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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 he had suffered prior to enlistment.

After the war, the Browns migrated 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, Barber County. "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. 

Medicine Lodge was the seat of Barber County, and in 1867 and 1873 was the site of several important treaties with five Native American tribes of the Plains. The town officially was founded in 1873, with a prominent stockade constructed the following year. Thus, the arrival of the Browns in 1879 was to a peaceful, bustling territory with all the promise of a successful future.

In 1884, Lydia and James moved within Barber County a short distance away, to Elm Creek, southwest of Isabel. That same year, they induced Lydia's sister and brother in law, Mahala and Luther White, to come to Kansas from Missouri with their adult children. The Whites arrived in the spring of 1884, but the health of Lydia's sister was fragile. Mahala struggled with the intense heat of summer, added to incessant winds and ever-present rolling dust clouds on a treeless prairie, and then the intense cold of winter. Sadly, in January 1885, after less than a year in Isabel, Lydia's sister died, and was the first burial in what is now the Isabel Cemetery.

Adding to the heartache, that spring, the Browns survived a five-foot flood following a cloudburst in April 1885, but lost 40 head of cattle and their 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, unable to repay their indebtedness, and with Lydia's sister now in the grave for the past five years, the Browns left Kansas for the Oklahoma Indian Territory. Their aim was 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. Memoirs of this nationally historic event later were written by daughters Laura and Nellie.

Later, Lydia and James moved to a farm in Excelsior Twp., Kingfisher County. In 1895 they moved again to Lakeside near San Diego, CA, staying for five years. At some point, the Browns had a photographic portrait taken together at Excelsior Studio in San Diego, seen at the very top of this biography.

When the federal census was taken in June 1900, Lydia and James and their daughters Emma (age 21) and Bertha (17) lived together n San Diego. James' occupation was reported as "farmer." Emma was employed as a sales woman in a groceery.

Apparently at some point in 1900, the Browns returned to Oklahoma, settling in Crescent, where they remained the rest of their lives.

Their frame 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, at the age of 82. 

James outlived his wife by four years. He passed away on Oct. 1, 1923, after a trip to California. They rest for eternity together 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.