage I carry in my own soul.” Miner’s birthplace in North Brookfield, Madison County NY is a site on the Madison County Freedom Trail.

John Rankin (1793-1886), a white southerner by birth, was active in the original burst of antislavery sentiment from the American Revolution and Second Great Awakening. After moving to Ripley, Ohio in 1822, Rankin learned that his brother Thomas, a Virginian, had become a slaveholder. He composed a series of Letters on Slavery to his brother that became one of the earliest and most effective calls for immediate emancipation. John Rankin became one of the nation’s best-known Underground Railroad conductors, and the source for the real-life story that inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s fictional character, Eliza Harris, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In partnership with African American John Parker, the two men and their families turned the small village of Ripley, Ohio into one of the key crossing points over the Ohio River for fugitives fleeing slavery, assisting approximately 2,000 runaways. Rankin’s notoriety grew among embittered Kentuckians so that a $3,000 bounty was placed on his head. His home was targeted by armed slave owners and hunters demanding to search for runaway slaves.

Jonathan Walker (1799-1878), better known as the “Man with the Branded Hand,” was a Massachusetts-born antislavery author, lecturer, and agitator. The case that secured Walker’s antislavery reputation occurred in 1844. Walker and his family had moved to Pensacola, Florida, where Walker managed a railroad property and invited black workers to his home for meals. Already known for his anti-racist activities, bounty hunters captured Walker and seven fugitive slaves sailing for freedom in the Bahamas. In jail for one year, Walker was punished for “stealing slaves” by being branded with an “SS” by a United States marshal. John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem about Walker, “The Branded Hand,” became nationally known. His speeches encouraged abolitionist activity, and he sold copies of abolitionist literature to raise funds for the movement.

The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (NAHOF) was launched in 2004 by the Smithfield Community Association in partnership with the Upstate Institute at Colgate University. NAHOF was provisionally chartered by the New York State Board of Regents in 2007. The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum honors antislavery abolitionists, their work to end slavery, and the legacy of that struggle, and strives to complete the second and ongoing abolition – the moral conviction to end racism. The Hall of Fame encourages public participation at the October event, and for nominations of future inductees. For future details and updates on the event contact: National Abolition Hall of Fame & Museum, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro, NY 13134-0055, nahofm1835@gmail.com. or
www.nationalabolitionhalloffameandmuseum.org.

Friday Funny - Gmom Keesey and The Bigfoot Hoax

2013-02-08T06:00:00.000-06:00

Growing up I heard my elders telling stories about the Bigfoot Hoax in the Humboldt county area of California.

Gmom, the title my family used for my Grandmother Beatrice Cook Keesey, was a good friend of the men who started and for years continued the Bigfoot Hoax in the woods of Northern California, but it turns out she actually played a part in the hoax.

Northern California Redwood Forest
Let's go back to the early 1950's in Humboldt County California. Logging camps and road work crews were sprouting up all over the richly forested Northern California area known as Humboldt County. The area was rough, wild, and sparsely inhabited. This was a simpler time, before the constant bombardment of images and information that today fill our world. People were still fascinated and amazed by simple things. The world was not yet a small place with no secrets left to expose, but a wide and wonderful adventure waiting to be explored. "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" presented people, places, and things from all over the world that were "unbelievable" and mysterious.

The men working in the logging camps and road work crews were far away from their homes and families, sitting around a campfire doing what man has done since the start of time - telling each other spooky stories. Animated discussions of the Abominable Snowman, the Yeti and Sasquatch, as well as all manner of things that go bump in the night, were probably what gave the hoax its power.

Two men on these work crews were Wilbur "Shorty" Wallace and his brother Ray Wallace. They were funny men, prone to pulling practical jokes on friends and family. I can imagine the two of them bedding down after a particularly spirited evening of ghost and ghoul stories, whispering plans back and forth, setting up a practical joke that would spread beyond their wildest dreams; a practical joke that would take in scholars, scientists, newspaper reporters, authors, and everyday men for many years to come.

Two brothers, time on their hands, weeks away from family, eager to get a laugh..... the scene was set for a great practical joke.

The Beginning of the Hoax
They carved a set of feet, sixteen inches in length, and left footprints around a work site for others to find. What started out to be a local laugh, a funny joke, a waste of time, and a clever practical joke, became a national sensation. The story is foggy about the actual manner in which they made the tracks; some say they used a mechanical device, some say that they used the feet on a stick, however they did it, they made prints around a work site in the early 1950 around Trinidad. Workers found the prints and the word spread within the local workmen. Ray and Shorty left footprints at various work sites, moved equipment around, left evidence of visits from " a big footed" person. Knowing that they were known for pulling practical jokes, the Wallace brothers asked Gmom to hide the carved feet in the store room of her small restaurant, Bella Vista, till the heat died down. Gmom agreed, and snickered about her part in the hoax for the rest of her life.

Without the fake feet, the Wallace brothers involvement could not be proved in the early 1950s. The story died down, and Ray, Shorty and Gmom had a great laugh.

Too Good To Not Do Again
Fast forward to 1958, when the Hoax went from local laughs, to national spotlight. The Wallace boys continued to make footprints at work sites all through the 1950s, and the story continued in the local area. This all changed in 1958 when the story was picked up by various newspapers when Gerald Crew, and employee of the Granite Construction Company, made and displayed plaster casts of the big foot prints he found on a Bluff Creek road construction project.

[Photo Andrew Genzoli reviews plaster cast of large footprint made by Jerry Crew, Oct 5, 1958]

The Humboldt Times ran a above the fold story on October 14, 1958 comparing the large footprints with the comic strip character "Alley Opp, " and for the first time named the mystery beast "Bigfoot."

The story (which is fully transcribed at the end of this post) included a quote from Gmom about the earlier escapades of this creature being a prank. The story was picked up by many other papers, and the search for the elusive creature began in earnest.

Two Taxidermists, Al Corbett and Bob Titmus, are quoted in articles as believing that the creature was an escaped wild Indian who was over 7 feet tall. Geologist and Geophysicist Dr. R.Maurice Trip reported that based on the foot shape, size and distance of the gait, the creature had to weigh at least 800 pounds.

The articles go on and on, as does the speculation on whether the creature was real or an elaborate hoax. Grainy films of a creature walking, sightings up and down the Northern California coast line, books, newspaper articles, tv shows - the list of Bigfoot goes on and on.

While researching this hoax, I found that Gmom is immortalized in a book about the Bigfoot incidents - "Bigfoot! The True Story of Apes in America'" by Loren Coleman features the Humboldt Times article which quoted my Gmom, so she is now forever quoted in print.

Hoax Reviled After Ray Wallace Dies
The Vancouver Sun ran the following story on December 7, 2002 "The Ray Wallace-Rant Mullins Mess," in which Ray's family publicly admitted that Ray and his wife were both involved in the 1950s Bigfoot Hoax. (full story below)

"To the horror of thousands of Bigfoot believers Dale Lee Wallace, the hoaxer's nephew, said: "He did it for the joke and then was afraid to tell anyone because they'd be so mad at him." "

So there you have it, the story of Gmom and her small part in the Bigfoot Hoax. I like to imagine that Gmom and Ray Wallace are sitting in rocking chairs side by side in Heaven, looking down on us and snickering at "all the fuss!" Ray's hand carved fake feet caused. I know that Gmom would love the fact that she not only had a part in this infamous Hoax, but that she is immortalized in print. What a legacy.

