May 26, 2011 - Brown Family Update

{Originally posted on The Brown Perspective on May 26, 2011 and transferred here for archival purposes}


Ken Brown, Springfield, MO

Lots of questions coming in both about the DAVIS-BROWN reunion and the new BROWN book.  Here is a new update that might answer some of them.

DAVIS-BROWN reunion -- It's official!  the 2011 Davis-Brown reunion will be held Sunday, June 5th at the American Legion Hall in Ava, MO starting at 11 a.m. with a pot-luck dinner to follow.  Ava is about 60 miles southeast of Springfield.  The American Legion Hall is two blocks south of the Ava public square.  (KEEP READING)




BROWN FAMILY HISTORY (LESSON 1) -- for years the Davis-Brown reunion has been attended largely by descendants of John Thomas Davis, James Lihu "Uncle Jim" Brown, and Isaac Sherman "Uncle Ike" Brown.

Jesse G. Brown

All three raised their families in Douglas County MO where Ava is located, and many of their descendants still live there.  Now, the father of "Uncle Jim" Brown and "Uncle Ike" Brown was Jesse G. Brown, a Civil War veteran.

Rev. Isaac Brown

Jesse G.  had a younger brother by the name of Isaac Brown who also served in the Civil War before heading to Taney County where he married Caroline Morgan.  In Taney County, he came a leader in the relatively new General Baptist church of Pilgrim's Rest and then moved his family to the area of present-day Nowata County, OK and then further west to present-day Woodward County.  He has many descendants still living in those counties.  He was called "Rev." Isaac Brown or "Elder" Isaac Brown by the hundreds of early Oklahomans who knew him.  (RETURN TO ITEM 2 AND RE-READ IT UNTIL YOU KNOW IT--A TEST LATER)

NEW REUNION ATTENDEES -- We're all excited that some of Rev. Isaac Brown's descendants will be attending this year.  Also, other Brown descendants may be attending for the first time.  (KEEP READING)

BROWN HISTORY BOOK --  Laura Moncrief will be at the 2011 Reunion with copies of her new 2011 book, SQUIRE-BROWN-BURTON.  The 220-page books sell for only $30--both at the reunion and online at WWW.LULU.COM.  After the reunion, I'll try to keep some books in inventory here in Springfield for relatives without internet access. (KEEP READING)

WHO IS IN THE SQUIRE-BROWN-BURTON BOOK? -- Laura's book will provide the earliest records she has been able to find regarding our common ancestor, Lyhue/Elihu and Elizabeth "Betsy" (Hall) Brown who came with the first white settlers to present-day Douglas County in the 1830s.  Next, the book will cover all she's been able to find about Lyhue and Betsy's four children: George W., Sarah Ann, Jesse G. and Isaac.  The third and fourth generations will cover all the children and grandchildren of these four Brown children just listed.  For example, this means that information on my father, James Orville "Jake" Brown, is provided since he is a grandchild of Jesse G. Brown, but does not include anything about me.  There are literally hundreds of us descendants from old Lyhue and Elizabeth (Betsy), and that is why it's more important than ever for us to keep in touch with each other.  THIS BOOK IS A MUST BUY FOR BOTH OURSELVES AND FOR OUR OWN DESCENDANTS  (KEEP READING)

AUNT LULU TRIBUTE AND OTHER HANDOUTS -- Several of you know that I almost always bring some handouts to the reunions.  Most of the ones you may have missed or lost can be found on my website at WWW.OZARK-UNCLE.NET.  This year, I'll have a photo essay to hand out for Uncle Jim and Aunt Mel Brown's youngest daughter, Lulu Minerva (Brown) Shrum.   Additionally, some pictorial outlines of the family will be passed out along with some other exhibits.  (KEEP READING)

BROWN-MORRIS-HARTLEY-GUNNELS photosharing web site.  If you haven't visited it yet, spend a little time on OZARKUNCLE.PHOTOSHOP.COM.  I've stored over 5,000 family images there and organized into different family albums.

