Elsie the Rebekah

Recently I received a few more pieces of my own family history. As the designated family archivist, my collection of photographs, ephemera and other heirlooms is already quite large, but these pieces I found especially interesting.


Out of the envelope came two certificates relating to my Grandmother, Elsie (Tober) Brown; her religious life, two certificates relating to her fraternal life, and two published texts from her organization, the Rainbow Rebekah Lodge No. 31, I.O.O.F., in Orting, Washington. The texts are small, pocket size pieces, and I am sure that I will blog about them soon. The certificates, however, were the prizes in this collection.


Rainbow Rebekah Lodge No. 31, I.O.O.F.


I have known for years that my great-grandfather, William Warner Brown, was a member of the Odd Fellow’s lodge in Orting. However, it has just been recently that I learned that his son, Harley (my grandfather), and my own father were both involved in fraternal societies as well. (How dare he keep that secret from me!??!? Humph.)  In conversation with family, it was a treat to learn that these documents existed.


The first piece is dated 21 Dec 1938, and it is the letter indicating that she had been elected to membership in the organization. Presented on letterhead, it simply asks that Elsie attend a specific meeting to receive the Rebekah Degree. One of the pieces I like about this document is the letterhead itself; it provides the information of when the meetings occur and where. Using this, I can pinpoint with minimal doubt how my Grandmother spent her evening on 27 Dec 1938, and where. This is quite early in her married life, and approximately 18 months before her eldest child – my father – was born. It also provides the names of the current Noble Grand and the Secretary.

Letter of invitation to Elise Brown, "Mrs. Harley Brown"
Personal collection of author.

The second carries the official seal, but is a duplicate, as indicated on the form itself. It is perforated along the top edge, and is pre-printed, “DUPLICATE – To be retained by the Past Noble Grand.” I feel it is safe to guess that the original was the top half of the page, broken by the perforation.

Certificate of Past Noble Grand, Elsie Brown
Personal collection of author.

“Certificate of Past Noble Grand
Hall of Rainbow Rebekah Lodge No. 31 I.O.O.F. Jan. 20, 1941
To the Rebekah Assembly I.O.O.F. of Washington:
You are hereby respectfully informed that our worth SisterElsie Brown has performed the services requiredto constitute her a Past Noble Grand in Rainbow
Rebekah Lodge No. 31 I.O.O.F., her term of service as Noble Grand havingexpired on the 31 day of December 1941
Yours in F., L. and T.,
(Signed) Esther L. Whitley, Secretary”

Initiate to Past Noble Grand in Four Years


These two documents together create an interesting timeline, do they not? She was initiated as a member on 27 Dec 1938. Her service as a Noble Grand ended on 31 Dec 1941, almost four years to the day!


Now I want to know… what requirements are there of a Noble Grand? What is that job, exactly?


There is still much to learn, and I am grateful to my family for entrusting me with these documents. I have a feeling I will be learning a great deal about the Rebekah organization very soon!

Curiosity is Allowed to Take Over

What's the deal with Fraternal Societies? 

One of my favorite areas of research lies in fraternal societies. These organizations played such an important role in the lives of our ancestors, and simply should not be overlooked in genealogy. Over the past few months, I have been focusing part of my self-education time to this venture, hoping to gain a much better understanding of these organizations, their role in society, how they affected the country as a whole, and what they really stood for. There is much to learn!

I have carried this goal into my social media, creating the Fraternal Organizations for Genealogists group on Facebook and the Fraternal Organizations for Genealogists community on G+. I follow several chapters and lodges on Twitter, and engage them when I can.

The sharing within these communities has been wonderful to see, and even just being more aware of the idea of the societies has taught me a thing or two. I've been able to identify more fraternal symbols on headstones, and realized that all of the elementary schools in my county have Masonic cornerstones. Perhaps I would have noticed this before, perhaps not. Either way, my eyes are wide open now.

