Lydia
(Miner) Brown
(1837-1919)
Lydia
Ann (Miner) Brown was born in
1837 in Cardington, Morrow County, OH, the daughter of
Daniel and Margaret (Fluckey) Miner Sr.
She and her husband, a Civil War veteran, were pioneers of Iowa and Kansas, and were participants in the famed Oklahoma Land Rush.
Lydia married James R. Brown, who served in Company F, 125th Ohio Infantry during the Civil War. James was born Jan. 28, 1835 at Marion, OH, son of Josiah and Sarah Brown. He stood 5 feet, 8 inches high with blue eyes and dark hair, and taught school before the war.
They were the parents of
Harry Brown, Frank
Brown, Ella Young, Nellie
Jones, Laura Barnum, Gertie
Brown, Maggie Brown, Emma Linda McGirk and
Bertha Keck.
On Oct. 8, 1862, James enlisted as a sergeant in the 125th Ohio Infantry. Just six days later, he married Lydia at Mt. Gilead, Morrow County, before leaving for service. She remained behind at their home in Cardington, and is seen at right.
Less than a year later, on March 11, 1863, James was honorably discharged from the Army at Louisville, KY. The reason was a disability due to shortness of his right thigh, the result of a broken leg prior to enlistment.
After
the war, the Browns moved to Iowa, settling in DeSoto, Dallas County (1868) and Montezuma,
Poweshiek County (1877).
In 1879, they relocated to Kansas, where they ran a
dairy in Medicine Lodge, and in 1884, moved to Elm Creek, southwest of Isabel. "It was a long and arduous journey by rail to
Harper, and then by
wagon, with all of their household goods abord, until they reached their
destination...," said one eyewitness
account. They survived a five-foot flood following a cloudburst in
April 1885, but lost 40 head of cattle and his farm was ruined. (Read an eyewitness
account of this disaster by daughter Nellie.)
The photo at left shows Lydia as a very old woman, with her granddaughter (?) Minnie.
In April 1889, the Browns left Kansas for the Oklahoma Indian Territory to take part in the formal, legal opening of land available for purchase by settlers. "Their outfit consisted of two covered wagons which was trailed by a one horse buggy," wrote a grandson. "They reached the line west of Kingfisher without mishap on the night before the great day of the Land Rush."
The family claimed land after a frenzied mule ride just south of where the Kingfisher Cemetery now is, about one mile west of Kingfisher. Seen below is a rare postcard view of the town at the turn of the century.
Memoirs of this nationally historic event later were written by daughters Laura and Nellie.
Later,
the Browns moved to a farm in Excelsior Twp., Kingfisher County. In 1895 they moved again to Lakeside near San Diego, CA, staying
for five years. In 1900, they returned to Oklahoma, settling in Crescent, where they remained
the rest of their lives.
Their house in Oklahoma is seen here. The well-constructed building was later sold out of the family, and was still standing in the 1980s, though abandoned. (At the time, the owner decided to tear it down. However, the structure was so strong and solid that it became too much trouble to dismantle. The owner then burned it, with the process taking several days, and dug a hole to bury the remains.)
On Oct. 14, 1913, the Browns celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Somehow, despite the many pioneer hardships and endless work endured over the years, they maintained an elegant, handsome appearance, as attested to by their wonderful portraits taken later in life, and seen below.
Lydia died April 16, 1919. James
died Oct. 1, 1923 after a trip to California. Both are buried at the Banner Cemetery in
Kingfisher. Their grave marker is seen
here in a photograph taken in May 2002.
Granddaughter
Alba (McGirk) Kristensen-Peck was a family history buff whose research and
neatly typed notes have helped shape our
understanding of this branch significantly.
For more information, contact great-grandson Keith Barnum, who has a website devoted to the Brown-Barnum branch of our family. Because the site is hosted by MyFamily.com, you will need to register to enter the site. Contact Keith for more details.
Copyright © 2000-2002 Mark A. Miner. Photo of Brown grave by Keith Barnum.