| Notes |
1870 JC Washington Dist # 31
Henry 28
Melissa Jane 25
Ellen 4
1880 JC #62-62
Brown, Henry, 38, farmer, Jackson Co (Co D 13 IV)
Melissa J, 34, wife, Jackson Co (Stewart, d/o George F & Maria Stout Stewart, m Henry,s/o James & Dorcas Carney Brown,
1/1/1866)
Ella L, 13, d, JC
Dora M, 9, d, JC
Okey J, 8, s, JC
Casto, Jennings, 19, nephew, JC (s/o Charles C & Martha E Stewart Casto - Melissa's sister)
Stewart, Millard, 23, BIL, JC
1880 Census Place: Washington, Jackson, West Virginia
Source: FHL Film 1255404 National Archives Film T9-1404 Page 403D
Relation Sex Marr Race Age Birthplace
Henry BROWN Self M M W 37 WV
Occ: Farmer Fa: WV Mo: ---
Malissa BROWN Wife F M W 34 WV
Occ: Keeping House Fa: WV Mo: WV
Ella L. BROWN Dau F S W 13 WV
Fa: WV Mo: WV
Dora M. BROWN Dau F S W 9 WV
Fa: WV Mo: WV
Okey J. BROWN Son M S W 8 WV
Fa: WV Mo: WV
Jennings CASTO Nephew M S W 19 WV
Fa: WV Mo: WV
Milliard STEWART BroL M S W 23 WV
Fa: WV Mo: WV
1900 JC Washington Dist # 152
Malissa Brown, 7/1846 wd 4-3
Okey J 2/1874 m 0y
Emma eil 5/1876 0-0
Henry Brown
The following story appeared in a Ripley newspaper by Elaine Rowley.
W. R. (Irish) Rader just walked up the street by the office. Reminds me of a story that was told to me about the fateful day he was born. It also sets me to thinking about the futility of death - for with the victory of the white horseman come the challenging wail of the new born infant.
Irish Rader's family lived on the Spencer Road, just below where I live now. It was in October 1881. The Civil War had long been over but the country still licked her grievous wounds and groaned internally from the results of the conflict. The North and South had settled down together - not too socialably - but the fighting was over and the law was enforced under Union rules.
Along the Spencer road - a long dusty trail in summer and mud or jagged ruts of frozen earth in winter - the people were divided in their sentiments. A lot of southern soldiers had come to farm the fertile creek bottoms. The Parsons brothers, Lew (Luke) the father of Kenna B.
Parsons, and Captain W. W. Parsons, whose story was told last week, were home. Henry Brown who had fought 4 hard years beside Luke Parsons was home, too, raising his family and wrestling a living from his farm above Frozen Camp. They were lucky to be as far north as they were, for they were free from the notorious carpetbaggers and the confused roving negro. They had only the animosity of their Yankee neighbors to contend with, and the feeling was gradually subsiding. The country was getting well.
But the war years had left a mark on Henry Brown. Always adventuresome and full of spirit, he loved a good fight and chaffed under the serene boredom of peaceful living. He was always willing to stir up a bit of excitement as a means of escape.
About this time, one of the neighbors just over the Roane County line became involved in indebtedness that he could not pay. He was a poor man, and about all he possessed in the way of legal tender was his bountiful harvest of wheat. When that had been thrashed and ready for market, deputy John Cain, who served under his father Alfred S. Cain, Sheriff of Roane County, came to the farm and levied on it.
Neighborhood feeling ran high, since the man needed his wheat badly. Some of the men in the community came early one morning and loaded the wheat into deep bedded wagons and drove with it to Hood's Mill in Ripley, where they turned it into cash. Henry Brown and Perry Hall drove a wagon and Brown's 12 year old son, O.J. Brown, went along for the trip.
Somehow word came of the intended movement to John Cain. He called another deputy, Bill Gibbs, I think it was, and they hurried from Spencer on horseback to overtake the wagon. However, they were too late. When they arrived in Ripley the wheat was gone and the farmers had departed for their homes again - leaving Cain to hold the empty bag.
So the deputies started homeward themselves, their anger and chagrin burning from being outwitted.
At the top of the ridge where Ed Parrish now lives they came upon the slow rolling wagons of Hall and Brown. Hall rode placidly on, giving the deputies little heed, but not so with Brown. When he had a thing to say he said it. And when Cain raised the issue, Brown took it up. As the quarrel grew their anger mounted.
Finally Brown, who fought for the sheer pleasure of it anyway, leaped from the wagon and seized Cain's horse. He grasped the deputy by the leg to pull him from the animal. Cain drew the revolver from his side holster and fired. The bullet caught Brown near the diaphragm and ranged downward. He released the bits and staggered back against the roadside.
Stunned by the violence, all thoughts of fight left the men. They saw that Brown was injured badly - perhaps fatally and it had a sobering effect upon them. The ridge was almost an uninhabited country then. The nearest home was the Lon Rader cabin at the bottom of the hill, where Bob Easter lives now. It was about 2 miles away. They loaded the injured man in the wagon and while one of them went for a doctor they hurried him there. Time was important if his life was to be saved.
Arriving at Rader's they found to their dismay that Mrs. Rader was giving birth to a child and that she was critically ill. In those days the saying that a mother went into death's valley to find her child was a true one, for mother and infant mortality was much higher than it is now.
So they dared not bring the wounded man into the house. They carried him to a cool clean spot in the barn and the doctor tried valiantly to dress the awful wound. But internal bleeding and shock had beaten them.
At almost the exact time that Irish Rader breathed his first free breath, Henry Brown drew his last.
The records of the circuit court in Jackson County show that John Cain was indicted for the murder of Henry Brown just 62 years ago. However, he gained a change of venue and was tried at Spencer where he won an acquittal. Brown's son was a merchant for a number of years at Buffalo. His two daughters grew to womanhood and married fine men. Henry Brown died Oct 28, 1881 - aged 40 years, 2 months and 28 days.
Children of Henry Brown and Melissa Jane (Stewart) Brown were;
Dora M. Brown (Aunt Dell)
Ella Brown
Okay Johnson Brown.
(This has nothing to do with the killing of Henry Brown, but I have always thought how ironic the Cain family and the Brown family were intertwined.) O.J. Brown married Emma Jane Parrish her aunt was married to John Cain's sister. Alf Cain, the father of John Cain, was married to Nancy Stewart who was an aunt to Henry Brown's wife. There are probably even more marriages between the different lines that I am not aware of at this moment, as so many of the families married close neighbors.Some of our relatives were bad about marrying first cousins. Makes me wonder how we ever ended up with a lot of intelligence.
Judi
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West Virginia Pioneers
1866 - 1932 (65 years)
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