As we quickly progress into winter (it's snowing as I write this post at my Colorado high country home...), I feel it is time, and it is necessary, to be more intentional with my self-education, as well as sharing what I discover with my genealogy friends and colleagues. With that in mind, I am planning a long term series of blog posts, all about fraternal societies and the various aspects of them. I plan on asking a lot of questions over the next few months, and doing my best to find and share the answers.

Let us begin! 

W.W. Brown
From personal collection of Jen Baldwin.

My first experience with fraternal societies was when I realized, several years ago, that my great grandfather, William Warner Brown (or W.W. as we like to call him), was an active member of the International Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) in Orting, Pierce County, Washington. As a family, we knew this to be true. Getting confirmation and any any available records from the organization itself was a much more significant challenge. It took me six years, uncounted letters and phone calls, but I was finally able to get something out of them. It wasn't much, just a few copies of meeting notes that included the date and his name listed as "present."



It was, however, the beginning of a decade long curiosity. And the process taught me quite a bit when it came to researching these groups. There is always more to learn, though, and so I am taking the opportunity to let my curiosity take over... and I hope you will join in on the journey. If you have a genuine interest, feel free to ask to join the two communities listed above, we'd be happy to have you engage in the conversation. If not, that's ok, too. We can read, discuss, and engage right here.

It does make me wonder.... what organizations do you have a connection to? Leave a comment, and hopefully sometime in the near future, we can explore it together.



 (Selly sell : I wrote a Legacy QuickGuide on the subject. You can find it via my website.)

Uncle Boone

One a more personal note, my Great Uncle, Don "Boone" Brown passed away last week. Here is his obituary from The Orting News.

I do not yet have a paper copy.



The Passing of Don "Boone" Brown
by Terry Brown
May 8, 2013

Long-time resident of Orting, Don Brown, more popularly known as "Boone ", passed away on the morning of May 8,2013. Boone was born in Chehalis on Nov. 17,1927, but his family soon returned to Orting after his birth. Boone was the youngest of seven children in his family. When his health reached the point that he needed to receive more personal care, he really hated giving up POB 4, which had been in the family name for nearly 100 years. If one did not know Boone personally, one was probably aware of his magnificent flower and vegetable garden on Calistoga, which supplied beauty and fresh food to many friends and acquaintances. Orting is now without a Brown of this family in residence which basically has not happened in nearly 100 years.

Interment will be at the Orting cemetery at 11:00AM on Thursday, May 16th. A potluck reception will follow at the Orting Eagles. Bring your memories to share in the celebration of Boone's life.

Boone holding my father as children. They
were not far apart in age.
Personal collection of author.
Circa 1943, Washington.

Taking Notes From the Bible

I’m finally getting some time to sit down and compare my information to that provided by the Bible of Carrie L. (Brown) Carlyle, which was sent to me earlier this month by Mr. Illinois. If you missed it, you can do a genealogy happy dance with me via this post.

I’m first going to examine the family page that goes back to my second great grandfather, Oscar F. Brown:




Starting at the top of the page, and working my way down.

Family Register
Grandparents

Grandfather (Father’s Side)	Date of Birth	Date of Death
James Carlyle	May 1, 1841	March 27, 1889
Grandmother (Father’s Side)	Date of Birth	Date of Death
Jane Reid	1840	1881
Grandfather (Mother’s Side	Date of Birth	Date of Death
Oscar Fitzallan Brown	1831	1906
Grandmother (Mother’s Side)	Date of Birth	Date of Death
Frances Elizabeth Lawrence	July 20, 1853	June 7, 1929

Parents
Nov 12, 1912 Married Orting, Washington
Adam Carlyle (Husband)
Date of Birth: Aug 19, 1874  
Place of Birth: Vernon, Osgood, Ontario, Canada
Date of Death: June 26, 1945 Snohomish, Wash. G.A.R. Cemetery, Snohomish
Carrie Louise Brown (Wife)
Date of Birth Oct 3, 1886
Place of Birth: Richland, Nebraska

I am assuming Carrie wrote this in herself. I have samples of her writing from her teenage years through the end of her life, and this writing seems to loosely match her style. The Bible was “presented to” her son, Lawrence Byron Carlyle in 1946, so it would appear that she filled in this information prior to gifting it to him.