******************************************************************

Humboldt Times October 14, 1958

Huge Footprints Found on Wilderness Road

Residents of northeastern Humboldt county today were attempting to solve the mystery of “Bigfoot!”

Hugh prints, made by a bare foot with five toes and measuring 16 inches long and seven inches wide, have been found across new road construction on Bluff Creek during the past six weeks.

Are the tracks the work of some practical joker, with a “big” sense of humor, or are they left by some strange animal – or perhaps a pre-historic type man such as the comic strip character, Alley Oop?

Readers of the Humboldt Standard, after viewing the evidence as presented this weekend by Gerald Crew of Salyer, will think at once of Mr. Oop, the pen and ink creations that was brought back (in the comic strip of course) from the stone age by a “Time Machine.”

The resemblance of the Alley Oop feer and Mr. Bigfoot’s extremities is startling.

However, those who actually have seen the foot-prints, including Crew and fellow workers on the Bluff Creek road, do not treat the strange occurrence lightly.

Crew probably expressed the feeling of many people in the Weitchpec-Hoopa area, when he said, “I tell you it’s a strange feeling to walk along a rood in that wilderness and suddenly see huge foot-prints!”

Crew is employed by the Granite Construction Company of Salyer which is building a timber access road for the Six Rivers National Forest into the wilderness along Bluff Creek about 12 miles north of Weitchpec. Man, or at least civilized man, has rarely penetrated this deep into the forest and brush there.

Residents, around the area, say that even wild game shy away from the dark woods. Yet, “Bigfoot” doesn’t seem to harm anything or anybody – rather he shows a considerable amount of curiosity about the construction activity.

“Bigfoot” made his latest appearance sometime Wednesday night. Workmen reporting for work found the tracks in almost the same area as those seen about a week ago.

Hundreds of these marks have been seen throughout the summer by the construction workers. However, for Crew this is not the first time hw has sighted the traces of the invisible visitor.

Two years ago, reports were flying of filled 50-gallon gasoline drums being juggled around like playthings on another project on which Crew worked. This was a timber access road about 20 miles up Bluff Creek for the Granite Logging and Wallace Brothers companies.

First Written Report

First written report of the unseen “Bigfoot” came to Eureka Newspapers on September 19 via a note from Mrs. Jess Bemis of Slayer. Mrs. Bemis wrote that her husband, Jesse Bemis, along with 15 other men on the project, saw the tracks.

“On their way to the job, tracks were seen going down the road. The tracks measured 14 to 16 inches in length. The toes were very short, but were 5 to each foot. The ground was soft and the prints were clear.

“In soft places the prints were deep, suggesting a great weight. The tracks were wide as well as long. Things, such as fruit, have been missed by those camping on the job.

If the latter is true, it seems to indicate that “Bigfoot” might be a vegetarian.

Travels of such a creature have not been restricted to the one area. Barry Knudsen of Fieldbrook, claims knowing men working in the Simpson timber land some eight miles north of Karbel on the north fork of the Mad River who have found similar tracks.

Jullian Pawlus, 2622 D street, Eureka, numbers amount the witnesses to the Korbel scene of the tracks sighted last spring on another logging road construction job.

They were “pretty heavy” and made by “bird or animal,” he believed. Pawlus, not sure of the implication of the tracks, said he preferred to call it a “paw” rather than a foot.

The edge of a creek marked the start of the tracks which then led into a freshly graded road. They were sunken sufficiently to indicate weight, Pawlus said. He described them as having three toes straight out and a couple of smaller ones on the side.

Some 25 persons observed them that time, he stated.

Crew in relating his experience with the “Bigfoot” visits, said the racks for the current impression, came down from a steep mountainside, through an old burn. Shale formed the surface of the ground until “it” hit soft earth turned over by construction equipment.

At this point the unseen traveler turned his tracks down the road, moving along for at least three-quarters of a mile, before changing course and moving off the road into more shale where the path faded.

50 Inch Stride

Raymond Wallace, a fellow member of the construction gang, also has inspected these tracks on several occasions. He estimated the normal stride of the big feet was 50 inches while its running stride, in the path of an evidently fleeing deer, measured ten feet.

Reports say the tracks are always made down-hill never up hill, except in the case of short inclines around the excavation work.

Authenticity of the origin of the tracks is being studied by Robert Titmus, taxidermist from Redding and an associate from Portland, Oregon, according to Crew.

At the present time, they do not feel the tracks were made by an animal, Crew said.

The mystery remains unsolved so far. Crew, whom neighbors and friends respect for reliability and honesty, doesn’t know. However, he doesn’t believe it is an animal either. He feels there would be claw marks as well as other indication if this was true.

“We often feel we are being watched,” claimed Crew. He said he and the men do not feel the “presence” is unfriendly since they never find any damage to their equipment; however, they always will find fresh imprints on each new piece of work as though “Bigfoot” has a “supervisory interest” in the project.

Whether it is a friend of “Mr. Oop”, or in reality a harmless wild-man, an expose may take place, if Crew can get a photographical setup working for the nocturnal visitor.

Possibility of a practical joker at work is felt by Mrs. Paul Keesey of Pepperwood. She writes:

Work of Pranksters

“I have read with interest the articles on the huge footprints. I recall about eight years ago, when up around Trinidad on one of the logging roads, they had a similar thing happening.

“This was told to me in my restaurant at Bella Vista hill by several truck drivers. When they investigated, it turned out to be the work of a prankster.”

Tales of “Bigfoot” are Indian legend in that area. One of the legends originates in the Marble Mountain area. So the story goes, some practical jokers, possibly with the idea of keeping other hunters out, invented unseen visitors to the land – visitors who were described as being “little men with big feet.”

Capitalizing on this legend, about 25 years ago some “jokers” in the Weitchpec area revived the tale to scare away some unwanted residents.

Another legend centering around Onion Lake area (in the same region) relates activities of an unseen sea lion supposedly left there during the big floods of Biblical times.

It also has never been seen – only what people believe to be its traces.

Indian legend also claims that after any tragedy such as a drowning or a fire or similar disaster, footprints such as these will be found encircling the area.

Meanwhile residents of the present “Bigfoot” visiting grounds, do not seem to be worried about any danger from him. Mainly they are curious and are searching for an answer.

But whether or not “Bigfoot” is real or a hoax, tales of his activities while inspecting the logging road construction project will make good entertainment for fireside chats or for holding the attention of wide-eyed grandchildren in the years to come.

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The Ray Wallace-Rant Mullins Mess

The Vancouver Sun, Saturday, December 7, 2002

Footprints big but 42-year Bigfoot hoax even larger

Fake turns out to be photographer's wife dressed in hairy ape suit with giant feet stuck to the bottom

Most of the pictures of bigfoot, a giant ape-like creature supposed to live in the dense forests of the American northwest, are in reality a hoaxer's wife dressed in a gorilla suit, the man's relatives revealed Friday.