May 10, 2011 - Brown Family News

{This post was originally in The Brown Perspectives and transferred here for archiving}

This email contains information about our upcoming family reunions as well as a new family history book for the Brown family--please take a moment to read this.  You are one of over one hundred people in my address book who I consider to be related to (or familiar with) the Elihi "Lyhue" & Elizabeth "Betsy" (Hall) Brown family.  Lyhue and Betsy were very young when they settled in south central Missouri around 1837 right after their marriage.  They were to rear four children (George W., Sarah A., Jesse G. and Isaac) at their cabin near the banks of Bryant Creek in current day Douglas County MO.  KEEP READING...

Until this year, my address book contained only descendants of one Lyhue-Betsy child, Jesse G. Brown, my Great-Grandfather.  Today, this email is also going to several descendants of Jesse G.'s younger brother, Isaac.  Isaac took his family to Oklahoma Indian Territory before 1890 and raised his family there.  Thanks to all the work of our official Brown genealogist, Laura Lee Moncrief, my address book now contains several of Isaac's descendants.  Many of you know Laura, descendant of Jesse G.'s daughter, Frankie (Brown) Squire, as did your parents.  She's not that old but in the 1980s, she researched and wrote a book on behalf of Jesse G. Brown, his wives, Mary Burton and Mary Beers, and their daughter and son-in-law, Frankie (Brown) and John Squire--hence the title SQUIRE-BROWN-BURTON.  KEEP READING...

With the prior paragraphs as a background, finally here is the news:

1. Upcoming DAVIS-BROWN Reunion--This year's reunion will be held on Sunday, JUNE 5, 2011, in Ava, MO about 15 miles west of where Jesse G. and Isaac Brown were born on Bryant Creek in the 1840s.  Everyone is welcome--if you think you can attend, please write back or call me at (417) 350-0472 for more details.  To my knowledge, this year will be the first time that any of Isaac's descendants will be in attendance.  Special guest--Laura Lee Moncrief will be coming from her home in Colorado with her new family history book for us.  KEEP READING....
2. New SQUIRE-BROWN-BURTON Book (See cover attached)--In 1985, Laura published her first edition of her family history book.  Until now, it was the keepsake that a few of us were able to obtain, cherish and covet.  Well, she has continued her research, and she has just gone to print with a 2011 edition.  It is now a 220-page hard-back book that will sell for $30 as I understand.  She will have copies with her at the reunion, and I'm going to maintain an inventory to help see that anyone else who wants one is able to get one.  
3. Proposed OKLAHOMA reunion in October--This year it is going to happen if it's the last thing I do--have a Brown family reunion in the Tulsa-Bartlesville-Nowata area.  First I'll be asking for volunteers to help organize it, and some of you may get phone calls indicating that "you volunteered."  The demographics of the Brown family has been centered in Oklahoma for many years, and it's time we get something permanent going over there.
4. Family PHOTO ARCHIVING AND SHARING--While there are probably over 150 photos not yet process, labeled and ready for uploading, I do have over 5,000 photos uploaded and can be viewed athttp://ozarkuncle.photoshop.com.  Now some of this number relate to my mother's Hartley-Gunnels family--but the Brown-Davis collection just keeps growing.  All the photos are organized into different family albums.  I'm behind on providing descriptions of each album but will try to get that done so you can better understand the family groupings.
5. Handout for the 2011 DAVIS-BROWN reunion--unless I weird out on you all, my plans are to bring a photo essay hand-out honoring James Lihu Brown's daughter, Aunt Lulu (Brown) Shrum.  In addition, Cinita Brown, Laura Moncrief and I will probably talk quite a bit about Rev. Isaac Brown and his family.

Here is how to get hold of me: Ken Brown, 4108 E. Eastmoor St., Springfield, MO 65809--

Cell Phone--417-350-0472 or by email at ozarkuncle@gmail.com.

Sept 18, 2011 - BROWN FAMILY UPDATE -- October 8-9, 2011 Reunion Plans

(Originally posted on September 18, 2011 and 
transferred to this site for archiving}.