Comparing this data with what I already knew…

• James Carlyle: I have been able to add his birth date and month, but I knew the year already. I also had the death date correct.
• Jane Reid: All I had originally was that she died “after 1895”, which conflicts with the Bible a great deal, but I will use the Bible as my primary information source for now.
• Oscar F. Brown: His birth year has been disputed for some time, but we always knew it was around 1831/1832. The Bible gives the earlier date. We knew his death date already.
• Frances E. Lawrence: All of the information listed for her we already knew.
• Adam Carlyle: I had his birth date as 18 Aug 1876, but the Bible states 19 Aug 1874. The location is the same. We also had his death information and burial location, as well as the marriage date and place between Adam and Carrie.
• Carrie Brown: Her birth date was the same, but the location varied slightly. The Bible states Richland, Nebraska, and I had Central City. The two communities are about an hour apart from each other in today’s terms, and the Brown family moved back and forth between them several times, though their homestead was closer to Central City.

The following page lists the Children’s Registry:

• Lawrence Byron Carlyle: b. Nov 16, 1913, Orting, Washington
• Stuart Brown Caryle: b. Nov 3, 1914, Orting, Washington. “Sgt. U.S. Army; Inducted Sept 1940, Discharged Nov 1945”
• Helen Elizabeth Carlyle: b. April 9, 1917, Wauna, Washington (which is just north of Gig Harbor, and makes sense geographically). Married June 27, 1945 in Seattle, Washington to Sgt. Jerry William De Vries. “School teacher for eight years.” All of this information except her birth year, marriage year and the surname of her husband is new to me.
• Ruth Louise Carlyle: b. April 10, 1920, Tacoma, Washington. Married to Joseph E. Miller, Seattle, Washington.
• Robert Adam Carlyle: b. April 10, 1920, Tacoma, Washington (he and Ruth were twins). “2nd Lieut. U.S. Army, Over 5 yrs in Service, Unknown, Germany, Feb 19, 1945”. From his gravestone, I know he received a Purple Heart for his service, but I did not have information on where he served, nor did I have what I am assuming to be his discharge date.

I have much more to learn from these texts, and this is but a simple comparison between the Bible and my genealogy software.

Torn and Ragged

About a week ago, I got the email that every family historian dreams of. 

It happened. It really happened.

A man in Illinois (for privacy reasons, I will simply refer to him as Mr. Illinois) had discovered a piece of my history, a piece of my family; one we did not even know was missing. He found it in his Grandmother’s attic, in a trunk, with a few other odd items. No one in his family, not his mother or any of her siblings, had any idea why Grandma possessed these items. No one knew they were there. No one knew that she had held onto them, carefully wrapped, gently placed. How did she obtain them? Why? The answers are still to be discovered, perhaps we’ll never know.

Torn and Ragged
The Bible that originally belong to
Adam and Carrie (Brown) Carlyle of
Orting, Washington. 

It came to me torn and ragged. It felt I was living out some kind of alternate space. It all happened so quickly!

You see, Mr. Illinois found part of the answer to his many questions on his search engine. A quick look at the oldest name in the Bible sent him to my blog, to this very site, to me. He realized that he needed to contact me, to find out about Oscar F. Brown. Yes, my Oscar. My most challenging brick wall ancestor. The one I have written about over and over. The one I will continue to write about until some of the mysteries are solved. 

(Tell me again that genealogy blogs do not need to utilize search engine optimization! He found me easily and quickly!)

So, that phone call came. A conversation of discovery, matching names, dates and locations. Enough that both of us were satisfied: yes, it’s a match.

What he found in his Grandmother’s attic was a collection. Two Bibles, a letter with photographs, and a photo album of Civil War soldiers; all members of the unique Mississippi Marine Brigade. In one evening, I went from hopeful to elated: the family in Illinois had decided to send me the Bibles. The photo album will be copied professionally, then sent on to the Civil War Museum in Virginia. Where it belongs, because, truly, the collection is a national treasure. It is not just for my family alone. That is very satisfying.

