| JAMES DAVID BROWN:
James David Brown was born 18 July 1831 in Camden County, Georgia. He was the son of Hugh Brown Jr. and Elizabeth Dean. James David Brown was brought up in the Sand Hills community near Burnt Fort. According to Allie Brown Carmichael in "Pen Portraits," page 40, "The Brown's were cotton planters and had a large acreage, judging from what was called the 'Brown's Old Fields.' In my childhood the old rows could still be
seen, but good-sized trees were growing on this land." In CCG Deed Book Q page 81, on 14 December 1857, James D. Brown received a promissory note for $1.00 from William W. Gowen, the remainder sum of $62.00 to be paid on or before the first day of July 1858. The following property was sold by James D. Brown to William W. Gowan, "To wit: twenty head of Stock Cattle marked crop split and under bit in one ear and crop and under bit in the other,
branded J." The promissory note was endorsed by J. M. Patterson, deed signed by J. D. Brown and witnessed by C. P. Brown & W. D. Brown, J P. James David Brown married first MARY POPE GODLEY between 1858 and early 1859 (record not found) in Camden County. Pope Godley, as she was called, was born about 1832 in South Carolina. She was the daughter of Benjamin Godley, a planter of Beaufort District, South Carolina, and his wife, Mary, last name unknown. Benjamin Godley and his three younger children soon followed his son, Thomas Means Godley and his wife, Ann Elizabeth Gowen, who had moved from South Carolina to make Camden County their permanent home between 1854-1856.
Sources: Brown files of Kathleen Carmichael Adams; "Pen Portraits," article entitled "Rev. Emory Franklin Dean and Mayebelle Pope Godley Dean," by Hazel Dean Overstreet. The census for CCG taken on June 6, 1860 in Brown's District, P.O. Owens Ferry:
No.45|41 Name |
Age | Sex | Occupation | Val. of Property | Place of Birth | J.D. Brown | 29 | M | Farmer | 2855 | Camden Co., GA |
M. P. Brown | 28 | F | | | So. Ca. | H.C. Brown | 6/12 | M | | | Camden Co., GA |
There were four children born to James David Brown and Mary Pope Godley: 1. HUGH CRAWFORD BROWN
born 08 December 1859 in CCG; married ALICE CHARLOTTE GELZER; died 17 September 1938; buried 19 September 1938. 2. WILLIAM WESTON BROWN born 22 October 1865 in Midriver, CCG; married MARY ALICE FRANCES DAY; died 30 September 1920. 3. NATHANIEL BROWN born ca. 1866 in CCG. 4. JOHN POPE BROWN born 1868 in CCG; married BIRDIE MEADERS; died February 1908. Recorded in CCG Deed Book Q page 53, on 01 October 1861, for the sum of $10.00, James D. Brown sold to John H. Brown, "A negro man, Moses, yellow complexion, about the age of twenty-eight (28) years: To have and to hold said Negro to the said John H. Brown his heirs and assigns forever...that the said negro, Moses, is a slave born, that he is in sound bodily and mental health." This transaction was made as
security to fully pay off and discharge "Two certain notes made by him [James D. Brown], one due on the first day of January Eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and the other due on the first day of January Eighteen hundred and Sixty-four, each for Two hundred and thirty-four dollars and fifty cents." Signed by James D. Brown; witnessed by Tim Myers & W. D. Brown. James David Brown was thirty-one-years-old when he entered the Civil War as a Private
in Company C, 4th (Clinch's) Regiment Georgia Volunteer Cavalry. According to the Company Muster Roll, he enlisted on 07 May 1862 at Waynesville. (Two files list his enrollment date as 21 May 1862). Further Muster Rolls list "James D. Brown Present" and his pay "Due from enrollment" : 21 May to 20 June 1862; July & Aug. 1862; Sept. & Oct. 1862.
The following Muster Rolls list an extra "Use and risk of horse" pay of $24.40: Nov. & Dec. 1862; Jan. & Feb. 1863; March & April 1863; May & June 1863; July & Aug. 1863; Sept. & Oct. 1863; Nov. & Dec. 1863. In December 1863 to 30 April 1864, J. D. Brown was still on the Company Muster Roll but was "Detailed at Company Commissary."
The final Muster Roll lists J. D. Brown - 31 December 1863 to 30 June 1864. Source: GA Dept. of Archives & History - Civil War Records Section - James David Brown; obtained from the Brown files of Kathleen Carmichael Adams. Bea Brown White, a granddaughter, said that during the Civil War, James David Brown was wounded and had to return home.
"Roster of the Confederate Soldiers of Georgia 1861-1865 Vol. III" p. 279 relates: Brown, James----Private Sept. 29, 1861. Mustered out Mar. 31, 1862. Enlisted as a private in Co. C, 4th Regt. Ga. Cavalry (Clinch's), June 17, 1862. Roll dated June 30, 1864, last on file, shows him present. Pension records show he was at home on sick furlough close of war. (Born in Ga.)
The Civil War was a hideous conflict which took an inestimable toll on many families in Georgia. Much of the South was wantonly destroyed, leaving people poor and destitute. Southerners felt a deep bitterness and anger for years afterward. Here is one poignant description written by a lady whose father used to live at Langsbury (no longer exists - was located in the northwest section of CCG) in Camden County and who had
enlisted in the Confederate War. Taken from "Pen Portraits," a sketch of The Lang Family by Dora Lang Middleton, p. 21: "Sherman and his soldiers never marched through Camden County, but people were afraid they would, and so they hid or buried everything they could in the swamps. However, Union gunboats came up the rivers in Camden County and launched small boatloads of soldiers who raided the plantations along the shores and carried away
everything - even slaves, sometimes. They destroyed everything they left behind them - killing all the livestock and poultry. I remember my grandmother telling us children about these "damn Yankees" going to either the Morrison or the Brown Plantation, where they even went into an orchard of young two or three-feet high peach trees and cut them to the ground with their swords. They often ripped the feather mattresses with
their swords and scattered the feathers everywhere." "The Brown home burned some years after the Civil War," wrote Allie Brown Carmichael in "Pen Portraits," page 40. The exact home to which she is referring is not clearly established: The home of Hugh Brown Junior or the home of his son, James David Brown. The original home of James David Brown may indeed have been destroyed by fire.
