He'd grown up with a worthy example. Jacob's father, Henry Brown, was
an early settler in Washington Township, in one corner of Hancock County.
Along with his brothers, Martin and John, Henry Brown arrived in 1833 to
carve a home from the seemingly impenetrable forest. 5
The three brothers had each purchased 80-acre parcels in Section 36 of
the township, and they faced the daunting task of clearing 240 acres. Jacob,
Henry's tenth child, was born sixteen years after the brothers arrived.
6
By that time, they had probably cultivated at least half the property.
7
But clearing land wasn't Henry Brown's only worry. When Jacob was born
in August 1849, Henry and his young wife, Catherine Keller Brown, already
had nine children: five boys and four girls, ages two to fourteen years.
Catherine was 37 years old. Two more times she would give birth before
dying on January 27, 1853--age forty years, eight months, ten days.
What did Jacob remember of her? Perhaps her German speech, her callused
hands, her pale face in the casket. Perhaps he recalled the creaking of
wagon wheels along rutted, frozen trails from home to the cemetery.
8
The voice of Uncle Martin giving a funeral oration, the stinging January
wind, the weeping of his brothers and sisters and cousins--these Jacob
perhaps remembered. But the impressions must have been hazy. When his mother
died, Jacob Brown was only three and a half years old.
Catherine's death left Jacob's father with 12 children. The oldest had
turned 18 years old the previous October; the youngest was newborn. How
did Henry cope? Settled on the adjoining farm, Henry's older brother Martin
and his family, including eight children, surely helped Henry through the
crisis. Also, a few miles away in the northeast corner of Section 35, the
German Baptists held meetings. John P. Ebersole, 9
who was a leading preacher of that church, lived about a mile away.
10
Henry was a devout member of the German Baptist church, and the proximity
of such like-minded men and women would have provided comfort.
11
Within a few years, Henry Brown also found solace in a new wife. Jacob
was only six years old when his father married Leah Myers, the 35-year-old
widow of a man named Dickey.
It appears that Henry Brown's relationship with God also strengthened
him. One source states that Henry and Catherine Brown were both "devout
members of the Dunkard Church and ordered their lives in accord with the
simple and the noble faith which they thus professed."
12
Another writer notes that Henry's brother John was "a minister of the German
Baptist Church, and . . . highly respected in his community as a man of
piety and strict integrity." 13Henry's
son, Eli, was also devout. Contemporary sources describe him as "an upright,
loyal and honored citizen of the county for many years, and . . .an earnest
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church." 14
Jacob surely recalled his upbringing in the Dunkard Church.
15
This church (also known as the "Dunkers," "Tunkers," "German Baptists,"
and "Church of the Brethren") started in the town of Schwarzenau, in Westphalia,
Germany. In 1708, a small band of believers grew dissatisfied with the
German Reformed (Lutheran) tradition and broke away from it, committing
themselves to study the Scriptures independently. Within a few years this
church had grown to several hundred in Germany, Holland, and Switzerland,
but religious persecution drove most of them out of Europe. The Dunkards
immigrated to Pennsylvania in two primary groups: the first came in 1719;
the second, in 1729.
It seems likely that Jacob Brown's ancestors were members of this church
early in its American history. Within a few generations a large number
of Dunkards had moved from eastern Pennsylvania to Bedford County in western
Pennsylvania where Daniel Braun, Jacob Brown's grandfather, was born in
1785. 16 Many
also settled in Morrison's Cove, Pennsylvania, where Martin Houser, Daniel's
father-in-law, was captured by Indians in 1789. 17One
history also states that one of Martin Houser's sons was a Dunkard, and
by 1833 Henry Brown (Jacob Brown's father and Daniel Braun's son) was being
married by a German Baptist minister.
