John Brown was killed instantly on the evening of June 3,
1873 when he fell under the wheels of a train bound for Piqua, Ohio. (See Death Register below.1) The accident
happened about one half
mile from where he was living at the quarry of his
brother-in-law, Peter Burns, on Dublin Road.
There is no indication that the train was stopped or that the conductor even
knew of the accident; nor, was there an indication in the news articles of who
found John’s dismembered body. (From the
article In the Ohio State Journal, the discovery must have been just as the
accident occurred. See the article from the Ohio State Journal in the last post.) The coroner, Patrick
Egan, was called, but no existing report can be found.2
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| John Brown death register (click to enlarge |
Family lore does not tell us how John’s wife, Ellen,
learned of the accident or how the family coped in the days that followed. It must have been devastating. (See the David
Brown letter right.3)
Their
oldest son, John E. was not quite sixteen. Seven additional children ages three to fourteen
were at home; and, recall that their youngest daughter, Julia, had died just
five months earlier. Moreover, Ellen was
about four months pregnant with Peter, their last child, who was born October 14,
1873. I can only imagine that it
was a difficult pregnancy to say the least.
 |
| Section of 1943 David Brown Letter (click to enlarge) |
While Ellen did manage to carry Peter to term, her life,
too, was cut short. On April 11, 1878, just
five years after John’s death, Ellen,
age 36, died of cancer. (See death register for Ellen, left.4)
By this time, John E., the oldest son, was twenty. The eldest daughter, Mary Ann was married to
Timothy Murane5
and living in her own household; but, there were still seven under age children
left at home.
 |
| Death Register for Ellen Brown (click to enlarge) |
 |
| John and Ellen Brown are buried in graves 4 & 5 in B, Cathedral Section, Lot 85 (see footnote 6) Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio |
There are no details of what happened to John and Ellen’s
family after John’s death. The estate
was not filed until after Ellen’s death.
Documents in the probate file do give some information.
The David Brown letter states that, “I don’t believe that
these people lived in Delaware as did Patrick Brown and family. The only place
of their residence, to my knowledge, was on what we formerly knew as ‘Dublin
Road’ . . . “ There are a couple of
documents in the probate record that support this theory. The Will of Martha Burns Brown Hogan, Ellen’s
sister and wife of Peter Burns, left the quarry property to her nephew, John E.
Brown.7 The description of the property in the will says
“houses” (plural) suggesting
that John and Ellen did, indeed, live on the quarry property with Peter and
Martha Burns.
More telling information can be inferred from a bill
found in the probate record from J.T. Williams & Son, a blacksmith shop
located on West Linn Street in Columbus.
(See the bill below right.8)
The bill covers a period of about six
months from September 1877 to February 1878 with additional later payment
information. There are several line
items for repairs to at least one wagon; however, most of the bill is for horse
shoes. Thirty-seven shoes (23 old and 14
new) were purchased during that short period.
The wagon(s) and horses were presumably used in the quarry business and
were likely large enough for heavy loads of stone requiring a team of at least
two horses to pull the load – perhaps more than two. Even with the heavy loads, horse shoes are
pretty durable and 37 shoes would be a lot to go through in a six month period
for just two horses. My guess is that
there were multiple horses, and, perhaps multiple wagons.9
 |
| Bill from J.T.Williams & Sons (click to enlarge) |
The death register for Ellen states that she was living
on “S. Mead” at the time of her death. Ellen
is also shown on Mead Alley in the 1877 and 1878 Columbus City Directory.10
While this location is
less than
four miles from the quarry, she may have moved there because it was in town,
and, she would have had easier access to medical care. Ellen reputedly died of breast cancer. Documents
in the probate record indicate that she was treated by Dr. S.H. Stewart and Dr.
J.W. Hamilton from May 1877 until her death.
(See copies of doctor’s receipts above left.)