Another must have been built soon after. Bea Brown White, who grew up in this house explained that it had been built many years prior to her own childhood. She said that her father, William Weston Brown, inherited this house from his father and that the family always referred to this house as the James David Brown-Weston Brown house. The James David Brown-William Weston Brown house was located on the southeast
side of Highway 252 in the area known as Midriver which was also a part of the Burnt Fort community. John Edwin Brown, Sr., a grandson, said that when he was there in the late 1950's the house was still standing. He recalled that it was a rambling, unpainted, one-story farmhouse with four bedrooms, fireplaces, and an outhouse out back. He said that there were peach trees, pear trees, fig trees, a shady grape arbor,
acres of corn in the fields and a generous sized vegetable garden. They kept the chickens and cows behind separate fences but let the pigs roam free. Marguerite Godley Reddick said that the William Weston Brown house was diagonal across the road from the old Cato Brown house (formerly the Jacob T. and Jane D. Brown Goodbread house). The James David Brown-William Weston Brown house no longer exists. Moss-covered
live oaks surround the empty space in the sandy soil where the house once stood. On the 1870 Camden County, GA census taken August 2nd - Post Office Satilla Mills: Name | Age | Sex | Occupation |
Place of Birth | Brown, James D. | 39 | M | Farmer | CCG | Brown, Hugh C. | 11 | M | Farmhand | CCG | Brown, William W. | 5 | M |
| CCG | Brown, Nathaniel | 4 | M | | CCG |
On this census, James David Brown is shown living alone with his young sons. The Post Office in 1870 was Satilla Mills (near Satilla Bluff and Ceylon) while on the
previous 1860 census the Post Office listed was Brown's District (near Owens Ferry and Burnt Fort). Presumably, the Nathaniel listed in this household was a son who must have died soon after this census was taken or was a member of another household visiting - there are no further records connecting this child with the James David Brown family. Mary Pope Godley Brown must have died sometime between the
birth of her last documented child (John Pope Brown b. ca. 1868, who is not listed on this census) and August of 1870 when this census was taken. According to her granddaughter, Bea Brown White, Mary Pope Godley Brown is buried in an unmarked grave in Burnt Fort Cemetery. SKETCHES OF CHILDREN OF JAMES DAVID BROWN & POPE GODLEY: HUGH CRAWFORD BROWN - Known as Crawford. Married ALICE CHARLOTTEGELZER
on 09 April 1884 near Owens Ferry in CCG - Marriage Book C 1880-1900 p. 88. She was the daughter of Thomas L. Gelzer, M.D. and Clara Anne Reid and the sister of Clara Ann Gelzer Brown. According to a CCG survey recorded by County Surveyor, James F. King on August 15, 1894, H. C. Brown inherited 20 acres of land "as his share of the Estate of his Father, the late James D. Brown." He lived in the Sand Hills area of Camden County
where he was a farmer; raised gaming chickens. He was the overseer at Ivanhoe Plantation (Owen's Ferry), one of the largest rice plantations in coastal Georgia ("Camden's Challenge," p. 46). He also worked in the lumber & turpentine industry at McKinnon (Source: Brown/Gelzer Lineage Files of Kathleen Carmichael Adams). Mr. Hugh Crawford Brown, Alice Brown & family listed as members of the Episcopal
Church of the Messiah at Owens Ferry - all three of their children (see Lineage) were baptized in this church (CCG Episcopal Parish Register). Family listed on 1900 CCG census in District No. 30; not listed on 1910 CCG census. Alice Charlotte Gelzer Brown, affectionately called "Aunt Alice" by family members, was a wonderful cook and a clever seamstress. Crawford Brown was an expert with
horses and an excellent rider - taught his children to ride. Crawford & Alice Brown were good dancers & especially loved to waltz & square dance. Each year, they took the double-decker steamer, an excursion boat from Owens Ferry to Cumberland & St. Simons Islands. There was a band on board, guitar, banjo & fiddle, and the men played for all of the dances which were held on the upper deck ("Pen Portraits," p. 41 &
"Camden's Challenge," p. 240). On Christmas morning, they always got up before daylight, started a fire in the fireplace, but before opening the presents, Crawford went outside and shot his gun in all directions - then had a huge breakfast of fried chicken and pie - a tradition he continued after moving to South FL ("Pen Portraits," p. 41 & Journal of Allie Brown Carmichael).
They moved to Miami, Florida in 1915 or 1916 - lived & farmed out on Tamiami Trail near Ludlam Road. Listed on 1920 Dade Co. census: Crawford H. Brown & Alice in Montgomery's Corner, Precinct 16. About 1922, Crawford Brown purchased a small general store in Cutler in South Dade County which he owned for nearly twenty years. This store was first established in Cutler in the early 1900's by George Washington Moody. An old photo of this store
can be found in "A Journey Through Time," by Paul S. George p. 32. In her book, "The Villages Of South Dade," p. 16 & 248, Jean Taylor explained: "Moodys lived in Miami for three or four months while they built a two-story store and home in Cutler. There were only eight or ten homes in the town of Cutler when they opened for business. Mr. Moody acquired a partner, Daniel Chapell Brown [sic - should be David Chappell], who
was a bachelor, and the store opened in the name of Brown and Moody...In 1903 [after FEC Railroad bypassed Cutler] Brown and Moody moved a small building and some of their stock to Perrine...They continued the Cutler store and when William Fuzzard moved his family to Miami in 1905, the post office was then moved to the Brown and Moody Store until it was closed in 1906." In her Journal, Allie Brown Carmichael wrote, "We [Allie & Jim Carmichael] came to
Cutler in March 1922, so Jim was getting ready for his first tomato crop on his new land. My mother and father decided they wanted to be nearer to us, so they decided to buy a little country store right in Cutler. It had been built earlier and served as the first Post Office at Cutler." Crawford Brown's nephew, Frank H. Brown, Jr. wrote, "In his gro. store he had a swing on the east screened in porch where he spent many hours. If
a customer came in the front door, a bell would ring, signaling him to wait on them." Alice Charlotte Brown was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Miami - died at age 70; service was given by Rev. Robert T. Phillips (Episcopal Canonical Register p. 440). Frank H. Brown, Jr. said, "After Aunt Alice died, Uncle Crawford Brown would come spend Sundays at our house on 27th Ave. in his old Maxwell
touring car, gray color, no side windows, just a canvas top, the usual for a touring car." Allie Brown Carmichael wrote in her Journal, "In 1939, my father, Hugh Crawford Brown died at the age of 79...he had lived alone since my mother's passing at his little store...His passing was quick, sitting in his beloved swing on his porch, smoking a cigar." She also wrote, "He was jolly to the last and loved his Christmases." Both
Crawford Brown and Alice C. Brown are buried at Woodlawn Park Cemetery in Miami, FL. WILLIAM WESTON BROWN - Known as Weston. Married MARY ALICE FRANCES DAY on 19 February 1893 in White Oak, GA (CCG Marriage Record Book C 1880-1900 p. 297). They had seven children - four boys and three girls (see Lineage). After his father, James David Brown died in 1888, Weston assumed the responsibility
of taking care of his step-mother, Clara Ann Gelzer Brown and the five siblings from his father's second marriage who ranged in age from one through fourteen. Weston was single and 23-years-old at the time. n old deed notarized in CCG and in Dade Co., FL shows that Weston purchased from his father's estate the shares belonging to his brothers and sisters. According to the deed, 348 acres of land and the farmhouse in the Sand Hills had been deeded to him
for $325.00. Hugh Crawford Brown and John Pope Brown signed the deed in CCG. All the others signed in Miami indicating that they had left CCG by 1902. Sometime between 1910 and 1912, Weston moved his family from CCG to Waycross in Ware County, Georgia, where he was employed by the Hebard Cypress Company. This company had built a railroad into the Okefenokee Swamp and was bringing out
millions of board feet of prime cypress lumber. It was a dangerous job and when the logging train returned to Waycross blowing a continuous whistle, the townspeople knew that someone had died in an accident. On 30 September 1920, the train's mournful dirge announced the death of William Weston Brown who had been killed while felling a tree. He was fifty-five years old. (Source: The above sketch was written by Mary Inez
White Tanner, Atlanta, GA; she is the William Weston Brown family historian.) Family legend has it that at the time of his death, not only did the train whistle blow, but an old clock which was no longer working and had been placed in a storage shed in the back yard of his house, suddenly began chiming. (Source: Kathleen James Price, Irving, TX as told to her by her mother, Annie Laurie Brown James).