For decades until his death last month Ray Wallace awed America with pictures of footprints, recordings and photographs of the creature, but his family admitted it had all been an elaborate practical joke.

To the horror of thousands of Bigfoot believers Dale Lee Wallace, the hoaxer's nephew, said: "He did it for the joke and then was afraid to tell anyone because they'd be so mad at him."

The first "evidence" for Bigfoot, a series of huge footprints, was found by Jerry Crew, a worker at Wallace's construction company in August, 1958.

They were in fact created by his boss with wooden carved feet to "freak him out," but the local newspaper, the Humboldt Times in Eureka, Calif. ran a front-page story on the prints the next day and coined the term "Bigfoot."

The tale was taken up by newspapers across the country and the public, fascinated at the time by tales of the Himalayan yeti, eagerly embraced the notion of a homegrown version.

Wallace continued with the prank for years, producing photographs of Bigfoot eating elk and frogs. These, it emerged Friday, were in fact members of his family — usually his wife, — dressed in a hairy ape suit with giant feet stuck to the bottom.

The most famous evidence for Bigfoot's existence, the so-called Pattersonfilm, a grainy, cinefilm image of an erect ape-like creature, was taken by Roger Patterson, a rodeo rider, in 1967.

It was another of Wallace's fakes, the family said — he told Patterson where to go to spot the creature and knew who had been inside the suit.

The family decided to finally reveal the truth after Wallace, 84, died from heart failure and a reporter for the Seattle Times approached them to ask about the rumors he had made it all up.

The news is a serious setback for the Bigfoot industry spawned by the legend. Dozens of books have been written, guides offer tours to search for sightings, and there is an International Bigfoot Society in Hillsboro, Oregon

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Want more information - here are some links for your enjoyment

Wordless Wednesday - Hand Beaded Wedding Veil

2013-02-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

I made my daughter-in-law's hand beaded french lace edged Wedding Veil.

They are such a cute couple!

Sunday’s Obituary - Landon Adams

2013-02-03T21:55:00.000-06:00

Obituary in Daily News [Red Bluff California] Sep. 3, 1980

Landon Adams

Word has been received here of the death July 6 of Landon Augustus Adams, 95, of Fortuna. He was born in July 1884 in Eureka and was the last surviving grandchild of abolitionist John Brown. He was preceeded in death by his wife, who died Dec. 8, 1979.

He is survived by a son, Merle, as well as several other children and grandchildren. Merle Adams, son of Landon Adams, sent the information to Keith Lingenfelter, who is well known for his historical and genealogical research.

Landon's mother, Annie Brown, came to Red Bluff in 1864 by wagon train with her widowed mother, Mary, sisters, Sarah and Ellen, and brother Salmon. Mary Brown and her three daughters lived inn a house on Main Street (that still exists) until 1870 when they moved to Eureka.

Annie Brown taught Negro children in the Oat Creek School in 1866, which was located near Proberta. She married Samuel S. Adams in Red Bluff Nov. 25, 1869. Annie Brown Adams died in Shively Oct. 3, 1926, the last surviving child of 20 children born to the John Browns.

According to Merle Brown, Nell Brown Groves, granddaughter of Salmon Brown, is still living in Seattle Wash. She is 102 years of age.

*****

Landon Augustus Adams {B184XV9} (1884 - 1980) was the ninth of Annie Brown Adams' ten children. He appears to have spent his entire life in the northern part of California. He married Margaret Josephine Kiley (1895 - 1979) on April 13, 1916. The 1940 census lists him as a farmer, which many of my uncles and great uncles were in the Humboldt county area of California. Landon is buried at Ferndale Cemetery, Ferndale, Humboldt County, California, USA. (Find a grave # 15474602)

Headstone reads

LANDON A ADAMS

1884 Father 1980

Emancipation Proclamation and Watch Night

2013-01-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

January 1, 2013 was the 150th anniversary of the signing of one of the most important documents in American History; The Emancipation Proclamation.

Stamp Available at USPS.com

The night of December 31, 1862, churches, praying trees, and other public meeting areas were the congregating points for slaves and freed blacks awaiting news that President Lincoln had signed the long awaited Emancipation Proclamation. While the Proclamation did not free all slaves, if did facilitate the beginning of the end of slavery as America knew it in the 1800s.

Frederick Douglas declared the Proclamation to be "the first step on the part of the nation in its departure from the thralldom of the ages."

99 days earlier Lincoln had promised that a proclamation
freeing slaves in the "states in rebellion" would be signed, sparking the creation of "watch night," where the people faithfully waited and watched. In Boston, a line of messenger, or runners, spread out from the telegraph office to the Tremont Temple, where Douglass and hundred of others were awaiting the glorious news that Lincoln had signed the document that promised to bring the black Americans that much closer to the freedom they so desired.

When the news arrived in the wee hours of January 1, 1863, it was a time of jubilee for those engaged in the watch night. The news was greeted by sermons, cheers, songs, prayers, quiet contemplation, and much celebration throughout the states.

Watch nights have continued through today, in many churches across America. Many families continue the use of "watch night" as a way to honor those that came before. An amazing example of this is on http://myancestorsname.blogspot.com/.

Fast forward to 2013 - we need to remember that 150 years later SLAVERY STILL HAS NOT BEEN ERADICATED.
In the 1800s, slavery was an acceptable commercial transaction performed in the light of day and in public; now slavery is an ugly, silent, secretive, multimillion dollar a year business.

Do something today to help fight slavery.

Join one of the many organizations that work tirelessly to eradicate slavery in the 21st century

The Frederick Douglass Family Foundation (FDFF.org)
Free The Slaves (Freetheslaves.net)

See how many products you use have connections to slavery - you will never look at household items the same way again.

Slavery Footprint (slaveryfootprint.org)

Protest the advertising of adult services on such sites as Backpage.com - these types of sites are known promoters of child trafficking sex traders

Here's to a new year - let's see what we can do to end slavery in 2013!!

John Brown's 2nd Great Grand Uncle - Samuel Higley

2013-01-06T20:13:00.001-06:00

Samuel Higley was the first blacksmith awarded the right to manufacture steel for use in the America's, and the first to strike non English coins for use in America.

John Brown's 2nd Great Grand Uncle was Samuel Higley (1687 - 1737), ninth child of John Higley (1649 -1714) and Hannah Drake Higley (1653 - 1694). The Higley family resided in Simsbury Connecticut and were leading citizens held in high regard.

Samuel graduated from Yale in 1714. He apprenticed for eleven years with Drs. Samuel Mather and Thomas Hooker until qualified to practice medicine on his own. In the 1700's physicians were not highly paid, and it was not unusual for them to have another skill or occupation outside of medicine. Samuel was schoolteacher and blacksmith.

He married Abigail Bement (1700 - 1746) on September 19, 1719. They had three children: Jonathan (1721-1771), Ann (1724-1761) and Abigail (1733-1810).