Dr. John Waterman Hamilton was a noted surgeon of the time and
taught surgery at Starling Medical College and Columbus Medical College which he
founded along with other prominent physicians in 1874.11 The entire
notation on the receipt is not legible, but it appears to be for some surgery
on the breast done in May, 1877. This seems
to corroborate what was written by David Brown in 1943.12 (See section of
the letter below.)
 |
| Receipts from Ellen's doctors - (click to enlarge) |
 |
| 1943 David Brown letter - (click to enlarge) |
As indicated in the last post, John and Ellen Brown owned
two city lots. Since there were
outstanding bills, the Probate Court ordered that the real estate be sold to
settle debts. The major bills appeared to be the blacksmith bill shown above,
the mortgage for the city lots held by Thomas Bergin, (see details in the last post) and a bill from the undertaker, Patrick Egan, for the 1873 burials of
John Brown and his daughter, Julia.13
(See below) On April 22, 1878, an estate file was established
for John Brown. On April 16, 1878, a
bond was posted by Patrick Egan to be named Administrator of the estate.
 |
| Egan bills for 1873 burials of Julia and John Brown and 1878 burial of Ellen Brown (click to enlarge) |
Yes, this is the same Patrick Egan who submitted a bill
for his services as an undertaker in 1873.
Today, we would question that as a conflict of interest. I don’t think that was the case here. Patrick Egan died on October 12, 1890. He was a successful businessman and had been
the county coroner for many years, and, in fact, had been the coroner at the
time of John’s death in 1873. In addition
to his obituary, a separate article was published the same day in the Columbus
Dispatch stating that the Irish community had lost a valuable friend. Egan, himself born in Ireland, had used his
wealth and influence to assist many Irish immigrants, spending vast sums to
help them. Had his only motive been to
collect the debt, he would not have waited five years to submit a bill. Since there were funds available after the forced
sale of the real estate to cover other
expenses, (the city lots were sold at
auction on May 17, 1879 for $365.00 to Thomas Bergin), Mr. Egan did collect his
fee for the 1873 burials. There was
another bill for Ellen’s funeral (see above) which does not seem to be included in the
final accounting.14 (See Administrator's Account right.) It appears that Mr. Egan was trying to retain
as much cash as he could for the family.
 |
| Administrator's Account for John Brown estate (click to enlarge) |
After Ellen’s death, Patrick Brown, John’s brother and
husband of Ellen’s sister, (see previous posts about Patrick Brown. It looked like home! Illinois Prairie Years Homesteading), came to
Columbus to help the family. This can be
verified by another document in the
probate records. On April 23, 1878, Patrick
signed a note stating he had served notice to all of the children of John and
Ellen Brown that there had been a claim filed against the real estate.15
(See copy left) The note was
notarized by Martin Nolan, an attorney practicing in Columbus, Ohio.
 |
| Notarized copy to children of John Brown (click to enlarge) |
All of the children stayed in the Columbus area with
Peter and Martha Burns, at least for awhile, except William Henry who was
living with his uncle Patrick as we saw in the 1880 U.S. Census for McLean County,
Illinois. (See previous posts for
Patrick named above.) Family lore says that William
went to Illinois with Patrick when he returned home after Ellen’s death. A final document in the estate file seems to
verify this. Patrick Brown signed a
notice dated November 18, 1879 notifying William, still a minor, that the real
estate had been sold.16 (See copy right) The notice was notarized by Richard E
Moreland, a neighbor of Patrick’s in McLean County, Illinois. That is where we will go for the next part of
the story.
 |
| 1879 notarized copy signed in Illinois (click to enlarge) |
One final thought, (plea) before I end this blog. Many years ago, (2004) a family tree that
included this specific Brown family was posted on RootsWeb – long since taken
down – that stated, “Ruth has picture of Ellen Burns.” The note further states that the photo was,
“dated April 13, 1818 or that was Ellen’s birthdate???or date of death?” I have a theory that the ink was faded on the
back of the photo and that the date was written April 13, 1878 – the actual date of Ellen’s death. (The "7" had faded to look like a "1"?) Perhaps "Ruth" is a descendant of Thomas, fifth child of John and Ellen? If anyone knows of the photo, I would love to
see a copy!
1.
“Ohio County Death Records, 1840-2001,” database
with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903?1:1:F6JV-1PY
: 13 December 2014), John Brown 03 Jan 1873; citing Death, Franklin Township,
Franklin, Ohio, United States, source ID v1 p71, County courthouses, Ohio: FHL
microfilm 285,206. The record shows the
date of death as January 3, 1873. The
correct date of death is June 3, 1873.