Both William Weston Brown and Mary Alice Frances Day Brown are buried at Lott Cemetery in Waycross, GA. NATHANIEL BROWN - listed on 1870 CCG census schedule (age 4) - nothing else known. JOHN POPE BROWN - Known as Johnny. Bea Brown White described John Pope Brown, "The best looking of all, he was very musical, & played the fiddle." Married BIRDIE MEADERS
of Dahlonega, GA. They had two children (see Lineage). For a while, they lived in Savannah, GA where he was a clerk in a store. According to Bea Brown White, he died of tuberculosis. At a later date, his wife married S. T. Dowda, M.D. (also of GA) and they subsequently moved from Georgia to Texas. Birdie M. Brown Dowda was living in Abilene, Texas when she wrote to Miss R. Lee
Russell on 17 February 1946, "John Pope Brown whom I married in Savannah, Georgia Dec. 31 (?) 1901 at the home of a Methodist minister...Mr. Brown died in Dahlonega, Georgia in 1908." In another letter (again from Texas) to Miss Lang on 15 March 1951 she requested information and records regarding the Brown lines. She said that she was a member of the Texas DAR and wished to write a history for her two children (by Brown) and her
three grandchildren. She wrote, "When I taught the Midriver school around 1898, I remember with so much pleasure the times when I came in contact with the Bedell and Lang families...The Bedells lived across the river at Burnt Fort...I do not know how old you may be, but it is possible you may remember me as Birdie Meaders from Dahlonega, Georgia---I stayed at the Rose home, the Houston Brown home and the
Crawford Brown home at the different months of the school year...I married John Pope Brown who lived with his brother Weston at Midriver." Sources: Personal interview with Bea Brown White, Manor, GA & letters of Birdie M. Dowda to Rosalee Russell & Bebe Lang in the Brown & Lang files at the Bryan-Lang Library, Woodbine, GA. It was approximately two years after his first wife died, that JAMES DAVID BROWN and CLARA ANN GELZER
were married on 11 August 1872 in Camden County, GA. Source: Camden County Marriage Record Book B 1831-1880 p. 231. Clara Ann Gelzer was born 20 February 1854 in Summerville, South Carolina, the daughter of Thomas Lining Gelzer, M.D. and Clara Anne Reid, both of South Carolina. The Gelzers moved from South Carolina to Camden County between 1850-1860 and lived in Jefferson where Dr. Gelzer set up his medical practice.
Sources: "Highlights of the Life of Marguerite Jule Pacetty Brown," by Marguerite Marreé Mathews; "Camden's Challenge," p. 7. James David Brown, farmer, and Clara Ann Gelzer Brown lived in the Sand Hills where their five children were born and raised: 1. ANNIE MARION BROWN born 05 August 1874 in Midriver, CCG; married JULIUS EDWIN KING; died 17 November 1940. 2. JAMES BEDELL BROWN
born 07 May 1876 in Midriver, CCG; married HARRIETT G. RICHARDSON; died 12 May 1951. 3. FRANK HOPKINS BROWN born 15 September 1878 in Midriver, CCG; married MARGUERITE JULE PACETTI; died 01 February 1954. 4. MARY ALICE BROWN born 17 October 1880 in Midriver, CCG; married EDGAR COOPER GAUNT; died 20 February 1970. 5. CLAUDE EUGENE BROWN
born 26 May 1887 in Owens Ferry, CCG; married EDNA EARL CHEVES; died 28 August 1971.
idriver was situated in the middle of the long curve in the Satilla River on the west side of the county and although it no longer exists, the location is marked on certain Camden County maps. In "A Settlement Called Midriver - Background," #15 8/31/90 p. 1, Eloise Bailey
Thompson wrote, "Midriver sits on a sandy ridge near State Road 252. Midriver is east of Burnt Fort and west of Jerusalem - near the "Old" Post Road...The first recorded information about this section came in the 1700s when naturalist William Bartram passed right through these sand hills to cross the Satilla River at Brown's Ferry (later Owen's Ferry)..." There was once a general store (or commissary) and post office at Midriver which sat
on land owned by L.T. McKinnon who had a turpentine still there. There was a one-room schoolhouse built of hard pine which stood on a sandy ridge between Gelzer Branch and Schoolhouse Branch in Midriver. This schoolhouse was moved in 1918 to its present site near Burnt Fort Chapel. Source: "Wandering In Camden - A Settlement Called Midriver," #15 Part I 8/31/90 pages 1-5 & Part II 9/14/90 pages 1-3, by Eloise Bailey Thompson. In this same source, Eloise Bailey Thompson wrote, "Familiar names associated with this section are found in the census records (shown as Owen's Ferry, but includes Burnt Fort, Bailey's Mill and Midriver, plus outlying areas): Littlefield, Harrell, Readdick, Parrish, Merrow, Patterson, Brown, Gelzer, Bates, Copeland, Southwell, Godley, Hazelhurst, York, Somerall, Ennis, Beasley, Ryals, Hopkins, Holder, Finley, Watson,
Bailey, Wolf, Robins, Palmer, Harvey, Keeper, Guyton, Guerrard, Owens, Tucker, Thomas." On the 1880 Camden Co. census - taken on June 4th - 30th District, Bailey's Mills: Name | Age | Sex | Occupation | Place of Birth | Parents Place of Birth | Brown, James D. | 48 | M | Farmer | GA | GA | Clara | 24 | F | Wife - keeps house | SC | SC | Hugh C. | 20 | M | Son - farmworker | GA | | William W. | 14 | M | Son - farmworker | GA | | John P. |
12 | M | Son - farmworker | GA | | Annie M. | 7 | F | Dau. | GA | | James B. | 4 | M | Son | GA |
| Eugene H. | 2 | M | Son | GA | |
On this census, their third child, Frank Hopkins Brown born in 1878, was mistakenly listed as Eugene H. It may be that James David and Clara Ann actually called this
child by that name until his younger brother, Claude Eugene was born. Frank was two years old when this census was taken and his mother, Clara Ann, was five months pregnant with her fourth child. According to Bea Brown White, the Browns were farming people and still were while she was growing up. She said, "These people were self-sustaining, always had plenty of staples and had plenty of lard, grew their own vegetables and put meat into barrels of
salt brine to preserve it. In addition to being a planter, James David Brown worked on rice plantations and in the turpentine business." Bea Brown White said, "James David Brown was a Baptist, a man strong in his convictions and a strong personality - he was not to be contradicted - whatever he said, it went exactly that way!" "Camden's Challenge," p. 260 (Revised) refers to a Baptist church being near the Burnt
Fort Cemetery as early as 1864; in 1872 there was a Baptist church which adjoined a Methodist Episcopal church; in 1890 Phillip Cato Brown hauled lumber from Bailey's Mill by oxcart for a Union church which was used in combination as a school. In "Pen Portraits," Allie Brown Carmichael described a small church at the entrance to Burnt Fort cemetery which was "destroyed by fire, storms and time...all denominations used the chapel."
At one time, James David Brown may have been a Baptist; however, after he married Clara Ann Gelzer, records show that he and his family were members of the Episcopal Church of the Messiah at Owens Ferry. In Vol. II of the Episcopal Parish Register for Camden County, GA: "Original vol. or vols. up to 1862 have been lost. This vol. was opened Oct. 10th 1885 by the Rev. A.G.P.