1819
What did this sect believe and practice? One distinctive belief was
the baptism of adults by "trine" (three time) immersion, which was often
carried out by immersing converts face down. The Dunkards also incorporated
foot washing into their communion services, greeted one another with a
"kiss of charity" and anointed their sick with oil. They adhered to the
Bible as their rule of faith; refused to take oaths or engage in lawsuits;
did not believe in taking part in war or bearing arms; and held to a doctrine
of brotherhood, eschewing all caste and class distinctions (hence, no member
of the church held slaves). They also emphasized right living. This last
meant that devout Dunkards refrained from attending "places of amusement,"
and wore plain clothing. In addition, church leaders held great authority
over individual members. For example, a Dunkard church council reprimanded
one member for taking part in a military funeral, another for wearing hoops
under her skirts, and another for attaching sleigh bells to his conveyance.
20
In the 1830s and 1840s, a large group of Henry Brown's relatives moved
west to Williams County, near Bryan, where they established a Dunkard congregation.
When Jacob was a teenager, Henry Brown also relocated his family there,
and he undoubtedly helped erect the congregation's first church building
in 1869 (the church had previously met in homes). A biography of one of
Henry Brown's cousins, also named Jacob Brown, describes this particular
Dunkard Church as follows:
The entrance to the church [was] two doors at the north end of the church. The seat for the elders or ministers was at the south end of the church. The church was heated by two large stoves. There were two rows of long pews made of sycamore boards, the back being one board and the seat another board. There was a board partition about seven feet high down the center of the church, between the two rows of pews, which extended to the front seat . . . The women came in the east door and sat in the pews on the east side of the church. The men came in the west door and sat in the pews on the west side of the partition. Just west of the aisle on the east side were seats that were raised above the floor, so that during communion services, persons who were not taking part could sit on these seats at the side while members of the congregation sat at tables on each side of the long partition . . .In addition to their church activities, Henry and Leah's children attended school. Typically, Jacob would trudge several miles, often through snow, to a log schoolhouse with split-log or "puncheon" floors. A fireplace was often built at one end of such buildings. Wood pins driven into logs along the walls would support a writing desk and seats made of half-logs. From these wobbly perches students would crane their necks to a rectangle of light farther up the wall, an opening covered with greased paper. This window was cut high enough to keep young scholars, who faced a log wall for interminable hours each day, from gazing outside. 22 In such a building, Jacob and his siblings would read from the New Testament and the Columbian Orator, spell from Webster's American Speller, and practice their 'rithmetic from Pike's Arithmetics. Boys and girls faced opposite walls. While roaming the building's middle ground, the teacher would bend an ear to one student's recitation, assist another with sums, and thrash a third with a birch branch. 23During the communion services, Jacob Brown, as one of the elders, and John Brown [Henry Brown's brother and] also an elder, would pass the bread and would chant the lines from the New Testament relating to this sacrament. They would pass along the tables where the members were commemorating the Lord's last supper. Each of them with his white hair and long white beard, as they solemnly chanted the words of the sacrament as they passed the bread and wine to the members was a hushed and quiet moment . . . [It] was a scene to remain in the minds of all who partook thereof, and all who were looking on. 21
When Jacob Brown took up residence on that 80-acre plot in the forest
of Section One, Marion Township, Henry County, his family had grown to
four. Work loomed on every side. The Black Swamp was still being drained.
30
Throughout the county, kilns were being set up to produce drainage tile.
Settlers had already accomplished some drainage by digging ditches, but
only by burying thousands of miles of clay drainage tile could they finally
clear the land of standing water. Fortunately, tile makers didn't have
to search for clay. Underneath the topsoil of Henry County sat two thick
layers of the stuff.