2.
I did contact the Franklin Coroner’s
Office. They do not have files from that
early time frame, and, there does not appear to be files at the Ohio Historical
Society.
3.
Brown, David, Kewanee, Il, 11 May 1943, Letter
to Esther _________, Columbus, OH.
4.
“Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001,”
database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6JK-5M9:
13 Dec 2014), Ellen Brown, 11 Apr 1878: citing Death, Columbus, Franklin, Ohio,
Unites States, source ID v1 p 125, County courthouses, Ohio: FHL microfilm
285,206.
5.
“Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013,” database
with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZPB-886 : 8 December 2014), Timothy Murmane [Murnane] and Mary Ann Brown,
01 Apr 1875; citing Franklin, Ohio, United States, reference Vol 13 p230;
county courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 285,147
6.
Information from Catholic Cemeteries, Columbus,
Ohio. Few early records for the cemetery
were kept. Information is from a ledger
available at the office of St. Joseph Cemetery, Lockbourne, Ohio. Remember that twelve graves were purchased by
Mrs. John Brown on January 22, 1873 for $35.00.
Cemetery records show burials for the Brown family in graves numbered
one through six. Graves seven and eight
do not show burials. Graves nine through
twelve show burials for a Vogt-Tyler family.
There is no indication in the cemetery records that these graves were
sold by the Brown family and I do not know of any relation to this family. The earliest burial is for Edmond Vogt in
1935.
7.
Franklin County, Ohio, probate case files,
estate no. 24,074, Martha Brown Hogan (1909), last will and testament, Will
Book v FF p35, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio
8.
Franklin County, Ohio probate case files, estate
no. 010060, John Brown (1878), bill of J.T. Williams & Son, 17 Jun 1878,
Probate Court, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio. Note:
The bill does not state whether the horses were shod at the Williams’
establishment or whether the shoes were purchased and put on by one of the
Brown-Burns family at the quarry.
Remember, there was a Brown that was a blacksmith in the Patrickswell
area in County Limerick and someone from the family in America may have
developed that skill.
9.
Having owned horses myself for many years, I do
have some experience with blacksmiths and horse shoeing. While horse shoes are custom fit, if not
custom made, as a rule after the horse matures, the size of a horse’s hoof does not change over the years. In general, metal horse shoes last many
years.
10.
The 1877 directory shows Mrs. Ellen Brown as a
resident on the east side of Mead north of State Street. The 1878 directory shows the widow E Brown on
Mead south of Rush Allen. Mead Alley is
now May Street. While the property is
now vacant, this house was located in what is now called “the bottoms” of
Columbus just west of downtown and the Scioto River. It would have been in Franklinton, the
earliest settlement in Franklin County.
11. Moore, Opha, History of Franklin County, Ohio, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka & Indianapolis, 1930, Volume One, p. 356. Available online at: https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE1667416&from=fhd
12.
Op. cit., David Brown letter
13.
Franklin County, Ohio probate case files, estate
no. 010060, John Brown (1878), Bills from Patrick A. Egan, undertaker. The top portion of the bill for Ellen, dated
April 13, 1878, is not legible. Since
the total sum due for this occurrence was $95.00, the top line would be for
$60.00. If this bill follows the
structure of the previous bill, the first line would show the cost of the
casket.
14.
Franklin County, Ohio probate case files, estate
no. 010060, John Brown (1878), Administrator’s or Executor’s Account, not
dated, Probate Court, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio. There appear to be a couple of omissions from
the accounting, notably the blacksmith bill (J.T. Williams & Sons), and
Patrick Egan’s bill for Ellen’s funeral expenses. Also note the $35.00 payment for the cemetery
lots in Mt. Calvary from 1873.
Additionally, the original mortgage on the city lots was for $235.00. Payment on the note to settle the estate was
for $65.00; so, some earlier payment(s) must have been made on the mortgage.
15.
Franklin County, Ohio probate case files, estate
no. 010060, John Brown (1878), Notice to John E Brown and others, 23 Apr 1878,
Probate Court, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio.
16.
Franklin County, Ohio probate case files, estate
no. 010060, John Brown (1878), Notice to William Brown, 18 Nov 1879, Probate
Court, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio.
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