Dodge, Jr., Rector of Christ Church, Frederica, who had reorganized this whole work in Camden County." ~ Signed by D. Watson Winn. There were eight churches (missions) listed under the Episcopal Mission District for Camden County, GA in the above mentioned Episcopal Parish Register. In Vol. II & III, the Church of the Messiah at Owens Ferry listed those belonging to this congregation
under both the Index & Families headings. Over the years a few included: James David Brown family (residence Burnt Fort & Sand Hills), Francis Joseph Hopkins family (residence Baileys Mill), Rufus S. Lang family (residence Yellow Bluff, Satilla), Andrew Barney Godley family (residence Midriver), Walter Goodbread family (residence not listed), John Swan Russell family (residence not listed), David Potter Rose family
(residence Owens Ferry), Lucius Mahlon Bedell family (residence Charlton Co. - across the Satilla River from Burnt Fort), William Colton Lang family (residence Tarboro), William Weston Brown family (residence Midriver), Edwin King family (residence Owens Ferry), Hugh Crawford Brown family (residence Sand Hills). There must have been many good times celebrated by the people in this area. Miss
Maude Pacetty (sister of Marguerite "Rita" Jule Pacetty Brown) who at that time was living in Satilla Bluff, CCG, received a formal hand-written invitation to a dance: You are cordialy [sic] invited to attend a dance at the summer place of Mr. D.P. Rose's on "Sand Hills" Wednesday eve. Jan. 20, 1897. Signed: A.B. Godley
Jno. P. Brown
G.R. Gowen
Jas. B. Brown
Chaperon: Mrs. Clara Brown
In the Camden County Book of Minutes of Commissioners of Roads and Revenues 1885-1910, on 30 April 1887, Jas. D. Brown was appointed Notary Public. He received $2.00 for this service. According to the minutes written in this book, he was one of the Road Commissioners in the "Bailey's District." In the one family photograph (property of Anne King Mann - Miami, FL) James David
Brown wore a suit in which the jacket collar and front lapels were trimmed in a dark piping. He his hair covered the lower part of his ears and his dark beard and mustache were neatly cut and groomed. His long arms were extended over the chair and his fingers are long and thin. He appears to have light eyes, hollow cheeks and he seems to be rather angular and lanky. Bea Brown White said that his grave was unusually
long - meaning that he must have been a very tall man. James David Brown was fifty-seven-years-old when he died on 30 April 1888. He is buried in Burnt Fort Cemetery in Camden County and on his tombstone is engraved: James David Brown CO. C, 4 GA. CAV. C.S.A. When she married James David Brown, Clara Ann Gelzer was the tender age of
eighteen; she was thirty-four at the time of his death. She was left to raise five young children, the eldest being age fourteen and the youngest was almost one year, when their father died. No will for the James David Brown Estate has been found. There are no Letters of Administration; no records indicating intestate or probate proceedings against his estate in Camden County.
After James David Brown died, his son, William Weston Brown, became the mainstay of the family. Bea Brown White said, "He took over and kept Clara Ann and her young children from starving." William Weston Brown was the agent for the James David Brown estate on the CCG 1889, 1890 & 1891 Tax Digests. Clara Ann Brown continued to live in Midriver, Georgia. Claude Eugene Brown said that
Clara Ann taught school in Camden County (Source: Mary Katherine Brown Eldridge). Nearly ten years after her husband died, about 1898, she and Claude took the train to Miami, Florida. In 1900, she was listed on the Dade County census in "Coconut Grove Precinct." In 1902, she and her five children, as well as the two living children of James David Brown's first wife, conveyed the Camden County property to William Weston Brown.
Recorded in Camden County Deed Book X, pages 395, 396 & 397 the following three hundred forty-eight acre ESTATE OF JAMES D. BROWN was sold by the heirs [his wife: Clara Ann Gelzer Brown; his children: Hugh Crawford Brown, John Pope Brown, James Bedell Brown, Frank Hopkins Brown, Claude Eugene Brown, Annie Marion Brown King, Mary Alice "May" Brown Gaunt] to their brother, William Weston Brown. This transaction included part of a tract of land "Conveyed by deed to WM. D. BROWN,
Administrator upon the Est. of HUGH BROWN." State of Florida: County of Dade: This indenture made this 31st day of July in the year of our Lord One thousand nine Hundred and two (1902) between the heirs at law of James D. Brown, deceased, as follows: his wife Clara A. Brown; his children James B. Brown, Frank H. Brown, Claude Brown, Annie M. King, and Mary A. Gaunt, all of said State and County, H. Crawford
Brown and John P. Brown of the County of Camden and State of Georgia, parties of the first part. And his son, William W. Brown of the County of Camden State of Georgia, party of the second part, all of said parties being trustees in common. Witnesseth that the said parties of the first part, for and in consideration of the sum of three hundred and twenty five ($325.00) dollars, in hand paid...do grant, sell and convey
unto said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns all that tract or parcel of land...situated, lying and being in the 30th Dist. G.M. in the County of Camden, State of Georgia, Containing three hundred and forty eight (348) acres more or less, said survey composed of several tracts to wit: 87, 110, 131, acres to include the 20 acre tract of land on which said H. Crawford Brown now resides; the several tracts when
taken together forms our survey to include the 20 acre tract before mentioned, and will more fully appear by reference to a plat made by James F. King, Jr. County Surveyor, Aug 16, 1894...bounded North by lands formerly belonging to R. F. Lang now E.J. Stafford, John R. Wells and L.T. McKinnon; East by lands of George Jordan and Jeff Haywood; South by lands belonging to the Est. of G.W. Owens; West by lands of W.
D. Brown, J. H. Brown, and a tract known as the Wm. D. Brown grant, which tract is now owned by J. O. Dyal, J. H. Huger, P. C. Brown and Mrs. Leah Rose, the 110 acre tract being a part of a tract that was granted to Wm. Brown for 200 acres in the year 1829 and was conveyed by deed December 3rd, 1836, Wm. Brown to Hugh Brown (not recorded). Conveyed by deed December 1st, 1869, Wm. D. Brown Administrator upon
the Est. of Hugh Brown to N.J. Patterson (deed not recorded). Conveyed by deed December 1st 1869, N.J. Patterson to James D. Brown (deed not recorded) grantees to other tracts not known. To have and to hold said bargained promises together with all and singular...to Wm. W. Brown the party of the second part...shall warrant and forever defend by virtue of these
presents...In witness whereof, the said parties of the first part residing in the State of Florida, County of Dade...affixed their seals the day and year first above witnessed. Signed: Clara A. Brown
James B. Brown
Frank H. Brown
Claude Brown
Annie M. King
Mary A. Gaunt Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of us.
E.C. Gaunt
Gillespie Eulor,
Notary Public, Fla. Georgia, Camden County: In Witness Whereof, the said parties of the first part residing in Said State and County, have put their hands and affixed their seals, this the 3rd day of October 1902. Signed: H. Crawford Brown
John P. Brown Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of us,
D.W. Littlefield
E.J. Stafford.
Not.Pub.Camden Co.Ga. Four of Clara Ann Gelzer Brown's children had moved from Camden County to live permanently in Miami, Florida. Her eldest daughter, Annie Marion Brown King and her husband Ned King, left Camden County for Miami sometime in 1891. Her eldest son, Jim Brown, went down to Miami in 1895. In 1895 or 1896, Clara Ann's youngest daughter, May Brown, traveled to Miami to live with Annie Marion and Ned King so that
she could attend school in Dade County. May met and later married Edgar Gaunt. The entire family persuaded Frank Brown to make the move to South Florida and in 1900 his residence was Miami. Momentous changes occurred in Miami during the year 1896: In April Henry Flagler's East Coast Railroad steamed all the way down to Miami. The Royal Palm Hotel was built on top of a Tequesta Indian mound at the mouth of the Miami River. The first newspaper, Miami Metropolis, was published. The first bank, Bank of Bay Biscayne,
opened its doors. At the end of July, Miami (which was never a town) was incorporated directly into a city. Source: "Miami: The Magic City," by Arva Moore Parks, pages 65-68. When Clara Ann Brown arrived in 1898-1900, Miami was not well developed and was still considered a pioneer town. The original settlement, including the majority of prosperous homes and businesses, was centered in what is now the downtown section
- the few square blocks between the Miami River, the railroad and Biscayne Bay. Twelfth Street (Flagler Street) & Avenue D (Miami Avenue) was the main business district. Until a couple of strategic bridges were built in 1903 and 1905, communities south of the Miami River were well beyond the city limits. Most of the habitable area of Dade County sat on a long, oolitic limestone coastal ridge about four miles wide.
Except for the thick hammocks, the pine forests and the scattered elevated sandy areas, it was hemmed in by mangroves and the bay on the east and by the "River of Grass" to the west. Around 1906, the draining of the Everglades began for the purposes of expanding real estate and for turning it into profitable farmland. The once remote areas west along Twentieth Street (S. W. 8th Street) became accessible.