In 1728, Samuel was awarded the exclusive right to make steel in the Colony for ten years. Normally everything that could be manufactured and imported from England was forbidden to manufacture in the colonies. So the judgement to allow Samuel to manufacture all steel to be used in the colonies was a very big deal. From the declaration:

"with great pains and cost, found out and obtained a curious art, by which to convert, change, or transmute common ore into good steel, sufficient for any use, and was the very first that ever performed such an operation in America."

Samuel's land in Simsbury included a copper mine, from which 97-98% pure copper was extracted. In 1736 Samuel began minting the very first coins not minted in England. This was a violation of the laws of the land, but the Higley Copper, as the coins came to be called, were in use as an equivalent to 3-pence coins for many years. The Higley family manufactured coins from 1737 until 1739. The coins were made from such pure copper, that future generations smelted down the coins for use in gold-smithing. The Higley Copper is now a very rare coin, and worth upwards of $285,000 each!

Samuel Higley was declared dead after his cargo ship carrying copper ore to England, was lost in the Atlantic during May 1737.

Wordless Wednesday - Garrison Photo

2012-12-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

Autographed CDV of Wm. Lloyd Garrison. Owned by Keesey Family

December 2, 1859

2012-12-02T20:07:00.000-06:00

A Great Man is executed

Tombstone Tuesday - 4 Children dead

2012-10-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

In September 1843, John and Mary Brown experienced a terrible tragedy. In the course of a 12 day period, four John and Mary's seven children, ranging in age from 1 to 9 years old, died from disease. Charles, age 6, died September 11, 1843. The next three, Austin, age 1, Peter, age 3, and Sarah, age 9, followed on September 21, 22 and 23 respectively.

Accounts differ as to what the disease was - diphtheria, dysentery and cholera are the three most likely culprits - but we may never know for sure which one was the actual cause.

What we do know is that Mary, seven months pregnant with my great-great grandmother, Annie, and John, father of a total of 13 children, were devastated by the death of nearly a third of his children, more than half of their younger ones. Two days after the fourth death, John wrote the following to his eldest son John, Jr:

Richfield 25th Sept 1843
Dear Son
God has seen fit to visit us with the pestilence since you left us, and four of our number sleep in the dust, and four of us that are still living have been more or less unwell but appear to be nearly recovered. On the 4th Sept Charles was taken with the Dysentery and died on the 11th, about the time that Charles died Sarah, Peter, & Austin were taken with the same complaint. Austin died on the 21st, Peter on the 22nd & Sarah on the 23rd and were all buried together in one grave. This has been to us all a bitter cup indeed, and we have drunk deeply, but still the Lord reigneth and blessed be his great and holy name forever. In our sore affliction there is still some comfort. Sarah (like your own Mother) during her sickness discovered great composure of mind, and patience, together with strong assurance at times of meeting God in Paradise. She seemed to have no idea of recovering from the first, nor did she ever express the least desire that she might, but rather the reverse. We fondly hope that she is not disappointed. They were all children towards whom perhaps we might have felt a little partial but they all now lie in a little row together…

The following is an account of a neighbor who helped the family with the sick children. The information is located at the Richfield Historical Society - Oviatt Family Chronology, compiled by Leah & Lynn Krulik.

"John Brown, the famous abolitionist, lived in three different houses in Richfield. The first home was in the vicinity of Fountain Rd or Boston Mills Rd as it's now called. It was there that four of his children fell ill with diphtheria, a potentially fatal bacterial infection. Sophie Sheldon, a neighbor to the Brown family who had helped to nurse the children became worn out.

A buggy pulled up to the front door and Fanny Oviatt stepped out. 'Go away, Aunt Fanny. You can't come in here. It's a house of death.' 'Of course I can,' Fanny replied. 'You don't suppose I am afraid of sickness, do you? How is the little boy?' 'Dead. Dead, I tell you. And Sarah doesn't know us anymore when we talk to her. Go home before your children get it too.' 'Sophie, your father is waiting for you outside and you are to go home with him. When you get there, take off your clothes in the woodshed and burn them, every one. Then wash yourself all over with lots of soft soap and water before you go into the house. You'll not get it or give it to anyone else'.

Fanny turned to Mrs Brown and said ' My husband Mason didn't want me to come but I said to him "Mason Oviatt, what would you think if it was our children sick and no one to help?". He was ashamed of himself then and said of course I should come.' Later, two children Austen and Peter, lay dead. And the third, Sarah, which she cared for, died during the night. They were buried the next day in one grave beside their brother Charles, who had died ten days before. They are buried in the East Richfield cemetery.

"Due to the precautions taken by Fanny, none of her eleven children contracted the deadly disease."

As a mother, my heart hurts to read these accounts. Losing not one, not two, but four children so quickly, not being able to do anything more for them than trying to make them comfortable, watching them go to sleep and never awaken. How hard that must have been. And poor Mary, the fear she must have carried with her for the next two months - would the baby she was carrying be okay? I am sure that John and Mary spent many hours in prayer in the latter part of 1843.

The four children share a grave at the Richfield Cemetery in Richfield, Summit, Ohio. Next time I am in Ohio, I will be paying my respects to my distant cousins, who never got a chance to grow up.

Find a grave registrations
Austin Brown 38560582
Charles Brown 38560420
Peter Brown 38560502
Sarah Brown 38560313

(Not So) Wordless Sunday

2012-10-21T20:58:00.001-05:00

Beatrice, 5; Georgie, 2; Marjorie, 3

This is a picture of my grandmother and two of her younger sisters. I estimate that it was taken around 1908 based on the ages of the girls. My great aunt, Alice, who was their baby sister, helped me identify the girls, and told me how her father insisted on his daughters wearing white frilly dresses.

The white frilly dresses with all those yards and yards of lace and ruffles, were made by hand by the girls mother, Bertha, and their grandmother, John Brown's daughter, Annie. My great grandfather, George Madison Cook, believed that little girls should always be clean and proper and dressed in white. It must have been very time consuming for Bertha to keep all of those frilly white dresses clean and pressed.

George and Bertha had a total of 9 children, five of which were girls. I can not imagine the amount of bleach that Bertha must have gone through over the years keeping all the dresses white.

Life with the "Invisibles" at Kennedy Farm

2012-10-14T22:00:00.000-05:00

In the summer of 1859, my just shy of sixteen year old great-great grandmother, Annie, and her just shy of seventeen year old sister-in-law, Martha, joined John Brown and his band of followers at the Kennedy Farm in Maryland just a few miles across the state line from Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

John Brown, going under the assumed name of Isaac Smith, rented the Kennedy Farm to use as a base of operation for his planned attack on the arsenal at Harpers Ferry and subsequent slave uprising that he was certain would follow his daring raid. He had written home asking Mary, his wife, to come and keep house for him and the men. He suggested that their eldest daughter, Annie, also come to help. Mary declined, siting her poor health and the needs of the younger children, as the reasons she could not fulfill her husbands request.