But before Jacob could lay drainage tile, he would clear the land of
trees, often by "girdling" them. Using this process, he would hack or saw
around the circumference and through the bark of larger trees. When the
trees died, he would pile brush against them, set them on fire, and reduce
them to stumps. Then by harnessing oxen, horses, and lots of boy power,
the back-breaking work of removing stumps would begin. In this way, little
by little, Jacob cleared and drained his land. It took time. Even when
his children attended school in later years, they leaped from log to log
to avoid the soggy swamp. 31
During that era, Marion Township was jumping too. By the time Jacob
Brown arrived in 1879, the township's population had grown to 1,202. Most
settlers were of German or Irish descent and many helped construct the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad, which began operations in the township in
1873. One history notes that real improvement of the township didn't occur
until this railroad was constructed. In turn, the coming of the railroad
led to the erection of sawmills and stave factories, the clearing of creeks,
and the construction and improvement of roads. 32
Settlers also set up one-room schoolhouses about every two miles throughout
the township. Each served an area of four square miles. These were named
after farmers, on whose land the buildings were placed, or after local
flora and fauna: Porcupine, Measle, Flower, Westrick, Brady, Collins, Bishop,
Hasbarger, and Spangler. Some of Jacob's older children attended the Porcupine
school in the northeast corner of the township. 33
In 1874 Hamler, the closest village to Jacob Brown's farm, had been
platted by William D. Hill of Defiance and Augusta, his wife. By 1888 the
town had a population of 500. With the coming of the railroads, businesses
grew. The Buckeye Stave Factory, Barhite's General Store, Pepper's Saw
Mill, Panning Lumber Company, Dilts' General Store, Belfy's Saloon--all
made their appearance in Hamler in the first fifteen years of Jacob Brown's
residence in the area. 34
In 1888 the Democratic Northwest, a newspaper published up north
in Napoleon, noted that "Hamler is in the midst of a great building boom.
New buildings are going up by the score, and the carpenters are correspondingly
happy." 35
One such business was Fred W. LeSueur's barrel making and lumber firm.
In 1882, just three years after Jacob Brown took up permanent residence
in the area, LeSueur bought up a portion of timber ground in Section One,
and established his company on 40 acres south of Jacob Brown's farm. There
a company town, later known as Woodville, sprouted. Eventually this town
boasted 30 homes, a rooming house, a 20-room hotel, an ashery and an office.
The B&O railroad also built a spur to the site. Commonly Jacob Brown
would see horses pulling cars up the spur from the main tracks in Hamler;
watch mail being delivered by horseback between Hamler and the LeSueur
Post Office; listen to workers packaging staves, bolts, and hoops for shipment;
and rub his eyes from the smoke of the ashery and stave dry kiln within
walking distance of his farm. LeSueur's workers also undoubtedly helped
to clear Jacob's land, especially as timber became scarce.
36
By 1888, Woodville was well-established, and Jacob Brown's family was
well-established too. By that year, he and Eliza had five children: three
girls and two boys, ages three to fourteen. Unfortunately, all was not
well with Eliza. Whether the disease came quickly or slowly, caused intense
or relatively little pain, we do not know. It is clear, however, that on
May 9, 1888, at about age 34, Eliza Brown died. County death records state
that her death was caused by something called "consumption," a term broadly
used in that era of shot-in-the-dark medical diagnosis.
37
Alvin C. Brown, her eldest son, was only 11 years old.
So Jacob Brown found himself in a situation similar to his father's--having
a large family with no wife and mother. Again, he did not linger. On November
14 of the same year, less than seven months after his first wife died,
Jacob Brown married Martha M. ("Mattie") Brown (her maiden name was also
Brown). 38 Mattie
was 19 years old, the junior of Jacob by 20 years. Raised in Marietta,
in the southeast corner of the state, how and when Mattie arrived in Henry
County is not apparent. What is apparent is that the couple began life
together in late 1888, and six months and 21 days later had their first
child.
Jacob was not a man to pass up a business opportunity, either. On July
2, 1893, at about 9:00pm, a drying shed at Woodville caught fire. Soon
the LeSueur Company was history. 39
Jacob Brown conceived a deal. He bought the 40-acre site, the sawmill,
all the debris that was left, 30 homes, the hotel, and a barn. The barn
he purchased for $500 and the 40 acres for $600. Deed and mortgage records
show that Jacob took out a promissory note for the land on July 29, 1893,
a note he paid off in three annual installments.
40
The land and buildings he got, quite literally, at fire-sale prices.