Sources: "Miami 1909," by Thelma Peters, pages 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12; "Miami: The Magic City," by Arva Moore Parks, p. 80; "A Journey Through Time," by Paul S. George, pages 11-15, 22-27 & 29-37. Records indicate that it was in these "remote" areas - south and west of the city - that the families of Edwin King, George Richardson, Edgar Gaunt, Jim & Frank Brown,
James Carmichael & Crawford Brown chose to homestead and to live. Source: "Highlights of the Life of Marguerite Jule Pacetty Brown," by Marguerite Marreé Mathews. SKETCHES OF CHILDREN OF JAMES DAVID BROWN & CLARA ANN GELZER: ANNIE MARION BROWN - Born and raised in the Sand Hills area of Camden County. Married EDWINKING
"Ned" on 22 January 1891 "At the residence of the bride's mother" as written in the Episcopal Parish Register for Owens Ferry in Camden County by Rev. C. A. Apple. Witnesses were: "Groom's father, Bride's mother, Mr. Julius King, Crawford Brown & wife, John Brown, et. als." Also listed in CCG Courthouse records - Marriage Book C 1880-1900 p. 241. Annie M. Brown resided at Midriver and Edwin King resided at Owens Ferry. Ned King's fullname is EDWIN NEWTON KING according to both grandchildren, Anne King Mann & Earl Eugene King. (Name Julius Edwin King is listed on back of a photograph taken in Miami, FL in 1896 of the Wilson & King houses on S.W. 8th Street - in possession of Elizabeth Gaunt Bryan). Edwin "Ned" King was born 30 September 1860 in CCG, the son of Robert Newton King and Anna Maria Johnson. He was brought
up on "Woodlawn Plantation" which belonged to his grandparents - James King & Margaret O'Neil. "Woodlawn" was located about three miles west of present-day Kingsland and had been purchased from the James King estate by his son, Robert Newton King in 1866. Robert Newton King was a Captain in the Civil War, a member of the state House of Representatives and the Senate. Prior to her marriage, Anna Maria
Johnson was a schoolteacher in CCG ("Camden's Challenge," p. 424-Revised, 1994). After their marriage, Ned & Annie M. King departed for pioneering life in Miami, FL. Traveling to Miami from Camden County during that time frame must have been extremely difficult and rather expensive. The railroad ran only as far south as Palm Beach in 1894 and was not extended down to Miami until mid-April in 1896. Before
this, the usual mode of travel to Miami was by boat or by horse and carriage. Going overland, one had to cross the New River by ferry (now Ft. Lauderdale in Broward Co. at the site where the historic Stranahan House now stands - "Mostly Sunny Days" p. 122-125). Edwin King applied for a homestead in Dade County in the year 1891 ("Miami Florida Early Families And Records," by Oby Bonawit, p. 137). His homestead land was
located at S. W. 8th Street & 22nd Ave. - he filed for the northeast corner ("Villages of South Dade," p. 20). Taken from Thelma Peters' "Miami 1909," p. 6: "In 1891 settlers were coming into Dade County to stake their claims to free federal lands. The Belcher [Samuel A. Belcher who married Edwin King's sister, Jeanette] homestead was located at today's S.W. Eighth Street and Seventeenth Avenue, 'coral' rock and piney woods,
excellent land for citrus and pineapples. Belcher's brother-in-law, Edwin King, filed for the adjacent homestead. Orange Glade Road, then a single track, and the first road into southwest Miami, passed their property." Annie Marion (name on some records is Annie Marian) and Ned King had three children - one girl and two boys (see Lineage). King family listed on 1900 Dade Co., FL census:
Cocoanut [sic] Grove Precinct 4 - 11 June 1900 - ED 32 Page 255 Sheet B:
#125 Name | Race | Sex | Age | Birth Place | Father's Birth Place | Mother's Birth Place | Occupati on | King, Edward (Head) | W | M | 39 | GA | GA | NY | Fruit Grower | Annie M. (wife) | W |
F | 26 | GA | GA | GA | | Robert N. (son) | W | M | 7/12 | FL | GA | GA | | Stoddard, Clifton (boarder) | W | M | 14 | CO | US | US | At School |
Edwin King died in Miami in 1902 at the age of 42, after which Annie Marion Brown King earned her living as a dressmaker (as listed on 1910 Dade County census). On the 1920 Dade Co. census, Annie M. King was listed as head of household, her son,
Eugene age 18, was living with her. She died at age 66. She and her second child, Robert, are buried on either side of the tall stone obelisk which marks her husband's grave at City Cemetery in Miami. JAMES BEDELL BROWN - Known as Jim. Tall, lean and deceptively strong, yet a gentle, quiet man. He left the Burnt Fort area in Camden County, Georgia, for the
pioneering life of Miami, Florida in 1895 ("Miami Florida Early Families And Records," by Oby Bonawit, p. 165). While in Florida, he met and married HARRIETT "DOLLIE" GUILD RICHARDSON on 17 July 1904 - Dade Co., FL Marriage Book 1 p. 377. Dollie Richardson (her nickname is shown as "Hattie" on a few records) was born in Massachusetts, the daughter of George Richardson of Needham, MA and Harriett
Robinson of New Brunswick, Canada. In 1902, Dollie's father bought the old schoolhouse behind Plymouth Congregational Church in Coconut Grove and converted it into a home. Dollie's older brother, George H. Richardson, married Katherine "Kate" Russell, who was Rita Pacetti Brown's best friend in CCG and in Miami (Sources: "The Coconut Grove School In Pioneer Days 1887-1894," by Gertrude Kent p. 34 & Kate
Russell Richardson's son - David Richardson, Ocala, FL, interview). Dollie was a schoolteacher before she & Jim were married (Sources: 1900 Dade Co. census lists George Richardson family; Elizabeth Gaunt Bryan, interview). James B. Brown listed on 1900 Dade Co., FL census:
Cocoanut [sic] Grove Precinct 4 - 07 June 1900 - ED 32 Page 253 Sheet B:
#71 Name | Race | Sex | Age | Birth Place | Father's Birth Place | Mother's Birth Place | Occupati on | Culley, Arthur
E. (Head) | W | M | 27 | MA | Eng. | ME | Grocer | Brown, James B. (Lodger) | W | M | 24 | GA | GA | SC |
Farm Laborer |
James B. Brown & family listed on 1910 & 1920 Dade Co. census schedules. Dollie and Jim had two children - one died in infancy (see Lineage). For a while, Jim and Dollie Brown lived out on Tamiami Trail near Ludlam Road where he was a grove foreman working for Edgar Gaunt. He also managed Franjo Farms and was a former grove owner himself but this occupation didn't last long (1951 Miami Herald Obit & "Villages of South Dade" p. 20).
Jim B. Brown was a carpenter who had a special talent for working with wood. It was well known that he could build just about anything! Jim, Frank Brown, Sr. and Raul Davis (the crocodile hunter) built Frank & Rita's first house on Tamiami Trail (Sources: Frances Mordina Brown Evans & Frank H. Brown, Jr.) Jim & Dollie moved into a darling little stucco house (when it was built is not known)
located at 2401 S.W. 9th Street, one block south of Eighth Street and about three blocks east of 27th Avenue. They lived in this house for the rest of their lives (house now demolished). Jim was a Mason; Dollie was a member of Eastern Star. They transferred membership from Trinity Episcopal to Holy Comforter Episcopal Church. Jim and Dollie Brown (her grave site is unmarked) and their two children are buried at historic City Cemetery in downtown Miami. FRANK HOPKINS BROWN - Born in Midriver which was located in the Sand Hills area of Camden County, Georgia. Known as Frank. Although as a young man his main area of expertise was farming, Frank Brown also worked on rice plantations and in the turpentine business in Camden County. In 1900, he decided to make Miami, Florida his permanent place of residence ("Miami Florida Early Families and Records," by Oby
Bonawit p. 165). Listed on 1900 Dade Co., FL census schedule. For several years he traveled back and forth between Dade County and Camden County. He courted Rita Pacetti/Pacetty, a school teacher in Camden County, who at that time was living with her Aunt "Pat" Catherine Sophia Floyd Russell and Uncle John Swan Russell. Frank H. Brown and MARGUERITE "RITA" JULE PACETTI were married on 01 August 1906,
in the Episcopal Church of the Messiah at Owens Ferry on the Satilla River (& CCG Marriage Book D 1900-1935 p. 118). Parish Register of Episcopal Churches in Camden County Georgia Church of the Messiah at Owens Ferry:
Aug. 1, 1906 No. 29 pages 196 & 197
Frank Hopkins Brown, Bachelor, Age 28, Residence Miami, Florida
Parents: James David and Clara Ann (Gelzer) Brown
Residence: Camden Co., Ga.