Annie and Martha, the eldest girls at the farm in North Elba, NY volunteered to go. Annie was anxious to assist her father, and Martha wanted to be with her husband of four months, Oliver, who was at Kennedy Farm preparing to fight at his father's side. Martha elected herself head housekeeper because she was an older married woman. One or two months pregnant, Martha slipped off the loft ladder the day they were leaving and severely twisted her ankle. But nothing was going to keep her from being with her husband.

Martha did most of the cooking, while Annie was the all-important lookout, who warned the men to go into hiding when ever a noisy neighbor happened to come near the house.

Annie wrote about the first night they arrived at the farm, and gives an inside view of what the men, and the young girls, endured during that summer. She included the reminiscence in letters sent to her friend, Dr. Alexander Ross of Canada. It is an endearing description of two young women trying to take care of the "invisibles" as Annie later called the men.

"We commenced housekeeping at Kennedy Farm sometime in July. I cannot now remember the date, although I remember the day well. Father and my brothers went to The Ferry to purchase a stove and necessary articles, Martha and I went to the house and tried to surprise them with a dinner which we tried to cook in an old fireplace. We had been boarding for a few days at a neighbors who lived nearby. We succeeded after making several attempts in getting a poor fire to burn, and boiled some potatoes and onions which tipped nearly over several times, spilling out a few each time. We was trying to make some kind of bread when the boys arrived bringing bread and rusks from the bakery, relieving us of that source of worriment to older housekeepers than we.

We ate our dinner camp fashion and began housekeeping in real earnest. Our family at that time consisted of six persons, Father, J G Anderson, Owen, Oliver, Martha and I. Kagi had gone to Chambersburg and they had not found Cook yet. He had done to Harpers Ferry the year before and was teaching school there. He had married the daughter of the woman he boarded with about the time we went down there.

The first addition to our family was my brother Watson, and William and Dauphin Thompson who came on a few weeks after Oliver, Martha and I did. Then followed the rest over, two, three and four at a time. These last arrivals all came secretly by way of Chambersburg. Father and some of the rest going there with a light covered wagon, in which they rode or else walked a part of the way. They would hide in the woods and come in to the house before daylight in the morning or else after dark at night.

They all lived up stairs over the dining room, coming down to their meals, and at any time that there was no strangers or visitors about. It was my special business to keep watch on the porch and signal to them with my hand, if any one approached when they would disappear quietly up the stairway closing the door after them, while I remained and entertained the company directly under them, as if nothing unusual had happened.

We had one neighbor, our nearest one, a very little woman, but she often caused us a good deal of trouble, by coming at such unreasonable hours to call, bringing her four children.

I attended to the dining room, waiting on the men. I used to call them my "invisibles." If any on approached while they were at their meals I would let them know, when they would each take articles of food and dishes, clearing the table and disappear as usual, while I kept the person or persons on the porch as long as I could.

The men used to sing, play games and read to pass away the time. Kagi who was stationed at Chambersburg always sent them a bundle of papers and magazines whenever the wagons made a trip. It was very tiresome for them to be shut-in the house without exercise so long. They would go out in evenings and walk to rest themselves"

Annie's hand drawn map of the farmhouse

In the late 1800s until her death in 1926, Annie wrote letters and articles about her father and her time at Kennedy Farm.

Photo by Fred Mecoy 2009

The Kennedy Farm was purchased by a black Hagerstown minister, Reverend Leonard W. Curlin, in 1949, and sold to a white private developer, South T. Lynn, in the early 1970s. Capt Lynn has spent more than $100,000 in personal, state and federal funds to restore the Kennedy Farm house back to the 1859 appearance.

In 1974 the Kennedy Farm was designated a National Historical Landmark

In 2009 I had the great honor of participating in the sesquicentennial anniversary of the Harpers Ferry Raid and one of the most moving events I participated in was the re-enactment of the night of Oct 16, 1859 when John Brown and his men hiked from Kennedy Farm to take control of the Harpers Ferry Armory. I stood on the upper porch and spoke words of my ancestors. It was an unforgettable night for me.

Photo by Fred Mecoy 2009

In this photo, Dennis Frye, Harpers Ferry Historian, Capt. South Lynn, Alice Keesey Mecoy, Capt. Lynn's son.

I cannot believe that he is an elected official! Off Subject

2012-10-06T20:22:00.001-05:00

Okay, I know that we live in a freedom of speech country and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I believe this right to be valid, important and worthy of defending, but really? To state in writing that one of the darkest eras of American history might have been "a blessing" for the very people who suffered through the horrendous physical, mental and spiritual hardships, seems small minded and downright ignorant to me. But for the writer to be an elected official makes it reprehensible to me. Tell me what you think in the comments. Now, please excuse me while I take a shower and wash the trash off of me.

Jon Hubbard, Arkansas Legislator, Says Slavery May 'Have Been A Blessing' In New Book

Jon Hubbard, a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, has written a new book in which he says slavery was "a blessing" for African-Americans, among other questionable statements.

Hubbard, a first term Republican from Jonesboro, Ark., makes a series of racially charged statements in the self-published book, including saying that integration of schools is hurting white students, that African slaves had better lives under slavery than in Africa, that blacks are not contributing to society, and that a situation is developing the United States which is similar to that of Nazi Germany.

The questionable statements in Hubbard's book, "Letters to the Editor: Confessions of a Frustrated Conservative," were first reported by Arkansas Times and TalkBusiness.net.
Regarding slavery, Hubbard wrote:

“… the institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise. The blacks who could endure those conditions and circumstances would someday be rewarded with citizenship in the greatest nation ever established upon the face of the Earth.” (Pages 183-89)

(click here to read entire article on the Huffington Post if you can stomach anymore of this bunk)

Some Things Never Change

2012-10-05T21:12:00.002-05:00

I had to have a molar pulled a few days ago. I broke my tooth on my breakfast cereal last Monday. On cereal!?! Really?!?!

While I was sitting at Baylor Dental School awaiting my turn to see the dentist, I remembered a letter that Annie wrote in 1887. One hundred twenty years ago she was writing about the poor state of Americans' teeth. Some things never change..........

Letter from Annie Brown Adams to Dr Ross, December 28, 1887

Held by Gilder Lehrman Museum in New York index # GL3007.18

"The American of this great state do not “dig their graves with their teeth[i]”. They part with their teeth before they get out of their “teens”. It is not uncommon now to find persons between fifteen and twenty, with false teeth, in this vicinity. One man I know, paid fifty dollars to get his young daughter’s teeth filled. Now what is the cause of this early decay? I think it must be the consumption of so much sweets, candy, etc. We Americans consume more sugar than any other nation, and take more and better care of our teeth (while we have them) than any other people do. Indians, Negros, and nearly all Foreigners have good teeth. Some say that it is caused by the use of too much fine, white flour bread stuffs. We use several preparations of wheat to make mushes, rice, cornstarch, sego[ii], tapioca, cornmeal instead of the national “pie”. I make puddings, and brown bread, and corn bread, for a change from the white."

[i] Greedy eaters dig their graves with their teeth. French Proverb

[ii] Sego Lily, Calochortus nuttallii, is a bulbous perennial which is endemic to the Western United States. It is the state flower of Utah.