Over the next several years, residents of the area removed many of the
homes to Hamler or dismantled them for lumber. Jacob left the hotel in
tact. It was later traded for a horse. Of course, dismantling buildings
was not always a painless process. The Henry County Review,
in an issue dated July 25, 1894, states that "Perry Rayle and his father
were taking down a shed at Woodville. Timber fell on his head and he was
wounded." 41
Besides tearing down buildings that summer of 1894, Jacob Brown also
entertained relatives. One newspaper records the following:
Milton Jaqua and sister, Girtie, accompanied by a Mr. Robinson and sister, of Findlay, drove through to visit with relatives at Woodville last week. Jacob Brown and wife made a party for the young people Saturday evening to which a number of Hamler young people were invited. 42Another newspaper recounts this happy occasion as follows:
Quite a number of the Hamler young people spent a very pleasant evening with the family of Mr. Jacob Brown of Woodville, Saturday evening. A very elegant social and supper being given in honor of Mr. Jackaway and sister, of Findlay, O., who have been visiting their uncle, Jacob Brown, the past week. 43By that summer, the family of Jacob Brown had grown to seven children, from age two to nineteen, three girls and four boys. As the new millenium was about to dawn, Jacob must have felt comfortable with the world. Jacob and Mattie had another boy in 1896, another girl in 1900, and in August 1901 he bought another 40 acres. 44
Sadly, however, he would lose one of his most precious assets. His daughter,
Alice, died on February 3, 1902, at the age of 21 years. Her Sunday school
(West Bartlow United Brethren) described her as an earnest worker, a faithful
member of the church, and an estimable young lady. Her death record states
that she died of "heart trouble." 45
Alice was Jacob's second daughter by Eliza, and the younger sister of Alvin
C. Brown.
Jacob and Mattie would have one more baby, born two and a half years
after Alice Brown's death. Myrtle they named her, and her birth must have
helped ease the pain of loss. Myrtle was an attractive girl. As an adult,
she would teach in Hamler for several years, then sail from New York to
the Panama Canal Zone, where she would teach English to army officers'
children. 46
Life went on for Jacob Brown. In 1902 he erected a ten-room brick house
on his original 40 acres, a home that still stands.
Hamler also put down roots. In 1907 the town established the first Henry County Bank, and in
1908 a new hardware store opened. At the general stores, folks could buy
a pound of dried apples for five cents, a yard of gingham for six cents,
and four cans of corn or ten pounds of oatmeal for a quarter.
47
Railroad companies continued to lay track, and at least one of Jacob's
boys found work there. An article in The Henry County Review noted
that A.C. Brown of Hamler was "one of the Lima Northern R.R. men."
48
Jacob Brown retired from active farming in 1917, and moved into the
town of Hamler. There he undoubtedly spent his last years playing with
grandchildren, reminiscing about days past, and marveling at automobiles
and airplanes, World War I and the stock market crash, wireless radio and
moving picture shows. All these wonders signaled the birth of a world far
different from the pioneer life he had known. Yet Jacob could recall with
gratitude a prosperous and healthful life, lived largely independent of
outside interference and filled with joyful memories.
Photo of the Jacob Brown family, circa 1925
On April 3, 1930 Jacob Brown signed his Last Will and Testament and
on August 23rd of the following year, just five days shy of
his 82nd birthday, he died. Probate records show that he had
acquired considerable property. His farm consisted of 200 acres in three
plots in Marion Township: the east half of the northeast quarter of Section
One (80 acres), the east half of the southeast quarter of Section One (80
acres), and the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 12
(40acres). He also owned a piece of land in Hamler, where he retired. These
properties together were appraised at $18,200. Jacob Brown also owned personal
goods, securities, and other assets totaling $8,215. At the time of death,
therefore, his total assets were valued at $26,415.
49
Considering that the same inventory valued 50 bushels of wheat for $15.00
(30 cents a bushel), Jacob seems to have been relatively well to do.
50
But these were not his most precious assets. Some he had lost--his mother,
his wife, his daughter. But many more he retained. It was on these numerous
blessings that Jacob rested his mind. As a contemporary historian put it,
Jacob Brown had "a most jovial and happy nature." He was considered an
optimist who looked at life "broadly and genially." And as his obituary
testified, "his philosophy was to keep on the bright side of life."
5152
Jacob Brown's Bible register
Dale Brown's Family History Page
Author: Dale A. Brown
Last updated: March 23,2001
If you find errors in the information presented here or have comments
that would make the site more useful or user-friendly,
my email address is dbcpa55@hotmail.com.