Marguerite Jule Pacetty, Spinster, Age 23, Residence Midriver, Georgia
Parents: Lewis and Margaret (Floyd) Pacetty
Residence: Camden Co., Ga.
Signature of Clergyman: D. Watson Winn, Priest ~ Attend, Harry Cassil
Witnesses: Mrs. Jule (Floyd) Noyes, Ceylon
Katherine Russell, Camden Co.
Crawford Brown, Camden Co. After the wedding ceremony, a reception was held at the home of Rita's sister, Maude Pacetty Godley (Mrs. Andrew B. Godley), in Midriver. Frank & Rita Brown spent their honeymoon in the William Weston Brown house in Midriver (Sources: Bea Brown
White & John Edwin Brown, Sr.). Within a few days, they moved to Miami, Florida. The first week, they stayed with John Frohock, who was sheriff of Dade County at that time. Until they built their own house, Frank & Rita lived with Frank's mother, Clara Ann Gelzer Brown. An arrangement that Rita's dear aunt, Gussie Floyd in St. Augustine, felt was "A bad plan in most cases." (Source: Diary of Augusta Gallie
Floyd 1872-1913 - copies in St. Aug. Hist. Lib. & Bryan-Lang Lib.). Their first house was located at 3412 S.W. 8th Street (address was changed twice - to 3421 S.W. 8th Street in 1921 when all street addresses were changed; and later to the present address - 3434 S.W. 7th Street - due to location on the lot). The one & a half story house was made of hard Dade County pine and is still standing as of 1995! Frank
Brown Sr. owned this entire block from 1907 until 1928, which at that time was considered miles beyond the "Metropolitan" Miami city limits (Source: Frank H. Brown, Jr.). Here he grew an assortment of vegetables, tended a number of pigs and chickens, planted many varieties of tropical fruit trees. Drainage of the Everglades was started in 1906: "Before the big dredges arrived, the
Everglades boundary was at Northwest 17th Avenue in North Dade, at 31st Avenue on the Miami River, and a few miles farther west in South Dade," ("Mostly Sunny Days" p. 28-30). By 1912 the reclamation was completed enough so that previous sawgrass & wetlands was dry enough to farm. Frank Brown Sr. purchased property farther west along Eighth Street (Tamiami Trail) near Ludlam Road (what would now be considered
about two blocks west of Ludlam) - ten homestead acres consisting of some of the richest soil of "sand marl and muck" ever seen. Their large farmhouse with its three wrap-around porches & three bedrooms sat on the north side of the Trail facing south; big barn with a loft in back; two fields ran along the edge of Comfort Canal. For a few years, Frank & Rita's three oldest children went to school in the one-room schoolhouse
out here which was built on property donated by Edgar Gaunt. One day a tornado struck the schoolhouse sending "timbers flying in the air about the tree tops." Fortunately, no one was hurt for the children had been let out for a teachers meeting (Sources: Fé Brown Durand & Journal of Allie Brown Carmichael). By 1925, the Brown's had sold their property on Eighth Street, west of Ludlam Road. David
Richardson said that his father, George H. Richardson whose occupation then was a truck farmer, bought ten acres of land out here around 1914 but sold in 1921. Dave Richardson explained, "When the Tamiami Canal was dug and tied into the Miami River it ruined the land. This dropped the water level in the Everglades causing it to become over-drained. The result rendered the soil too sandy in this particular area and no longer that good for farming."
When their children were a little older, Frank & Rita Brown spent summers in Camden County, staying with Rita's Pacetty relatives out on Cherry Point or with Frank's near White Oak, Midriver & Burnt Fort. In 1925 they purchased a house in St. Marys, GA - at 214 Conyers Street - on the corner of Seagrove & Conyers, which they sold in 1932 (CCG Deed Book GG p. 112 & CCG Deed Book JJ p. 16).
Frank H. Brown & family listed on the 1920 Dade County census. The Brown children attended Orange Glade Elementary, Ada Merritt & Shenandoah Jr. High, and Miami High. They walked or took the bus. Frank H. Brown, Sr., Rita & family attended Trinity Episcopal & Holy Comforter Episcopal Churches; in the late 1940's Frank attended Riverside Baptist Church. He was a Mason & Rita was a member of Woodman's Circle and Eastern Star.
In addition to farming, Frank H. Brown, Sr. held a number of jobs. He worked for George Merrick when Merrick was planning of the right-of-way for streets in Coral Gables. He was a foreman for general contractor, H. B. Barnes, in planting the Ficus trees along Coral Way (Sources: Fé Brown Durand & Frank H. Brown, Jr.). He delved in real estate (Polk's Miami City Directory). In his older years, he worked for the City of Miami
as a nightwatchman placing flares & guards (Polk's Miami City Directory) for the Water & Sewers Department. In 1928, the Browns sold the property on Eighth Street & 34th Avenue and bought a house at 930 S. W. 27th Avenue and the corner of Tenth Street where they lived for forty-three years. At that time, 27th Avenue was known as Grapeland Boulevard (Source: Right-of-way Deed of Dedication - Book 460 p. 175 & 176 Dade Co., FL
Courthouse Records). This property (Warner's Subdivision; Plat Book 4/128), was sold in 1969. The main house, the two-car garage, the tin shop which had been rented to Van Huff & Co. (son of Mary Huff/Warner, owner of acres in this area) for storing his jalousie windows, and the three smaller houses on back of property were completely demolished. In 1913, when Woodlawn Park Cemetery opened, Frank Brown was among those
original applicants to receive lots there, "Grant of Burial: May 6, 1913...Woodlawn Park Cemetery Company, in consideration of the sum of five dollars ($5.00), paid to it by F. H. Brown, of Miami, Florida...does hereby give, & grant unto said vendee, his heirs & assigns the exclusive & perpetual right of burial of the deed of that Certain Parcel of Land situate in Dade County...described as Lot No. 47 in Section 1 according to plot of
said cemetery...covering certain lands of Section 9 Township 54 South of Range 41 East, which contains 320 superficial feet...plat may be inspected by said vendee his heirs & assigns at all reasonable times...said Cemetery Company does agree to keep said lot under perpetual care..." (Deed Book 111 pages 447-448 Dade County Court Records). Frank H. Brown Sr., his wife, Rita J. Brown and two of their sons are buried in this lot in Woodlawn Park Cemetery. MARY ALICE BROWN
- Born and raised in Midriver. Known as "May" all of her life. When she was about fifteen or sixteen, May was sent to live with her older sister, Annie Marion Brown King and her husband, Ned King in Miami, Florida. Her mother, Clara Ann Gelzer Brown, thought that the schools in Camden County were lacking and she felt that May would receive a better education down in Miami.
(Source: Daisy Gaunt Brown, Gainesville, FL). There she met and subsequently married EDGAR COOPER GAUNT on 12 June 1898 - Dade County Marriage Book 1 page 64 B (or Book 1 p. 125 - "Dade Co., FL Marriage Records Book I 1840 - Feb. 1905," ed. by Ann Josberger McFadden p. 23). According to records of Elizabeth Gaunt Bryan, marriage was 12 June 1897. They had four children (one boy and three girls - see Lineage).