1927 Brown Family Reunion Meeting in Hudson, Ohio

2012-09-16T21:07:00.001-05:00

I have started transcribing the minutes and associated letters and papers from the Hudson Library Collection of Owen/John Brown Family Reunions.The Reunions began in 1926 and continued through the 1960's, except for two years during WWII, due to the high cost of traveling.

Here are the minutes from the 1927 meeting. Note that the numbers in { } are the numbering system that Dr. Clarence Gee started tracking the family with, and I have continued to use. Please enjoy.

Minutes of the Brown Reunion

June 5, 1927

Meeting was opened by the President, John Owen Brown{B18732}of Fort Wayne, Ind., greeting all and expressing his pleasure that so many of the family were present, happy to see some new faces’ and regretting that a few were missing.

In the absence of the Secretary, Doris Brown Malone, the President called as Secretary pro tem Edna Brown Kalbrunner, {B187311} who read letters from Mrs. Nellie Lusk and Doris Brown Malone, regretting their inability to be present. Doris Malone’s letter coming from Capris, Italy, where she is now living. Also a letter from our Historian, Lydia Crothers {B18792}, regretting her absence, due to illness in her family. She reports in the year past, no marriages, two births – daughter [Dorothy Stiles {B1873451}]to Mr. and Mrs. Newell Styles B187345}, Washington D.C. – a son [Perry Crothers, Jr {B1879241}]to Mr. and Mrs. Perry Crothers {B187924}, Tacoma, Washington.

The grim reaper having taken four* members of our family:

Lucien Brown {B1867}, St. Andrews Fla. (son of Oliver Owen Brown {B186} – grandson of Owen {B18)

Charles P. Brown {B18422}, Akron Ohio (Son of Jason {B1842} – grandson of John {B184})

Charles Brown {B18632} (Son of Lemual Brown {B1863}– grandson of Oliver {B186})

Lucien Brown {B18XIII1}, Portland, Oregon (Son of Edward Brown {B18XIII} – grandson of Owen {B18})

She also reports on Decoration Day – she stood beside the graves of Grandfather Frederick Brown {B187} and father Salmon Brown {B1879} in the Kilbourn, Wis. Cemetery. Her grandfather died in 1877 and she has only a few remembrances of him, but many of his expressions were often repeated by her father, the one “Filled with pardonable pride” comes to her and it applies very well in speaking of our ancestry. She also recalled how her father looked singing “Land where my fathers dies, land of the Pilgrims pride,” and she realized the ownership he felt.

She thinks to, we should instruct our children in our family history that they may be filled with pardonable pride in their ancestors service to this our country, and in this way help safe guard their integrity.

There also was a letter from Mrs. F B Alexander {B18412} of Put-in-Bay who is the daughter of John Brown {B1841} the eldest son of Captain John Brown {B184} and Wealthy Hotchkiss Brown, thanking Mrs. Shiley for her kind invitation and owing to business reasons she would be unable to be with us. She also states that John Brown {B1841} came to Put-in-Bay after the insurrection at Harpers Ferry and that she, Mrs. Alexander, was born, married and is still living in the same house.

Two interesting papers were read. One was the story of the life of Owen Brown {B18}, early settler of Hudson, by himself for his daughter Marion Brown Hand {B189}, and was a wonderful description of the hardships endured after the Revolution and yet the devote attitude which over came and helped bear all the trials.

The other paper was an accurate description of the John Brown home on the lane, connecting two main roads, this home is still standing.

Both papers may be had from the Secretary for inspection.

Mr. Charlie Brown {B18731} then moved the date for this annual reunion be changed from the first Sunday in June to the last Sunday in June, and his motion was adopted.

Mrs. Aura Styles requested we express our appreciation by letter to our absent Historian Lydia Crothers {B18792}, and the Secretary was so instructed.

Our President called on Mr. A N Waite who gave us a very interesting and humorous talk on the apprenticeship of his grandfather to Owen Brown, he also told us that the staircase which stands in the home now occupied by the Snedon family in Hudson was built by John Brown himself.

Rev. John Logan Lindlay of the Congregational Church of Hudson then told us that Owen Brown {B18}was a charter member of his church, and because of this connection he was very much interested in the Brown family, and wondered where the family Bible given to Lawrence Pease by Owen Brown was, and he expressed a desire to see it returned to the Brown family. He also suggested we assume care of the Brown graved in the Hudson Cemetery. He further extended an invitation to us to attend the 125^th anniversary of Hudson, beginning September 4, 1927 with morning services at his Church.

Mrs. Elizabeth Rogers Miller, who now lives in the Old John Brown home in Hudson extended an initiation to us to her home.

The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:

President John Owen Brown {B18732}

Vice Pres Mrs. Eliza Lavina Reed

2^nd Vice Pres Salmon Brown

Secretary Edna Brown Kalbrunner {B187311}

Assistant Isabel Brown {B187913}

Historian Lydia Crothers {B18792}

Assistant Mrs. Flora Bartsche {B18XIII2}

Our President requested we sing “God be with you ‘till we meet again” which we did, and after all together repeating Mizpah, we adjourned, and accepting the kind invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Earl John Johnson, who now occupy the John Brown Farm, we walked down the roadway to their home, where we saw the site of the old tannery, the old burial vault, the deed to this vault in Mrs. Johnson’s possession, the old home and all had a drink of cool water from the old, old well.

After which we returned to the Hine Home to bid adieu to each other and to thank our kind host and hostess for our very happy day.

Signed

Edna Brown Kalbrunner

Secretary

*Additional deaths are list at the end of the minutes. They must have been announced at the meeting.

Doris Jeannette Brown {B186325}– daughter of Charles S {B18632} and Hannah Brown, Died Jan 22, 1927, aged 28 years

Charles Stores Brown {B18632} – son of Lemuel Stores {B1863} and Julia Brown Died March 31, 1927 aged 65 years

Both are buried in Lakewood Park Cemetery Cleveland Ohio

A Page From Annie's Autograph Book - HDCW Hill

2012-09-15T21:34:00.001-05:00

Miss Brown:
            Borne on times tempestuous way:
Rolling surges hast the day;
On to that last flickering ray;
            Wilt thou not as a friend O say!
            Note FEI, and skating day!

                                      Truly your friend,
FEI March 4th 1863        HDWC Hill
                                        Schroon Lake
                                               NY

Henry Dollitt W. Christon Hill, was born in Schroon, Essex County, New York in 1939, the third child of Gilson and Harrietta Hill.

On the 1850 census, we find Gilson (30), Harrietta (30), George G (18), Mary S (16) and Henry DWC (11), living in Schroon, Essex County, New York on the Hill's farm. On the 1860 census 11 year old Rosetta M. has joined the family.

March of 1863 we find Henry DWC Hill attending Fort Edward Institute with Annie Brown in Fort Edward, New York. He is 24 years old, and Annie is 19. His signature page in Annie's Autograph Book is written in prose, each line beginning with the letters of her last name. It is a charming prose, and I can't help wondering what happened at "skating day?"