Back to the Bibles. One was property of Carrie (Brown) and Adam Carlyle, my great aunt and uncle. The other belonged to their eldest son. Their descendants are my 2nd cousins, and after a few years of research in their own right, they have passed on their own family collection of letters, photos and other heirlooms to me. I have referred to this vast collection before, and have coined it, "The Carlyle Collection."  The decision was made that I should receive the treasure, and that I did.

Surprisingly, Mr. Illinois sent it rather quickly, in a simple U.S. Post Office box. He had either had it long enough that his curiosity was sedated or was ready to get rid of them. Either way, within a week, they were sitting on my dining room table. It is not lost on me that the table belonged to my own Grandparents originally, and here I am, using its surface to photograph the penmanship of Grandpa’s aunt. Oh, how the wheel of life turns…

I am sure that future posts will detail all I learn from these precious gifts. For now, it is enough to say that my family is incredibly grateful to another family in Illinois. We have regained a piece of us; we have been able to connect with another part of us that makes us who we are. For that, Mr. Illinois, I will never forget you.

Both Bibles, side by side.

The inside cover of the oldest Bible, belonging
to Carrie (Brown) and Adam Carlyle. The writing
lists the lineage of Adam.
The copyright is 1895. 

Obituary: Mrs. Charlotte Anderson

Mrs. Charlotte Anderson Called By Death

 

Charlotte was my great-great grandmother, through her daughter, Emma, who married William W. Brown of Orting, Pierce County, Washington. 

Finances

After a quick trip to my parents house, and nearly a week of being ill, I *think* I'm back and ready to go on my research, this blog, and getting that infernal "to-do" list under control.

It's not often that I come home from a visit with my father empty handed, and this time was no exception. Although the envelope was small in comparison to trips of the past, the content was quite fascinating. My great grandmother, Emma A. (Anderson) Brown (1886-1967), resided in the Orting, Washington area long after the death of her husband, William W. Brown.

Personal archives of author. 

Tucked away neatly in my great-uncle's house was a record of her financial life. An account ledger book held with the Orting State Bank. The ledger begins on 8 Feb 1947 with a deposit of $40.00, and runs until about three years before her death. Although the amounts she deposits are fairly small, she was able to build up a decent enough sum, until the last entry, with a full withdrawal, and I assume, the account was closed.

It gives a different perspective to her life. I really do not know all that much about her "golden years", and this may be a push in the right direction. When she essentially stops making deposits, and starts taking money out... is that when she stopped working? Was this her nest egg? If so, it didn't last until her death, so did she have other accounts, or did she have to turn to other means to survive?

For the second item that caught my attention, I'll have to do a little legal research. I'm sure that the "Legal Genealogist" can help me with this one, and that's exactly where I am going to start. The item in question is a receipt for $5.00, received from Mrs. Emma A. & W.W. Brown of Orting, Wash., by the State of Washington for a "Poll Tax". It's dated 17 May 1921. It does indicate which law is being followed by issuing this tax, so this little mystery shouldn't take too long to unravel.

Both items together give me another *new* slant at my genealogical research; their financial lives. I may never get another item similiar to these, but it certainly is enough to raise a few questions.

Personal archives of author. 

So, I'm curious. Have you ever researched your families' financial past? Assuming of course that you are not all trust fund types that have a long line of wealth that is easily traceable... has a financial document led you to something in your family history?

School Photo

Great looking school group. My Great Aunt Carrie Brown is one of the teachers, indicated with the red arrow at the top. This would have been taken in Orting, Pierce County, Washington. The sign, front middle, says "Sixth Grade, '09".  

Obituary: Francis "Marie" (Brown) McKinney

Taking a break from The Diary to offer you this...