Edgar Cooper Gaunt's parents were John Gaunt, Jr. and Elizabeth Colson French, a Quaker family living in New Jersey. Edgar and his older brother, George Webber French Gaunt (later became State Senator, Master of State Grange & Lecturer of National Grange), grew up on a farm in a small town in New Jersey called Mullica Hill (Sources: Gaunt Family Bible, copies in possession of Elizabeth Gaunt Bryan & Joanne Brown Carnes; Philadelphia Record, 07 February 1908). The Gaunt family
marketed their produce in Philadelphia, PA, about 20 miles north of their farm. Edgar was twenty-two when his mother died (Source: Elizabeth Gaunt Bryan). He resolved to leave New Jersey, originally intending to go to California (Source: Ralph E. Brown, Sr.). It was late in the year, however, and the thought of traveling through the West during winter prompted a change in plans. He headed toward Florida where the citrus season was just starting. In Florida, Edgar spent one season at Orange Lake packing oranges, as well as a few of the new variety, pineapple oranges (Source: Ralph E. Brown, Sr.). Next, he went to Clermont where he and a friend from New Jersey farmed about forty acres of vegetables and tomatoes. The frosts took such a toll on the crops that he decided to sell his share and go to the warmer climate of "Biscayne Country." En route, to augment his
income, he worked as a laborer hauling lumber at Henry Flagler's hotel on Palm Beach, but left without pay after an imbroglio with a perverse foreman (Sources: "Villages of South Dade," p. 20; "Ochopee The Story Of The Smallest Post Office," p. 13-15). He spent one night at the Stranahan House, where "cooks served food family-style on a long table...venison, wild turkey, fish." The next morning he crossed the New River -
then, in the company of the barefoot mailman, walked the distance to Miami (Source: Ralph E. Brown, Sr.). Between 1895-1901, Edgar C. Gaunt filed for a share of surveyed arable land located in Township 54 South, Range 41 East, Section 10. This meant that he would comply with the Homestead Act requirements stipulating that one must cultivate at least five acres of the land, make improvements, build a permanent residence and live there for five
years (Sources: Bonawit, "Miami Florida Early Families And Records," p. 135 & 137; George, "A Journey Through Time," p. 22-24 & 29-31). Edgar C. Gaunt and family listed on the 1900 Dade Co., FL census: Cocoanut [sic] Grove Precinct 4 - 05 June 1900 - ED 32 Page 252 Sheet B:
45 Name |
Race | Sex | Age | Birth Place | Father's Birth Place | Mother's Birth Place | Occupati on | Gaunt, Edgar C. (Head) | W | M | 31 | NJ | NJ | NJ | Trucker | ----, Mary A. (wife) | W | F | 18 | GA | GA | SC | | Brown, Clara A.
(mo.-in-law) | W | F | 45 | SC | SC | SC | | ----, Frank H. (son-in-law) | W | M | 21 | GA | GA | SC | Farm Laborer |
-----, Claude E. (son-in-law) | W | M | 13 | GA | GA | SC | At School |
Edgar C. Gaunt & family listed on both the 1910 & 1920 Dade County, FL census schedules. Edgar Gaunt was a hard-working man who amassed a considerable
fortune. He owned homestead property consisting of about 150-160 acres (legal limit was 160) which ran north & south from S.W. 8th Street down to about S.W. 15th Street and east & west from 22nd Avenue (once called Citrus Road) to 27th Avenue; owned extensive acres of tomato and grapefruit groves out on Tamiami Trail near Ludlam Road (also known as 67th Avenue); owned land & orange groves in South Dade off of Old
Cutler Road. His packing companies in Cutler & Ochopee sent fruit and vegetables to many big cities in the US ("The Villages of South Dade," p. 20 & 21). He was a strong believer in education and while out on Tamiami Trail, donated a portion of his own property for a one-room schoolhouse. He also helped build Orange Glade School which was located on the northeast corner of S.W. Eighth Street and 27th Avenue (Source: Daisy Gaunt Brown). Tamiami Trail used to be a simple dirt road, certain stretches of which were lined on each side by Australian pines. Daisy Gaunt Brown said that Edgar Gaunt and Frank H. Brown, Sr. helped plant some of these trees. The Australian pines lining the Brown's lot along S.W. 8th Street at 34th Avenue were bulldozed down when the street was widened and paved (Source: Frank H. Brown, Jr. - improvements to 8th Street
began during the mid-1920's & property owners along main thoroughfares willingly sacrificed a few feet of their land - as stated in City Manager's Report 1925-1926, p. 43-49). Edgar contracted with Dade County Division of Streets to oversee the cutting of the right-of-way for 8th Street (Source: Ralph E. Brown, Sr.). Edgar Gaunt knew the Everglades well. He and his friend, Raul Davis, the fearless
crocodile hunter, were frequently asked to guide adventurous individuals around the Everglades. In 1928, Edgar Gaunt took Charles Brookfield, the man who recharted the Florida Keys and Florida Bay for the US Coast Guard & Geodetic Survey, deep into the Glades to find Davis. Instead, they found a note attached to the door of his shack, "Gone crocodile hunting, back in a few days." Many years before, Edgar Gaunt had
extensively explored the areas in and around Seven Palm Lake, Madeira Bay and Florida Bay. At one time, he had considered homesteading the land at Madeira Bay but the mosquitoes were so bad, he decided against the idea (Source: "Florida Keys Magazine," 1st Quarter 1982 p. 31, 32, 33). The Gaunts decided that they wanted to live closer toward town. In the mid-1920's they
hired builder, William F. Chase, and prominent architect, F. George Fink, to build their two-story Mediterranean/Spanish style house on part of the homestead property they already owned (information from Elizabeth Gaunt Bryan). The Gaunt's house, at 2401 S. W. 10th Street, was located east of 27th Avenue, one block south of Jim & Dollie Brown and three blocks away from Frank & Rita Brown (house & garage with upper apartment now demolished).
May's nephew, Frank H. Brown, Jr. recalled, "Aunt May's [cooking] specialty was Upside Down Pineapple Cake, and she had lots of cats!" Edgar Gaunt's daughters, Carrie and Daisy, loved driving his Franklin - an open air touring car. When Daisy wrecked this car while leaving the church parking lot one Sunday, her father never became angry nor said a harsh word to her. Both Edgar & May Gaunt were members
of the Miami Pioneer Club in Dade County. May Brown Gaunt was a tiny lady who always had a sparkle in her eye! She was a member of Holy Comforter Episcopal Church. Edgar and May Brown Gaunt are buried at Woodlawn Park Cemetery in Miami. CLAUDE EUGENE BROWN - Born in Owens Ferry and raised in the Sand Hills of Camden County. When Claude was ten or eleven years of age, he and his mother,
Clara Ann Gelzer Brown, caught the train at the station in Woodbine, GA and headed for Miami, Florida. (Source: Mary Katherine Brown Eldridge, Ft. Collins, CO). They would never again return to live in the Sand Hills. Claude E. Brown listed in the household with Edgar C. & May Gaunt & Clara A. Brown on the Dade County, FL census taken 05 June 1900. His name was entered twice on
the Dade County 1910 census schedule: 1. On 18 April 1910, Claude E. Brown was listed as a boarder with eight other men in the same household in Precinct 8 City of Miami, ED 56; age 22; single; born GA; occupation U.S. Post Office. House was located in the "Fort Dalas [sic] Park Vicinity - Ave. C." 2. On 27 April 1910, Claud [sic] E. Brown was listed in the household with his mother located in Election Precinct
No. 10 ("Cocoanut Grove" crossed out), ED 57; age 22; single; born GA; occupation U.S. Post Office. In her book, "Miami 1909," on page 196, Thelma Peters quoted from the diary kept by eighteen-year-old Fannie Clemons who lived with her family on Avenue B at that time: "October 22. Claude Brown came up and we sat on the porch 'til ten. He has coal
black hair and brown eyes, is clean-shaven and real nice looking. He'll be 23 in May. I put the above down, so when I look back at Claude Brown when he's a gray-headed man---I can look in my diary I kept when I wasyoung and see what he was like then." On 10 December 1910, Claude Brown married EDNA EARL CHEVES of Waldo, Florida (Source: Mary Katherine Brown Eldridge, Ft. Collins, CO). They had two
children - one boy who died in infancy and one girl (see Lineage). Claude Brown & family listed on 1920 Dade County Census. Claude Brown was one of Miami's three original postmen who delivered mail by bicycle. He then went on to become assistant postmaster. Later he took a position as deputy clerk of the Dade County Circuit Court. Claude was a member of the Miami Pioneer Club and a member of the Shenandoah Presbyterian Church (Obituary - Miami Herald Sec. 2 B 1971). He
had a beautiful voice and sang in the church choir. He loved to play the violin and was a great hit at the family square dance parties hosted by his older brother, Frank H. Brown, Sr. Claude was a tall, elegant gentleman whose moral and ethical convictions were beyond reproach. Claude E. and Edna C. Brown and their infant son are buried at historic City Cemetery in downtown Miami.
