Early Pioneer Families of Daviess County: The Browns

Brown Family #1: John Bridges Brown

I have discovered at least three Brown families who were early pioneers of the county. One was the John McElhaney Brown and Lucy Hutchison line. Another was the Samuel C. Brown and Elizabeth Cox line. The third line is the following.

John Bridges Brown

John Bridges Brown, son of Revolutionary War veteran, John S. Brown, Sr. [1751-1825], and wife Martha Bridges [1760-1860], was born March 14, 1793, in Mt. Sterling, Montgomery County, Ky. He worked as a blacksmith. At the age of 19, and at the outbreak of the War of 1812, John joined the army. After the war ended, he went with other settlers to what was then “Virginia,” later known as West Virginia.

In 1821, in Kanawha County, [West] Virginia, he married Hannah Hill. They lived in Kanawha County, a county known then and now for its rock salt. In 1842, they decided to leave. Family legend is that they were somehow related to the Hatfields and McCoys and that the feud was one reason they left the area and moved to Missouri.

Family stories tell about their move:

“The trip down the Ohio River to Missouri was by raft. Behind their raft, they towed a second raft with a load of salt to be sold when they got to Missouri. On the first raft were John and Hannah and their ten children. [Daughter, Sarah Ann had married and had gone to Indiana.]”

River historians say that the Ohio River was one of the most beautiful waterways in the world at this time, but still had its dangers. Family legend says that “sometime before they reached Missouri, the raft they were riding on capsized and they lost all of their belongings. Eventually they reached St. Louis where they sold their quantity of salt that they had brought.”

Trade in salt was very important, and salt was valuable enough to be used as currency. The Latin phrase “salarium argentum,” or “salt money,” early on was part of the payment made to every Roman soldier. The word has been carried down the ages into the English word “salary.” 

By the summer of 1843, these Browns had settled in Daviess County, cleared the area, built a cabin and were busy planting, living on the farm in Elm Flats, located 3 1/2 miles west of  Pattonsburg. John B and Hannah lived there until 1854 when they moved to Cypress Township, Harrison County, Missouri. Several of their children had settled there near a small town called Pleasant Ridge, which the Brown family had begun. John B and Hannah became involved in the community and were both members of the Baptist church for many years.

In 1861 when the Civil War broke out, John B. enlisted in the military. Although he was in his late 60s, he became the major of a regiment and saw some active service. From that point in time on, he was always known as Major Brown.

To this union were born:

1. Eliza A. [born 1823] married Elijah Hubbard and their children were: Jane; Sarah; Ellen; and Henry. She died in 1918 at Bethany.

2. Sarah A. [born 1824] married Boone Ballard. She died in 1855 at Bethany.

3. William H. [born 1828] married Fannie Ford and had children Miriam; Edgar; Robert; Anna; Carl; John; Helen; and Elizabeth. He died in 1918 at Hickory County, Mo.

4. Elizabeth J. [born 1829] married Edgar Hubbard and had children Wallace; Emily; Ann; Henrietta; Charles; Edward; and Emma. She died in 1903 at Bethany.

5. Bernard A. [born 1830] married Colista Butler and had children Clara; Emma; Erma; Ida; James; Orland; Norton; Ernest; Eva; Eda; Wilfred; and Daniel; He died in 1914 in Dawes County, Neb.

6. Althea A.M. [born 1832] married Henry L. Bolin. Their children were: Henrietta; William C; Eldorado L.; John M.;  James R.; Marion; Eveline; Martha “Mattie”; Elizabeth S.; and Linnie. Althea died in Pattonsburg in 1894.

7. Napoleon B. [born 1833] married Sarah J. Harbord in 1859. Napoleon came to the Salem Township in 1857 and built the first store house in Salem. In 1861, he joined the Enrolled Militia of Missouri [EMM] and was elected Captain of Company B. After the reorganization of the militia in 1863, he was appointed Captain of Company M, 4th Regiment, Colonel John B. Hale, commanding. He participated in the engagement at Union Mills and also in the fight near Camden where the notorious Bloody Bill Anderson was killed. Napoleon was said to have had a finely improved farm and kept 100-200 heard of cattle on hand at all times. He also did a large business in buying and shipping stock, shipping in 1880 at least 400 car loads from the counties of Daviess, Harrison, Gentry and Nodaway. This stock was worth on an average of $800 to the car load making a grand total of $320,000. He shipped an average of 200 car loads a year. He died in 1903 in Gallatin and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Their children were: Alice; Anna; Charles; Dollie; George; John; Josephine; Lucy; Mary; and Ross.

8. James Q. [born 1835] died in 1875 in an accident at the mining town of Eberhart, Nev., now a ghost town. James is buried at Hamilton about five miles from the old mining site, in White Pine County, Nev. When large scale silver discoveries were made in Nevada in 1868, it  resulted in one of the most intense but shortest lived silver stampedes ever recorded. Over 10,000 people established themselves in huts and caves at elevations of 8,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level, hoping to profit from the silver.  

James Brown and his brother, Marion, spent many years in the mining camps of California and Nevada. Unfortunately, there are no records of their experiences that we know of. James was working in an ore processing plant at the time of his death. There is no record of James ever having a family.

It was quoted in a letter to his father regarding James’ death that James was no drinker nor gambler—like the foolish thousands upon this coast—but was always at his post of duty, willing and cheerful, and sad indeed is the thought that his life was so suddenly terminated.  But sad as death always seems to us…..his death was not an agonizing lingering one, therefore no suffering; it must have been instantaneous, there is no doubt of it.  The belt and pulley in which the unfortunate man was caught revolves swiftly and powerfully, carrying one of the 10-stamp sections of the battery.  

The pulley is three feet and three inches in diameter, and the belt 14 inches side.  His body was carried around this pulley and between it and the belt, crushing out life instantly and throwing the belt from the pulley.  It gave a shock to the entire machinery startling the men who rushed to the fated scene—steam being turned off quickly as possible. 

 James was working by himself at the time, though others were nearby, but none saw just how the accident happened, and no sound or groan was heard; the shock and his awful crushed remains were all that told how suddenly his end had come. His death cast a gloom not only over his working comrades but over the entire community. The mill and mines were both shut down and the funeral was largely attended.  No mortal should ever desire a more heartfelt and respectful burial.

8. Mary F. [born 1837] married Hardy M. Cuddy and their children were: Edgar; Joanna; Stephen; Mary D.; Sarah; Robert; Jay C.; Fred K.; Samuel L.; Nellie E; and Elsie R. Mary died in 1903 at Bethany.

9. Frances M. [born 1839] married Ione Harbord and their children were: Rufus; James Q; Fredrick; and Katherine. He died 1886 at Coffey.

10. Evaline V. [born 1841] married 1st Samuel S. Ellis and had two children: Mary and Aggie. 2nd husband was Alexander S. Ennis. She died in 1925 at Cypress, Harrison County, Mo.

After John’s wife, Hannah, died on May 23, 1863, he moved back to Daviess County where he lived in the town of Salem (now Coffey). In 1865, John married Mrs. Amma Wood Pinnell Bowen, the widow of Allen Bowen. 

John Bridges Brown died January 13, 1877, in Coffey and is buried at Pleasant Ridge Cemetery in Harrison County, next to his first wife, Hannah.