Absolam Fenton Brownby David Nolette
Absolam was born June 7, 1842 in Ohio, exactly 101 years before I was born. We know nothing of his early years.
He is our only ancestor to serve in the Civil War. Absolam Brown enlisted in the 60th Volunteer Infantry of Ohio on December 25, 1861 for a period of service of one year. He was listed as 19 years old. His rank was listed as private.
I do not know his official duties or his his daily routine but from the official records of the army, newspaper accounts, and writings of others in his regiment we know what the 60th Infantry did in the war. His regiment "was sent to the field on April 27, 1862. It joined General Fremont's forces at New Creek, in Western Virginia." There, it was put in a brigade with the Eighth Virginia Infantry. Then they were forced marched to McDowell. A forced march is a march that is either longer or a faster than usual. Because of the forced march, many were disabled. After several skirmishes, they fought a battle at Strasburg, where they fought like veterans.
They marched up the Shenandoah Valley, now part of West Virginia, in pursuit of Stonewall Jackson. After overtaking the Confederates at Port Royal, another battle ensued. The Sixtieth fought almost directly across from the Rebel cavalry that was led by General Turner Ashby. When Ashby was killed, the enemy withdrew.
"The pursuit was continued, with more or less skirmishing, and occasionally a determined stand by the enemy. At Cross Keys, Rebel General Stonewall Jackson made overtures for battle. He was at once resolutely met by General Fremont's army, and after a fierce engagement, lasting some hours, both parties withdrew. The battle commenced at an early hour in the morning and lasted until 4:00 p.m. It was a well-contested affair, in which both the National and Rebel troops displayed the most determined bravery. The Sixtieth Ohio was highly complimented on the field for its firmness and coolness under fire. Its loss in men killed and wounded was severe."
A. F. Brown, as he was often known as in records, was part of a record breaking event in the Civil War. On September 15, 1862, the Union lost Harper's Ferry to the Confederates. As a member of the 60th Ohio Voluntary Infantry, he must of been one of the 12,500 men who surrendered to the Confederate army. The surrender of the Union soldiers was the largest of the Civil War. I didn't say it was a good record. They had been outnumbered 2 to1 and poorly lead. Only 289 Confederates were killed while over 1.200 Union soldiers died in the three day battle. Harper's Ferry changed hands six times during the war. After the surrender they were paroled and marched to Annapolis. From there they marched back to Ohio. Along the way the way, they were sometimes jeered at. It must have been humiliating
He was mustered out with the rest of the company on November 10, 1862. Many of the members re-enlisted in other regiments. A. F. Brown was not one of them. There was another 60th infantry that was formed in 1864. Brown had no connection to it but it should be mentioned if anyone ever does further research on him.
Sometime, in the next few years, he married Mary Bennett. Mary, daughter of George Bennett, was born in Ohio on April 19, 1845. I have no record of where or when the marriage took place but their first child Estelle was born in 1864 in Ohio, so we know they were married somewhere in Ohio. Son William was born in 1867 and son Edward in 1870 but I do not know where they were born. By January 20, 1876, they were living in Boone County, Iowa. I know this because that is where my great grandmother, Lillian Brown was born. Other children followed: Minnie, 1878; Harry, 1881; Mary, 1885; and Blanche, 1892 for a total of eight.
According to a letter written to Lillian by Frank Proescholdt who was a friend from school, at one time her father ran a dray in Moingona, which is in Boone County. We know that a dray is a cart usually used for heavy hauling. That must be the reason Brown is sometimes identified as a teamster, which is a person who drives horses. That must have been some time in the 1880's. In the letter, Frank Proescholdt recalls their neighbors and one room schoolhouse they attended. In this 1956 letter, Proescholdt, now 80, threatens to haul Lillian down in a wheel barrow for their next school reunion. Lillian died two years later at the age of 83.
In 1907, A.F. Brown, as he is listed in the city directory, was still working as a teamster and living at 513 Clay Street in Boone. According to my grandmother Amy and her sister Inez, who were daughters of Lillian, Brown was a streetcar conductor. I have yet to find that in any records. It is possible that the street car driver was also known as a teamster. We also learn from the city directories that his wife's name is Amanda. That is the unusual aspect of this directory, because other sources list his wife's name as Mary. But Mary is sometimes listed with the middle initial of A. Possibly Amanda was also a middle name and nickname of Mary.
Their son Harry, now 26, is still living with them. By this time, Harry has been working at least two years for the Boone Brick and Paving Company. In August 1905, he had been involved in a serious and painful accident at the plant west of Boone. Harry worked in the clay pit and "was caught under a cave-in of clay and had his left leg broken and also received some severe bruises about the head." An ambulance took him to the Eleanor Moore hospital, in Boone. I know what an ambulance looks like in 2005, but what did an ambulance look like in 1905?
In 1909, Absolam, as he listed this time in the city directory, was still working as a teamster but was now living at 603 College. In this directory his wife is listed as Mary A. Harry now 28 years old is still living with them. He was 67 and still working---no retirement plan in those days.
From the 1911 city directory, we learn that Brown no longer works as a teamster but now works as a hotel clerk at the Adix Hotel. His name is spelled Absalom in this directory. We also note that he is living at a different location. They now live at 612 West 2nd. So from 1907 to 1911 he has lived in at least three different places. We can deduce from this that he rents and does not own his home, at least not at this time. Harry, now 30, is still living with them. Absalom, now age 69, is still working! Perhaps his other job got to be too hard for him. There was no Social Security retirement to fall back on. Your options were few: save enough money for retirement, hard to do now, harder then; sell your business or farm; live with relatives if you had any; or work until you drop.
At noon, on Friday May 31, 1912, Absolam left Boone, for Knoxville, Iowa to visit his cousin Emma Gilbert. Emma may have been sick at the time. She died of cancer the following year. He arrived there at twenty after eight in the evening and walked the two blocks to her home. Arriving there, he sat down on a chair. Seeming to be well, he asked for a drink of water. When he took a drink, he fell over in his chair. Although a doctor was called, he died a few minutes later. His son. Harry Brown went to recover the body. A very sketchy death record at the courthouse listed his death as: 'supposed heart trouble'.
His funeral was held June 3rd, Monday afternoon, at 2:00 o’clock, at the Marion Street M. E. church. The Rev A. L. Gorden officiated. He was buried at Linwood cemetery in Boone. The burial site is in the GAR area, very near the cannons. GAR stands for the Grand Army of the Republic. Reading about the GAR on the internet is very interesting. His tombstone reads A.F. Brown. It is a very nice looking burial spot as you can see. His marker is on the far right just right of the tip of the cannon.
His wife Mary lived another six and a half years before dying of pneumonia on January 6th, 1919. Although Mary is buried next to her husband, she has no marker of her own.
David Nolette, September 2005, April 2006
Page 252 of Roster of Ohio Troops
A. F. Brown obituary, page 2 of the Thursday, June 6, 1912 edition of "The Boone New-Republican" of Boone, Iowa
A. F. Brown death record at Knoxville, Marion County, Iowa
Mary Brown Death Transcription from Linwood Cemetery
A F Brown in the Boone City Directories
A Letter to Lillian Brown from Frank Proesholdt
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~volker/60thOhio.html