Funeral Card Friday: Sarah Alice Brown

For years, we have known that Oscar F. Brown of Colfax County, Nebraska was buried alongside an infant daughter. Until recently, however, we did not know who she was. This funeral card, found in the collection from the Carlyle Family of Washington State, identifies that daughter. 

"Died.

On the 18th of February, 1881, at 11 o'clock a.m., Sarah Alice, daughter of F.E. and O.F. Brown, aged seven months and five days."

The card was printed with a poem, and was signed Mrs. S.E. Lawrence. This is Sarah's grandmother, who lived in the area at the time. Her name was Sarah (Evans) Lawrence, wife of John Horatio Lawrence, and mother to Frances Elizabeth (Lawrence) Brown, wife of Oscar. After raising her children in Ohio, Sarah moved to the Colfax County area to live near her daughter, and eventually moved into her son's home in Denver, Colorado, where she died. Sarah and her husband John were separated in Ohio, reunited in Nebraska, and separated again, living in two residences on either side of the county. John died in Nebraska.

Oscar and Sarah were left in unmarked graves for many years. Descendants put a headstone on the site for Oscar within the last decade, but Sarah remains unknown. I have no doubt that her grave will be appropriately remembered before too long, now that we know who she was. Mystery solved.