The Mystery of George Brown

One of the most exciting finds in my grandparents' trunks was a handkerchief.  Yep, a simple handkerchief.  

George Brown's life has been a mystery  One of the best parts of researching family history is the journey. Sometimes the journey's end is anti-climatic. Sometimes the journey's end is a treasure. Whether ho-hum or a treasure, finding the answer to a long lingering question, it is the BEST!  And the handkerchief gave me  answers to long my lingering questions about George Brown.

Growing up, Greenleys were always tall.  I was one of the tall Greenleys.  At 6 feet tall, I was told I took after my great grandmother, Mary (Brown) Greenley (1867 -1938), who was also six feet tall.  Looking at the old pictures, I realized our "tall" gene was not a Greenley gene, but in fact, came from my great grandmother.  She married Elsworth Greenley, who was not tall.

So I started looking at the Browns. Mary had two brothers.  Mathew (1858 - 1911) and George (1855 - 1881). When I went to Iowa a few years ago, one of my goals was to find out more abut this family. In the Cottage Hill cemetery, I found the graves of Mathew and his parents.  But George was not buried at that cemetery.  I even went to the local library to search for obituaries.  No George Brown listed.  I did discover Mathew died a bachelor in 1911.  

Searching for George Brown, born in 1855 in Iowa, was frustrating.  Ancestry.com brought either too many results - or results did not match.  The last record I had of George Brown was the 1880 census.

The Brown household in Dubuque County, Iowa in 1880:

Name	Age
Joseph Browm	49
Jane Browm	45
George Browm	24
Mathew Browm	22
Mary Browm	13

As you can see in the above chart, George Brown was living at home with his parents and his two siblings.  

A few years ago, my uncle sent me some items he had found in the family bible.  One of the items was a school award given to George Brown.  On the back of the card, was a hand written note.  "Uncle born Geo. Wm. Brown Oct 3, 1855   Died (killed) July 8, 1881, by falling rock."

WOW!  The answer to my question!  

Reward of Merit present to Mr. George Brown circa 1860.

He probably never married.  So the story ended with a falling rock when he was 25 years old.  My niece, Paige, who was living in Iowa when I visited, wondered where a falling rock would have come from in the flat Iowa landscape.  That observation was very astute come to find out.  My presumption had been that he died in Iowa, since he had been living there in 1880 census.  Well, I discovered that was an incorrect assumption.  (Assumptions are dangerous things in genealogy.)  

In the trunk I found this very cool handkerchief.

Handkerchief belonging to George Brown

The note with the handkerchief adds a piece of information that I didn't have before.  George Brown was killed by a falling rock in ... South Dakota! So I went to ancestry.com, to search with that additional information.  I found a picture of his gravestone.  And he was killed, by a falling rock, in DEADWOOD, South Dakota! 

George Brown's grave marker in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood.

I do wish I had a picture of George Brown, but haven't found any.  But it does make a good story.  Having a relative who lived and died in Deadwood, South Dakota in 1881, makes me want to go back and watch all those movies!

History of Deadwood, South Dakota  and yes, George Brown is buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery, the same cemetery as Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.