A year and a half later, August 29, 1864, a 25 year old Henry enlisted at Plattsburg, New York as a Private into 142nd Infantry, Company H to serve for one year. He was wounded in the neck during the "Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road" also known as the "Second Battle of Fair Oaks" in Virginia on October 27, 1864. During the 2-day battle, the Union had 1,603 deaths and casualties, while the Confederates only had 100. Henry was lucky to just be injured in the neck. He and his entire Company mustered out on June 7, 1865, at Raleigh, North Carolina.

According to his Military Records, Henry was 6 feet tall, with a dark complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He listed his previous occupation as "student" on his war records, and he must have continued his education after he mustered out, because in the Lawyers Record and Official Register of the United States, published in 1872, Henry was admitted to the Schenectady New York Law Registry on April 7, 1869.

Between 1865 and 1870 Henry married Edna Jennie [last name not known]. In the 1870 census we find Henry, Edna and baby Harry living in Whitehall, Washington, New York, where Henry worked as a lawyer and Edna kept house. Henry was obviously doing quite well as the census shows him with Real Estate valued at $2000 and personal property also valued at $2000. A fortune in 1870. An internet search for HDWC Hill + Lawyer returns many examples of his work as a lawyer. On the 1880 census the family has added 4 year old Newton.

I haven't found much else about good ol' skating Henry, though I did find two personal genealogy family trees that list his year of death as 1899.

Follow Up to the Charles White Movie

2012-09-13T21:26:00.000-05:00

I emailed the Fun with History group to let them know that I had linked to the film on their website. I got this cool email back from Chris, showing just how small the John Brown World is.

Alice,

What great story! I live 45 mins. from Harper's Ferry and have been to the old Firehouse there many times. Even more interesting, I was riding with my friend one day to see a car that was for sale. He took me to see where he used to live. As we drove down the old driveway, I looked up and saw we were driving right next to the house on the Kennedy Farm. My friend used to rent the house directly behind it.

I'm glad the video helped you make a connection. If you want a better copy of the video, it is in the public domain and can be downloaded at: http://archive.org/details/gov.archives.arc.50813.

Thanks again for sharing your story.

Chris

Los Angeles Times story about Owen's headstone

2012-09-10T22:20:00.000-05:00

Reporter Gail Holland interviewed me for this story.....30+ minutes on the phone and I get a one line mention! Oh well. Read the Los Angeles Times article here

BUT...... the article did mention a documentary that I went in search of and it is amazing!

Background info:

Ian White found the Owen Brown headstone in August 2012. His father was Charles White, an artist featured in the 1971 documentary, "Five Artists." When Ian was a lad, the family lived at the base of Little Round Top (aka Brown Mountain). The film shows Ian and his sister running up the mountain to the Owen Brown grave site, and then shows the children examining the headstone. Charles White was an amazing artist and clearly admired John Brown: in fact John Brown and Abraham Lincoln were the only white men he did portraits of. (See items below)

This film is thirty minutes long, and Charles White is the second artist featured on it. There is no timer on the film, so I can not give you an exact time stamp, but the film is worth watching.

So without further ado, I present to you this amazing film. Please enjoy!

5 Artists - 1971 30 min
Five African-American artists - Charles White, Romare Bearden, Richard Hunt, Barbara Chase-Riboud, and Betty Blayton are featured in this 1971 documentary.

Abolitionist John Brown

John Brown

Finding Owen's headstone - part 2

2012-08-30T19:58:00.002-05:00

Article from Pasadena Star (I am quoted in the article!) Also below are more pictures of the recovery of the headstone.

Thanks to all your support!

Please support the effort to reset the headstone

SAVE THE ALTADENA TRAILS
C/O Paul Ayers, Esq.

ZINDER & KOCH

700 N. Brand Blvd., Ste. 400

Glendale, CA 91203

Owen Brown gravestone, missing for 10 years, found in Altadena

By James Figueroa, SGVN

Posted: 08/27/2012 07:16:40 PM PDT

ALTADENA - Lost for 10 years, the gravestone belonging to Civil War abolitionist Owen Brown turned up again only a few hundred feet from his final resting place in the Altadena hills.

Ian White, an artist who lives near the gravesite in the Meadows neighborhood, found the stone marker while walking with his 1-year-old son on Thursday.

The engraving wasn't visible, but White recognized a metal ring on the gravestone signifying the end of slavery. Owen Brown was the son of John Brown, who is credited with sparking the Civil War by leading an 1859 revolt to free slaves in Harpers Ferry, in what is now West Virginia.

White called Paul Ayers of Save the Altadena Trails, and they moved the marker to a secure location, carefully wrapping the stone in cloth and using a furniture dolly.

"I knew what it was, and I didn't want to attract any interest to it," White said.

Save the Altadena Trails now hopes to return the gravestone to its rightful place, but will have to contend with legal questions about who owns it and how to ensure it will be preserved.

For now, the gravestone's discovery has become a hot topic among Altadena locals, historians and the Brown family.

"It was absolutely amazing," Ayers said. "I had for a number of years been preparing to fabricate a new stone. I had no expectation we would see it again."

The stone disappeared in 2002, just as Save the Altadena Trails was preparing legal battles with area property owners over access to the gravesite. The organization since then has won court decisions granting the public access to the gravesite.

Ayers had suspicions about who might have disturbed the site, but nothing was ever proven.

"Whoever did this committed a crime against the community of Altadena," he said. "There are certain things that are touchstones in a community, and this one was."

There have been lengthy searches for the stone marker through the years, and the area is popular among hikers, so the stone's reappearance so close to the gravesite seems strange.

White, however, believes the marker's weight would have severely hindered anyone trying to move it far from the area. A rope was next to the stone when he found it, he said.

"I think maybe through some rainstorms it gradually pushed itself down more and more," White said. "And with some brush clearance, all of a sudden I was able to see it.

"Numerous hikers go through this area, but it looks like debris because there's other concrete and rock that are around the area. So I think it was just overlooked, to be honest."

Several of John Brown's children moved to California in the aftermath of the Harpers Valley revolt, and many of his descendants from daughter Ruth Thompson live in the Pasadena area.

Owen Brown, who had been waiting with horses across the Potomac River and escaped when his father was captured, eventually wound up living in a cabin with his brother Jason in Altadena.

Brown family genealogist Alice Keesey Mecoy, John Brown's great-great-great granddaughter, said she did a "happy dance" upon learning the gravestone had been found.

During the sesquicentennial of Brown's revolt in 2009, a movement emerged to disinter Owen's remains and move them to the New York farm where his father was buried.

Mecoy initially favored the idea, but soon changed her mind.

"This is where he loved, this is where he wanted to be, this where he lived the last years of his life," she said. "He was very active in the town, he was very active in Masonic organizations. He needs to stay there."

Mecoy hopes fly in from Texas to visit the Altadena gravesite, which she's never seen, when there is a rededication ceremony sometime in the future.

The gravestone's discovery could also provide a "teachable moment," said Altadena historian Michelle Zack, who is currently researching the Civil War era.

The Pasadena area was attractive to the Brown family because of strong anti-slavery sentiments, Zack said.

"When you find something like this that's been lost, and it’s a dramatic find, it's a rare opportunity to talk about what the Civil War meant here out in the West," she said.