On the census for Dade County taken 27 April 1910 - Election Precinct No. 10, ED No. 57, Page 188, Sheets A & B: 153 Name | Race | Sex | Age | Birth Place |
Occupation | Gaunt, Edgar C. (Head) | W | M | 41 | NJ | Farm | May A. (wife) | W | F | 29 | GA | | James T. | W | M | 9 | Florida | | Dazie E. | W | F | 6 | Florida | | Carrie M. | W | F | 3 | Florida | |
156
Name | Race | Sex | Age | Birth Place | Occupation | King, Annie M. (Head) | W | F | 37 | Georgia | Dressmaker | Edna (dau) | W | F | 14 | Florida | | Eugene (son) | W | M | 9 | Florida | |
157
Name | Race | Sex | Age | Birth Place
| Occupation | Brown, Clara E (Head) | W | F | 56 | So. Carolina | | Claud E. (son) | W | M | 22 | Georgia |
Carrier Post Office | Eugene (son) | W | M | 9 | Florida | |
190
Name | Race | Sex |
Age | Birth Place | Occupation | Brown, James B. (Head) | W | M | 34 | Georgia | Farmer | Hattie G. | W |
F | 30 | Massachus etts | wife | George B. | W | M | 2 | Florida | son |
NOTE: The Frank Hopkins Brown family was not found on this 1910 Dade County
census even though they were definitely living there at this time. Rita Pacetti Brown was living in Miami when she wrote a letter to her sister, Maud Pacetti Godley in Midriver. The letter was dated 21 July 1907; mentioned social items, referred to her first pregnancy and noted a historical moment in Miami: "My dear Sis...We spent the day with Jim and Dollie yesterday, Dollie's baby is a great
big boy and very good. I enjoyed the day very much but it poured down rain...Did you all hear about one of the banks failing in Miami? But luck would have it Frank has his money in the First National and the Fort Dallas failed. Jim and Claude each had a little in the Ft. Dallas and old man Lang had about 4 thousand so they say, and those who have money in there are pretty much worried... I'd surely love to have you come, but the
trip with the children I'm afraid would worry you most to death...I am going to have the Dr. and a fine nurse with me so I feel pretty safe...Kiss the children for me...Goodbye...Your old sis, Rete." When she moved to Miami, Clara Ann Gelzer Brown divided her time between the households of her daughters, Annie Marion King and May Gaunt. Daisy Gaunt Brown said, "My father conveyed a ten acre portion [transaction not found] of his homestead
property to Clara Ann not too long after her arrival in Miami. And the boys built Clara Ann a house near Jim & Dolly Brown." According to Frank H. Brown Jr., the light gray stucco two-story house was located at S.W. 9th Street and 24th Court. Daisy said that the house faced S.W. Eighth Street and had an enclosed porch. At Clara Ann's request, Eugene King planted an avocado tree in the back yard. When the county put
in a street there, the tree had to go - she was not pleased, for she loved avocados! In June 1907, E. C. Gaunt sold Clara A. Brown two tracts of land - one containing two acres and the other containing three and three-quarters acres (Dade Co. Deed Book 36 p. 252). In the first week of December 1913, Clara Ann Brown sold the two acre parcel to William Hickson (Dade Co. Deed Book 117, p. 9/177) for ten dollars - as stated on deed. Daisy Gaunt Brown said that after Clara Ann died, her house was purchased by the Bentley family (Harkness Bentley was a son), who, for years were close friends. On Sundays Clara Ann Brown attended Trinity Episcopal Church which was located on N.E. Second Avenue and Second Street in downtown Miami. Daisy Gaunt Brown said all the ladies wore such wide-brim hats that the view of the minister was obstructed.
NOTE: The legendary Julia D. Tuttle (one of the founders of Miami) donated the property for Trinity Episcopal Church to be built in the heart of Miami - on the corner of N.E. 2nd Avenue & 2nd Street. This church was torn down and a new church was built in 1925 at the present location - 464 N.E. 16th Street near Biscayne Bay. In 1970 it was proclaimed a Cathedral and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Members (Communicants) of Trinity Episcopal Church listed in the Canonical Register and in the Family Index Files of the Church Archives included the families of Frank & Rita Brown, Edgar & May Gaunt, Jim & Dollie Brown, Jim & Allie Carmichael, Alice Charlotte Brown. Sources: "Cathedrals of the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.," by David A. Kalvelage, p. 93; Canonical Church Register of
Trinity Episcopal Church, Miami, FL; personal interviews with Kathleen Carmichael Adams, Daisy Gaunt Brown & Frank H. Brown, Jr. In 1918, "Miami was expanding by leaps and bounds. Small shops and stores were dotted all along Eighth Street [Tamiami Trail] in the southwest section. All the family had cars. Roads were paved with the native rock and covered with a hot tar
mixture. We were learning to like the avocado." (Journal by Allie Brown Carmichael). Clara Ann Gelzer Brown was described by various family members as a rather dumpy, slightly obese lady. Bea Brown White said, "She was about 150 lbs., an average height woman with dark blue eyes." Frances Brown Evans said that she wore her thin, graying hair pulled back into a knot on top of her head. Daisy Gaunt Brown described
her walk as a "waddle." Frances Brown Evans said that Clara Ann was a strict lady but that she loved children. Another granddaughter, Carrie Gaunt Griffin, has the old wooden-pegged, high-backed rocking chair - a possession which she prized - which belonged to Clara Ann. One of the family photographs of Clara Ann Gelzer Brown (property of Mary Katherine Brown Eldridge - Ft. Collins, CO) shows her standing on the front porch of the home of
her youngest son, Claude Eugene Brown in Miami, Florida. Claude is beside her and he is proudly holding his baby daughter, Mary Katherine. Clara Ann's straight hair is pulled back into a knot at the nape of her neck. Her white cotton blouse has a round collar with long sleeves. She is wearing thin metal-rimmed glasses, the sun appears to be very bright and she is looking directly at the camera without a smile.
In the middle of the summer of 1919, Clara Ann Brown became very sick. Every day her son, Frank Brown, went over to her house to check on her. The twins - Frances Brown Evans and Frank H. Brown, Jr. both said that one evening their father returned home deeply distressed having to inform his children that their grandmother was gravely ill and might not recover. Clara Ann Gelzer Brown died on 16 August 1919. Her marker is a thick gray stone cut
into the shape of a diamond and placed on a granite base. She is buried under a lovely shade tree in the southeast corner of historic City Cemetery in Miami, Florida. |
