The Brown Family History

Chapter Four -THE BROWN FAMLY HISTORY

My paternal grandfather’s family arrived in Ramsey in 1857 from Kentucky when my grandfather was three years old.  He was one of eight children. His father did farm labor as well as his own small farming enterprise. After my great-grandparents moved to IL with their children in 1857 they settled into the small town routine. Great-grandfather Brown died at age 44 from measles, leaving his wife a widow with eight children to raise.

I guess she did a pretty good job on her own.  Other than my granddad, all of her children were successful and happy.  Granddad did have some good offspring, so maybe he was successful as well.  Maybe it was because of grandma.  I hear she was a saint.

I never met my paternal grandparents. Grandpa died in 1943, six years before I was born.  According to my dad, grandpa was the town drunk and could barely hold a job.  My grandmother died in June 1949, six months before I was born.  According to everyone with whom I have spoken, Grandma was a saint.  All of the neighborhood children loved going to the Brown house.  Aunt Frank (grandma) as she was known, always had food and good times for the neighborhood children. I wish I could have known her. She sounds amazing, filled with love and willing to share that love with whomever 

crossed her threshold.

Great-grandma Brown (Gannon), 1910

Great-grandma Brown (left) raised her eight children alone after my great-granddad died in 1872.  All of her children, with the exception of my grandfather, were all successful and contributing members of the community.

My grandparents married in 1895 and started their family with my first uncle being born in 1899.  My granddad’s siblings all stayed in the same town, raised their families and died there.  They were all pillars of the town society with the exception of my granddad.  The town drunk always holds a place in the town’s history, but not always in a positive light.

My father was always embarrassed by the fact that his father was the town drunk. He never got over that embarrassment. He was an avid

abolishenist and believed that alcohol was indeed the spirit of the devil.

Dad spoke about loving his father and saying that he was a good provider.  They never went hungry and always had clothes. I think a lot of that was because his aunts and uncles helped and my grandmother was resourceful in keeping the garden and chickens healthy.

Grandpa took the boys hunting so they could have other meat on the table and would never go hungry. The idea of eating squirrel and quail don’t appeal to me, but then again, I’ve been raised in a different time. I still love biscuits and gravy, bacon and fried eggs and fried chicken. My one regret is that I never ate morel mushrooms. The family would go mushrooming every year and return home with these things they picked off dead logs. Mom would sauté (fry) them in bacon grease, then make a cream gravy and serve them.  As a child I wasn’t eating those things!