The obituary for Francis "Marie" (Brown) McKinney, who was my great grandfather's daughter, from his first wife, Nora Della Brigham. They were married in Nebraska, and just three short years later, William Warner Brown could be found in Orting, Pierce County, Washington, a single man. Though no record of a divorce or separation has been found as of yet, the marriage was never a "known fact" in the family, and was not openly discussed.

My great half-aunt passed away in 1999 in Nevada.

Frankie's Letter: From a Widow to the Pension Board

Last in three posts dedicated to the military personnel in my family, a Memorial Day tribute of sorts.

As any genealogist would know, pension files can be an incredibly illuminating resource. Several years ago, we obtained the file for Capt. Oscar F. Brown and his wife, Frances (Lawrence) Brown. Frankie's file was considerable in size, having lived several more years after her husband, and petitioning repeatedly for increases in her widow's pension.

Oscar & Frances Brown, seen with unidentified children.
Private holdings of author.

Included is a copy of a letter, written by Frankie, dated 31 Oct 1928. By this time, Oscar had been gone 22 years, and she was living with her youngest son, Warren, in Orting, Washington. She turned 75 the previous July and was expecting a higher monthly sum, due to the change in her age. This excerpt in particular caught our attention as a family:

"... I am a soldier's daughter, a soldiers' widow, and a soldier's mother and think I am entitled to at least $40 a mo., and a soldiers sister [to] 3 brothers."

Although she didn't know it at the time, she is in fact:

the daughter of a soldier
the sister of soldiers
the widow of a soldier
the mother of a soldier
the grandmother of soldiers
the great-grandmother of soldiers
the great-great grandmother of soldiers

Silent Saturday: Remembering what Memorial Day is really about.

Grave site of Robert A Carlyle, my first cousin, 2x removed.

All week I've been updating my cover photo on Facebook with military images from my family tree. A reminder of what Memorial Day truly stands for. Here are some of those images, and more.

John H. Lawrence, Jr.
Ohio Cavalry, Civil War.
Two of his brothers served as well.

The USS Coral Sea, on which my father served in the US Navy.

William J. Brown, WWII

William "Bill" Brown and wife, Stella.

Warren Brown, WWI Submariner

Los Angeles National Cemetery.
Warren Brown's final resting place.

Capt. Oscar F. Brown
Mississippi Marine Brigade, Union
Civil War

Their descendants, participating in the annual family Memorial Day
celebration at the Orting Cemetery, Orting, Pierce County, Washington.
This one is from 2008.

Photo Mystery: Tenino, Washington 1938

While archiving some photos, I came across this picture: 

The couple bears no resemblance to anyone in our family, and they are not familiar to me. I am the holder of the family archives, and have seen hundreds, literally, of pictures in my decade of genealogical research. These folks are not related to us. On the back is a stamp, in blue, it says "Hi-Ko Finish" with the date "Sep 13 1938". 

The timing could not have been better. The first time I saw this picture was about a week before the release of the 1940 US Census, and I put it at the top of my "must I.D." list. I could not believe how lucky I was to have a dated photo from so close to the census. It was almost too perfect. Unfortunately, no one knew who they were. I assumed the photo was from Orting, Washington, as it was in my paternal collection, and that's where they were in 1938; all of them. 

So, I never got to look them up in the 1940 Census. 

Then, a week or two later, I came across this little jewel. Came from the same box, I just hadn't dug deep enough yet. 

See the resemblance? 

The border print around the image is identical, as is the size of the photo. This one also had the blue stamp on the back, and it was labelled, I think by my Grandmother (now deceased): Tenino, WA 1928-1931. Here is the reverse of the image of the house:

The house in the photo looks rather rural, which jives with the family story. Which is this:

William and Emma Brown had lived in Orting, Pierce County, Washington most of their married life, except for just a few years in the late 20s and early 30s, when they lived in Tenino in Thurston County. They were not doing well, and moved from house to house running away from rent collectors. They lost a son there to a rail/car accident, and by 1935 had moved back to Orting. The fatal accident of their son resulted in a lawsuit, and William was said to have used the money to buy clothing, instead of diapers for the baby.

