Henry Melvin Brown (abt. 1850 - abt. 1932)

Born about Sep 1850 in Augusta, Kennebec, Maine, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Sigrid Olsdatter (Brujordet) Brown — married 1892 (to about 1909) in Seattle, King, Washington, United States

Descendants

Died about 15 Nov 1932 at about age 82 in East Palatka, Putnam, Florida, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Stephen Chapman [send private message]

Biography

Henry Brawn was born in 1850 in Fayette, Maine, the son of Charles and Susannah Brawn. The family name was spelled Brawn originally, not Brown, but that spelling was changed at some point after 1860, and was frequently recorded as Brown even before that. He was recorded in the household of Charles and Susannah Brown in 1850, a month old, with 2-year old brother Ronello. His father was a harness maker, and died in 1852.

Henry M.F Brawn was recorded in the household of A.W. Smith (39) Albion Walker Smith (1821-1908) and Angeline Smith (35) Angelina H. (Page) Smith (1825-1900) in 1860 in Mercer, Somerset, ME. He was 10 years old and attended school. There were no other children in the household, and his relationship with them is not known.

According to his granddaughter, he traveled to South Africa as a young man, working on the railroad there, and then to Australia, also working on the railroad. He shows up in Seattle, WA by 1885 and his occupation is a ship carpenter. He is presumed to have come from Australia by ship.

He married Sigrid Brujordet, an immigrant from Norway, in 1892 in Seattle. She is known as Sarah Brown in most American records. They were the parents of five children, but only three are known, presumably two unknown children died in infancy:

Charles Ronlow Brown

William "Buster" Brown

Maggie/Madline Brown 1901-1911

He left his family to work on the Panama Canal from about 1904-1906. But he didn't return to his family and his wife reported herself as widowed after that. She moved to Seabeck to keep her children off the streets of Seattle and took a job as a cook at a hotel. Daughter Madline died in a house fire about 1911 in Seabeck; she had run back into the house to try to save her doll.

He is in New Orleans in 1910, a ship carpenter. Research is unclear about his location in 1920, but in 1930 he was a resident at a poor farm in Florida, farming potatoes.

Sarah had died in 1928; he made one last trip out to Bremerton, WA where both his sons worked at the Navy shipyard, to ask for support, but he was turned down, about 1931, and returned to Florida.

He passed away about 1932, and was buried in Putnam County Poor Farm Cemetery.

Research Notes

Family research is inconclusive about his parents and their story. Was he related to the Smiths of the 1860 census? He may have been in Maine still in 1870 (there are two potential census records there, unconfirmed).

Name: His middle name is clearly given as "Miller" rather than Melvin on at least the 1900 census record and on the birth record for his daughter Maggie. Teddy Brown believes it was Melvin, but it is usually abbreviated M. His brother's on the 1850 census name being Ronello and him giving his son the name Charles Ronlow Brown are convincing that the 1850 census is the correct one.

He may well have misrepresented his age as younger than his actual age on various census records.

Both his granddaughter Theodora Brown (his only grandchild) and her son have DNA tests on Ancestry. For a few years no cousins were identified on the Brown line, but recently some have shown up, and after some research it became evident that the common ancestor is Daniel Chapman Brawn, who has now been connected. The Brawn spelling was completely unknown to her - and presumably her father and uncle.

Investigate further, uncertain/speculative:

Henry Brown, 1880 census, Kennebec, ME, Querryman: "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF3P-B9C : 19 February 2021), Henry Brown in household of Caleb H Rose, Hallowell, Kennebec, Maine, United States; citing enumeration district ED 96, sheet 290D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,481.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100427979/h.-m.-brown (could the Poor Farm graves have been re-interred here?)

Still needed: exact death date and record; confirmation of movements 1860-1895, and movements 1904-1932.

• Albion Walker Smith (1821-1908) created - head of household when he was 10 in the 1860 census. Perhaps this family was connected with his mother Susannah in some yet unknown way.

Sources

• Theodora Brown Chapman family history research
• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6JT-DY5 : 22 December 2020), Henry M Brown in household of Charles Brown, Fayette, Kennebec, Maine, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• US Census, Year: 1860; Census Place: Mercer, Somerset, Maine; Roll: M653_452; Page: 187; Family History Library Film: 803452
• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDCH-5NR : Fri Sep 15 23:23:15 UTC 2023), Entry for A W Smith and Angeline Smith, 1860.
• Washington State and Territorial Censuses, 1857-1892, Locality: Seattle Ward 1, V228_5, Line 20
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMPF-VS7 : accessed 2 July 2021), Henry Miller Brown, Precinct 6 Seattle city Ward 1, King, Washington, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 85, sheet 14B, family 281, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,744.
• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPY3-YW2 : accessed 2 July 2021), Henry M Brown, Police Jury Ward 6, Jefferson, Louisiana, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 30, sheet 1B, family 18, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 516; FHL microfilm 1,374,529.
• US Census Year: 1930; Census Place: East Palatka, Putnam, Florida; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 0019; FHL microfilm: 2340066

• Birth record for Charles Brown: "Washington, County Birth Registers, 1873-1965", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:D54J-JC6Z : 24 November 2020), Henry M Brown in entry for Brown, 1897.
• Birth record for Maggie Brown: "Washington, County Birth Registers, 1873-1965", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DTD9-8SPZ : 6 December 2020), Henry Miller Brown in entry for Maggie Brown, 1901.

• "Florida Deaths, 1877-1939", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FP31-GZ7 : 23 February 2021), Henry M. Brown, 1932.
• "Florida Death Index, 1877-1998," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VVZP-QD1 : 25 December 2014), Henry M Brown, 1932; from "Florida Death Index, 1877-1998," index, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : 2004); citing vol. , certificate number , Florida Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, Jacksonville.
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37863432/henry-m.-brown