Owen's Gravestone Found!

2012-08-24T19:01:00.000-05:00

I originally wrote about Owen Brown and his missing headstone in this post on June 21, 2011.

Setting of headstone

Owen was a son of John and Mary Brown. He participated in the Harper's Ferry Raid, escaped, and went on to live to the ripe old age of 64. He was buried at the top of Little Round Top, a mountain just outside of Altadena, CA. The mountain is also known as "Brown's Mountain" an old name left over from the days when the Brown Brothers, Jason and Owen lived at the top of the mountain in a small one room cabin.

Owen's headstone went missing years ago, no one knew what became of it. Some thought it was tossed down the mountainside by the current land owner. All that remained of the headstone were old photos.

Norman Marshall with headstone

Headstone on grave

Today, I received an email [see below] informing me that the headstone HAS BEEN FOUND!!!! I have been doing a happy dance all day!!!! What a great way to end the week!!

email from Save The Altadena Trails:

Save the Altadena Trails takes great pleasure in announcing the recovery of the Owen Brown Grave Stone which disappeared from the top of Little Round Top in 2004. The grave stone was found by Ian White and his son Thursday morning, a team was quickly assembled and the stone is now secure.

It is STAT’s intention to take all necessary legal and logistical steps necessary to restore the grave stone to its rightful place marking Owen Brown’s grave at the top of Little Round Top. We will keep you informed of our progress.

STAT asks for your support in our effort to restore the grave stone. Please send your donations to:

SAVE THE ALTADENA TRAILS
C/O Paul Ayers, Esq.

ZINDER & KOCH

700 N. Brand Blvd., Ste. 400

Glendale, CA 91203
Please note that donations are not tax deductible.
Thank you for your support.

My Head Hurts from Keeping Them All Straight!

2011-12-12T16:35:00.001-06:00

I realize that reusing a name, and passing a family name on to the first child is a long honored tradition. I have all the Brown family "duplicates" straight in my mind and records. Frederick, Ellen, Sarah, Owen, Mary - just some of the names that are seen in each generation, and sometimes in the same generation as one child dies, and another is named the same name.

But on Sunday I actually had to close my books and genealogy program to take a break because I was having trouble following all of these --

Brewster Higley married Esther Holcombe -- They had a son
Brewster Higley II who married Esther Holcomb -- They had a son
Brewster Higley III who married Esther Owen -- They had a son
Brewster Higley IV who married Naomi!

And if that is not enough Brewsters and Esthers for you, 3 of Brewster's siblings named children Brewster and Esther, and Esther Owen's mother was also named Esther!

Family gatherings must have been confusing:

Hey Brewster, would you please get me a cider? No not you dad, no not you son, I was talking to my nephew. Which nephew - that one there standing near the cider crock.

Who made the mincemeat pie? Esther did? Which Esther? Esther Higley? But which one???

Okay so I am making a joke at the expense of my ancestors, but it is really confusing to keep them all straight. I had to undo and redo 3 hours work the other day because I was on the wrong Brewster/Esther combo when I started to enter children.

Hope you can keep all of your ancestors straight!

Two Pages from Annie's Autograph Book

2011-12-10T17:00:00.003-06:00

Dedicatory

Bring each your gifts to holy Friendship’s shrine
Rarest of gems upon her robes to shine;
Of flowers the fairest round her brow to twine,
While loves ripe vintage pours its joyous wine.
Nor be ye absent from the feast divine,

Ye classic muses mine!

Very Truly Yours

Joseph E King

Fort Edwards Institute NY

Dec 2 1862

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very sincerely your friend

Melissa B. King

Fort Edward N Y

Dec 1862

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Reverend Joseph E. King was born November 30, 1823 in Laurens, Otsego County, New York to Reverend Elijah King and Catherine Olmstead King.

On July 22, 1850 he married Melissa Bayley in Newbury Vermont. Melissa Bayley (sometimes spelled Bailey) was born April 4, 1828 to Colonial Amherst Bayley and Melissa Stevens Bayley.

Joseph and Melissa had 3 daughters:

Mary Ellen who married Dr.M. W. Van Denberg

Alice who married Professor W.W. McGilton

Helen M. who married J. Earl Cheesman

Joseph E King graduated from Wesleyan College with distinguished honors in 1844. He taught Natural Science and Latin at Newbury Seminary in Vermont from 1849 to 1854, when he took charge of the Fort Edward Institute, which had been erected for him to operate.

Melissa King taught along side Joseph at the Fort Edward Institute until her death on October 16 1887. King remained as the head of education and finance at Fort Edward Institute until 1910, when the old school building burned down. Three years later he passed away.

Joseph and Melissa are buried together in section 5, lot 5 of the Union Cemetery in Fort Edward, Washington County, New York.

Photo Credit - Anne Dickinson

December 2 -- A day for Reflection

2011-12-02T21:39:00.000-06:00

1859 -- Charles Town, Virginia

John Brown is hanged for his crimes against the state of Virginia

1949 -- The United Nations

The UN declares Dec 2, as the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery

Today is a day for reflection, contemplation, and honoring those who have been affected by the horrors of slavery.

The "Mary Day Brown" Curtains

2011-11-20T21:24:00.000-06:00

One of my cousins sent this too me. I find it fascinating

"Hi Alice,

Doing some cleaning and found a diary of expenses, etc., that my Great Aunt Ada Remington kept from 1949-1951. This woman writes just one line for each day usually, but, pinned to a page is a cut out newspaper article from the Lake Placid News, dated July 27, 1951."

"A rod-less curtain has been invented by Mrs. Inez Carter which, she said, was the outcome of an idea which came to her in a dream. She has named it the Mary Day Brown curtain in honor of the 2nd wife of John Brown and in keeping with the name is hanging them at the windows of the John Brown homestead. The curtains have buttonholes which button on tapes suspended at the windows. Mrs. Carter is president of the John Brown Memorial Association and vice-president of the national organization. She states that they would be particularly valuable during shortages of metal"

A Page from Annie's Autograph Book

2011-10-10T15:00:00.000-05:00

Another page from Annie's Autograph Book

Respectfully,

Adam C. Works

June 18, 1863

F.E. Institute

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Adam Clark Works was born in Feb 1834 in New York. His parents were George Washington Works and Julia [Coolidge] Works. Adam graduated from Fort Edward Institute in 1856, and began teaching there in Aug 1857. He taught mathematics until 1868 and then taught Natural Sciences until his departure in 1872.

He went to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, Lima, N.Y., in September, 1872, as a teacher of natural science until his death, June 17, 1908.

He married Ellen Mihill in 1870. They had 4 children Nellie, born 1872 - Norris, born 1873 - Ralph, born 1875 - and Ruth Elida born 1881. According to a short bio page on Works at the Univeristy of Rochester, hw was married previously for a very short time to Elida Van Sickle, until her untimely death in 1869. I could not find any information on her or this wedding in my short research time frame.

When I started the transcriptions of these pages, I thought they would all be fellow students. I have today located 3 teachers in addition to Adam Clark Works. More to follow soon.