So, the photos are dated 1938 by the developer, which is too late for the family of William & Emma. The handwriting indicates that they lived in Tenino from 1928-1931, but during that time, it was highly unlikely that a ten year old roll of film would have survived to be printed that much later. (I checked on this with a photographer familiar with film development.) It would seem unlikely that they would have gone back to Tenino, as they left debt all around town; they would have been recognized.

We're back to the mystery couple, aren't we? I think it's possible that the Brown's could have lived in the white two story house, but who are the people in the first photo? Maybe I'll never know. Maybe this will hit social media and go crazy and I'll have a descendant send me an email to identify them. That would be neat.

Treasure Chest Thursday: William W. Brown in Photos

Just a quick interruption of Lottie's memoirs to give you this.

William Warner Brown, pictured here with younger sister, Bessie. He was known, at least during his adult life, as "Billie", but we refer to him as "W.W.".

Born in Colfax County, Nebraska, oldest child of Oscar F. Brown and Frances E. Lawrence. He lived to the ripe old age of 62 years (1876-1938). As a young man, he was married once in Nebraska to Nora Della Bingham. We don't know what happened to that relationship, but they did have one daughter; Marie Frances Brown. This marriage took place in 1904 in Fullerton, Nance County, Nebraska.

1907 finds him marrying young Emma Anderson in Tacoma, Pierce County, Washington. Her family were already residents of Orting.


By the time of the 1910 US Census, they were located in Orting, Pierce County, Washington. Oral history tells us he, "bought a ticket for as far west as he could afford". So, we know he made this journey sometime between Apr 1905 when his first daughter was born and 1907. They remained in Orting, with the exception of a brief stint in the Tenino area of Thurston County, Washington. There they lost their eldest son, Percy, to a automobile / train accident. He was only 19 years of age. (You can read about that incident on a previous post.)  The family consisted of eight children: Percy, Harley, Dorothy, Hazel, William, Margorie, Robert and Donald.

Wedding photo for W.W. and Emma Anderson

W.W. was well known around town. He was a member of fraternal organizations, including the I.O.O.F., and found himself in many roles throughout his life in the community: owner/operator of the livery stable, he drove the "school bus" which was a large covered wagon with his horse team, "Dick and Shep" leading the way, a member of city council, road supervisor for the county, deputy sheriff, school director, member of the first fire department and ran the farm during its first years of inception at the nearby Orting Soldiers Home & Cemetery, a veteran's home, which is still operating today.

William and Emma are both buried in the Orting Cemetery, outside of town, as well as several other family members, both on the Brown and Anderson side. His mother, Frances or "Frankie", is buried across the street as the widow of a veteran, at the Orting Soldiers Home Cemetery. 

Obituary: Family Friend Sue Skinner

First Images from the 1940 US Census!

Here's what I managed to acquire before the servers at the National Archives slowed down to the point of not moving (about 30 minutes in!). I am confident they will have all issues resolved soon and we will all be happily searching and indexing away! 

Four images from Orting, Pierce County, Washington and 1 from Keya Paha County, Nebraska. 

UPDATED: Added images from Lake County, Oregon and Lake County, Colorado. 

Best of luck to you!

Wordless Wednesday: William & Estella Brown

 Wordless? Ha! Just not my style...

William James Brown was the third son of William Warner Brown and Emma Anderson (Andersson?) of Orting, Washington. Born 9 Feb 1921, he married Stella Lindsley on 1 Dec 1942. Uncle Bill was a Merchant Marine in WWII, before signing up he worked on the ALCAN (or Alaskan-Canadian Highway) with the CCC. He also served in the Army Air Corp, never going abroad. After his service was over, he worked in a cardboard manufacturing plant in Sumner, Washington, and remained there until retirement.

William J. Brown

Bill & Stella

Estella Lindsley may have been Native American, possibly in the Puyallup, Washington area.  We know she had a sister named Ester, and one member of the family remembers seeing more in the family.

They are both buried in the Orting Cemetery, Orting, Washington.