Ken Brown
Springfield, MO

Plans for the two-barreled Saturday-Sunday October Oklahoma reunions are now complete:

JESSE G. BROWN’s descendants—Saturday, October 8

Uncle Doc Brown’s daughter, Pat Lewison, will be our hostess for our family gathering at 3 p.m., Saturday, October 8 at Evangelistic Temple Church, 5345 So. Peoria Avenue, in Tulsa.  The Ozark Uncle (that’s me) is the Saturday’s reunion’s organizer and contact person.  union, and let me hear from every one of you with (a) an RSVP as to whether you or not you can attend, and (b) if you can’t attend, take time to send me with a family message you’d like distributed at the reunion. Again, descendants of Isaac Brown are invited to this gathering, and several may do so because they still live right in that area.  Click here to view and download the flyer at the left.

Rev.  ISAAC BROWN’S descendants—Sunday, October 9

Shirley Washburn of Quinlan and Judy Jordan of Nowata have organized a reunion in Quinlan (located northwest of Oklahoma City in Woodward County).  Shirley and Judy have scheduled the reunion for 12:00 noon on SUNDAY, October 9, 2011.  Note: Descendants of Jesse G. are invited to this reunion as well.  Click here to view the download flyer at the right.  The phone numbers of Shirley and Judy are on the attached flyer, and I know they would love to hear from you about your plans.

BROWN FAMILY HISTORY

In the 1830s, Lyhue and Betsy (Hall) Brown settled near the banks of Bryant Creek in Douglas County, MO.  The following four children were born in the Brown cabin at that place—George W., Sarah Ann, Jesse G., and Isaac.  All three boys served in the Civil War mostly with the Union's Missouri Home Guards for Douglas County.   After the war ended, George and Jesse put down roots south of the county's seat, Ava.

At present, Brown family historian, Laura Lee Moncrief, continues in an effort to find descendants of the oldest boy, George W., who died in Douglas County in 1882. 

Jesse G. Brown's children generally raised their families in Douglas County.  One of Jesse G.'s sons, James "Uncle Jim" Lihu Brown, farmed south of Ava all his life and raised a family of 12 children with his wife, Amanda "Aunt Mel" Morris.  Well, four of the couple's sons migrated to the Bartlesville area of Oklahoma--Louis "Doc" Brown, and his brothers, Everett, Charles and LeRoy Brown.  Doc, Charles and LeRoy were prominent car dealers in the area from the 1940s and into the 1970s.

Isaac Brown headed into Taney County, MO after the war where he married Caroline Morgan--they lived near a little village east of Forsyth called Hilda.  Isaac became a leader in the relatively new General Baptist church of Pilgrim's Rest and then moved his family first to the area of present-day Nowata County, OK and then further west to present-day Woodward County in northwest Oklahoma, where he was a homesteader near the village of Quinlan OK.  He has many descendants still living in those two counties--Nowata and Woodward.  He was called "Rev." Isaac Brown or "Elder" Isaac Brown by the hundreds of early Oklahomans who knew him.

  

BROWN HISTORY BOOK

Laura Moncrief has released her 2011 revision of the SQUIRE-BROWN-BURTON family history.  The 220-page books sell for only $30--both at the reunions and online at WWW.LULU.COM.

WHO IS IN THE SQUIRE-BROWN-BURTON BOOK? -- Laura's book will provide the earliest records she has been able to find regarding our common ancestor, Lyhue/Elihu and Elizabeth "Betsy" (Hall) Brown who came with the first white settlers to present-day Douglas County in the 1830s.  Next, the book will cover all she's been able to find about Lyhue and Betsy's four children: George W., Sarah Ann, Jesse G. and Isaac.  The third and fourth generations will cover all the children and grandchildren of these four Brown children just listed.  For example, this means that information on my father, James Orville "Jake" Brown, is provided since he is a grandchild of Jesse G. Brown, but does not include anything about me.  There are literally hundreds of us descendants from old Lyhue and Elizabeth (Betsy), and that is why it's more important than ever for us to keep in touch with each other.