This morning in Vancouver at the Charles Brown House we were thrilled to have a few of Charles Brown’s descendants visit us and share old stories and photographs.

Charles Wilson (94) who lives in Corvallis is Charles Brown’s last surviving grandchild and grew up right here in the house from ages 8-21. His mother was Charles’ daughter, Frances. He hadn’t been back to the house since 1935! The highlight was Charles “Chuck” seeing his old bedroom again for the first time in 72 years.

Chuck was joined by his cousin Anne and her son Rick, who are Brown descendants as well. It was a great time.

Here is another picture of Harriet taken when she was a young woman and donated to us by relatives of the Brown Family. Harriet May Brown was born May 22, 1875 in Vancouver, Washington to Charles and Rebecca Slocum Brown. She married Edward Laramie Carpenter and together they had two children, Edward Laramie Jr. born in 1900 and Elizabeth Frances born in 1905. Another daughter, Rebecca, was born in 1901 and died shortly after birth. Harriet passed away on January 25, 1964 in Seattle, Washington. According to her granddaughters Nancy Brunquist and Deborah Reis, Harriet loved to wear elaborate clothing and hats up until her death. Harriet also belonged to the DAR or Daughters of the American Revolution and the Women’s Century Club of Seattle, the latter organized for the intellectual and cultural development of its members and for social service. Harriet lived in an amazing era- from horse and buggies traveling to Fort Walla Walla to traveling with her sister Floy by jet to Hawaii and Palm Springs.

Jessica Spring, great-great granddaughter of Charles Brown, donated a scrapbook to us on April 20th, once belonging to her forefather. She, her husband and son briefly stopped by the house while passing through town. The scrapbook mostly consists of poetry Charles clipped from newspapers and other publications, poetry written by people he most likely admired. There are, however, a few random articles on various topics scattered throughout, one describing how President Abraham Lincoln looked while in his coffin before burial.

Charles S. Wilson was born January 7, 1913 in Raymond, Washington to Charles E. and Frances Brown Wilson. His father died when he was three years old, leaving his mother to raise young Charles alone. Unfortunately, this did not last long. Tragedy struck again when his mother died under mysterious circumstances while the two were living in Laguna Beach, California. Orphaned by the age of seven, Charles’ aunt Floy DuBois drove to California from Vancouver to pick him up and bring him back with her. Charles lived with his aunt, uncle and two cousins for about a year until family friend Alice Hubbard offered to take him in. Coincidentally, Alice rented part of the house Charles’ mother Frances grew up in, now the Charles Brown House, named for his grandfather. Ed Brown, brother of Charles Brown, owned and lived in the house as well with his wife Ada. Shortly thereafter Alice purchased the house and Ed and Ada Brown moved to Pasadena, California. Charles graduated from Vancouver High School in 1930 and went on to attend the University of Washington and Harvard Business School. As a teenager in Vancouver he met Marjorie Warren. The two were married in 1937.
The couple moved to Corvallis, Oregon in 1940 and acquired the Ford dealership, Wilson Motors, where Charles continues to work today. Charles was very active socially in Corvallis as a member of the Corvallis Country Club and also the Badminton Club.
Sadly, Charles’ wife Marjorie passed away in February 2007. The couple has three children, Richard, Kathryn, and Carol, and four grandchildren.

Liza Wilson, daughter in law of Charles Wilson, sent us a thank you card for a donation we made to the Clark County Genealogical Society on behalf of her mother in law Marjorie who passed away last month. Charles Wilson is the grandson of Charles Brown and grew up right here in the Brown House.

Letter written to Charles Brown regarding his father Samuel’s life assurance. The letter is dated October 29, 1897. Click on the image to enlarge.

Throughout my research, pictures of Frances and Rebecca Brown have been quite elusive. Nonetheless, it is very exciting to find one of them together. Frances is on the left. The realtives who gave me this photo don’t know where or when this was taken, but knowing the dates of birth for each of the women, and estimating their ages in the photo, I would say it was taken around the turn of the century.

Samuel W. Brown was born in 1819 in Meade County, Kentucky, the tenth child of Samuel Brown and Henrietta Hobbs. His father died when he was quite young, leaving his mother to raise eleven children. After the death of his father the family relocated to Knox County, Illinois. Sam was educated there and finished his schooling at the Knox County Academy in 1842. For the next seven years Sam endured the hardships of farm life until he was elected sheriff of Knox County in 1849. After one term as sheriff he was elected as the second mayor of Galesburg and in 1857 became a member of the Illinois State Legislature. Sam most likely met President Abraham Lincoln, who would become a personal friend, while serving in the state legislature. In 1861 Lincoln appointed Sam “Receiver of Public Moneys” in Vancouver, Washington Territory; in essence, the person who would be in charge of money after land was sold in the territory. Later that same year the Brown family ventured west via the Isthmus of Panama.
The Brown Family settled in Vancouver, however the original location is unknown. One possible first residency was the house at 400 W. 11th Street, now known as the Charles Brown House, which may date back as early as 1866. Sam himself could very well have built the original house. An article written by Clark Brown (no relation) appeared in the Columbian in 1946 welcoming the law offices of Bates and Burnett to the neighborhood as the first decentralized professional building in the City of Vancouver. In the article Brown gives a brief history of the house, stating Sam Brown as its builder. In addition to this article, a great-great granddaughter of Sam Brown has shared how she heard throughout the years that Sam was the builder. The house was later named after Sam’s son, and is now home to the law offices of Stahancyk, Kent, Johnson and Hook.
There is, however, conflicting evidence as to who the original builder was. A deed from 1874 shows the transfer of property from pioneer attorney Alonzo Cook to Sam’s son Charles. The house is of French Second Empire architecture, quite common and popular in the mid-late 19th century on the East Coast where Mr. Cook was from. To this day, this style of home is considerably rare on the West Coast. Perhaps Cook wanted to bring some East Coast allure to Vancouver when he came west.
Regardless whether it was Alonzo Cook or Sam Brown who built the house that has stood for almost a century and a half, Sam Brown undoubtedly had an impact on early Vancouver development. When not acting as the Receiver of Public Moneys, Sam ventured into several other business enterprises. He owned the largest and most complete nursery north of California right here in Vancouver. He was the President of the Vancouver and Yakima railroad and Vice President of the Vancouver Transportation Company.
Having great power over much of the early Vancouver transportation system probably gave Sam the ability to execute a neighborly ploy with impudence. According to Brown descendant Liz Carpenter, Sam did not like the owner of a homestead to the west of his own property. The trolley in town was slated to run between their properties (thereby benefiting them both if they were to plat or further develop); however, Sam re-routed the trolley through his property, thus becoming the sole beneficiary of the trolley route.
Sam died on January 29, 1908. His wife, Harriet, preceded him in death by 19 years. One son survived him, Edward Lincoln Brown. Another son, Floyd, died as a child, and his third son, Charles, for whom the house is named, committed suicide in 1901 after being involved in a banking scandal.

Photograph of Charles, Rebecca and Floy Brown in front of their house. The back of the photo reads “Mama, papa, and Floy at home last summer”, most likely written by Harriet or Frances, Charles and Rebecca’s other two daughters. The railing and posts on the front porch are probably the exact same as they are to this day.

121 years ago today, on October 30, 1885, Charles Brown signed his last Will and Testament. This was before Washington was admitted as a state and was still considered a territory. I found a copy of his Will below at the Clark County Courthouse. Click on the document to enlarge.