Clara Brown
Encyclopedia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
who became a community leader, philanthropist and aided settlement of former slaves during the time of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
's Gold Rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
.
Brown was born in Virginia in 1800. She married another slave when she was eighteen and together they had four children. In 1835, Brown's family was broken apart when they were all sold to different slave owners; Clara was sold to a plantation owner in Kentucky. When Brown was 56 years-of-age, she received her freedom and required by law to leave the state worked her way west as a cook and laundress to Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
.
Brown settled in the mining town now called Central City, Colorado
Central City, Colorado
Central City is a home rule municipality in Clear Creek and Gilpin counties in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the county seat of Gilpin County. The city population was 515 in the 2000 United States Census...
where she worked as a laundress, cook and mid-wife. With the money she made, she invested in properties and mines in nearby towns. Known as "Aunt Clara" for her emotional and financial support, Brown was a founding member of a Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
, made her home available for prayer services and generously supported the community.
At the end of the Civil War, Brown could freely travel and liquidated all of her investments to travel to Kentucky to find her daughter. Although she was unsuccessful, she paid the way for 16 or more relatives and others who were former slaves to move to Colorado. Finally in 1882 she reunited with Eliza Jane and Eliza Jane's daughter. In 1885, the last year of her life, Clara Brown was voted into the Society of Colorado Pioneers
Society of Colorado Pioneers
The Society of Colorado Pioneers was formed in 1872 to recognize and support the first Anglo American settlers in Colorado. The organization originally only for men, spun off a woman's auxiliary group and later a sons group...
for her role in Colorado's early history.
Early life
Clara Brown was born into slavery near Fredericksburg, VirginiaFredericksburg, Virginia
Fredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
on January 1, 1800. At a young age Clara and her mother were sold to Ambrose Smith, a Virginian tobacco farmer, and worked in the fields. She was then moved with the Smith family to Kentucky.
Clara married a slave named Richard at 18 years of age. Together they had four children: Richard, Margaret, Paulina Ann and Eliza Jane. Sadly at 8 years of age Paulina, the twin sister to Eliza Jane, drowned. In 1835 their owner, Ambrose Smith, died. To settle the estate Brown's family was brought to a slave auction, sold separately and sent to different, distant locations. A plantation owner from Kentucky, George Brown, sensed her intelligence and strength and placed high bids to attain her.
Freedom
Kentucky to Colorado
- Brown was hired as a maid and cook by a family heading to the westward departure point of LeavenworthLeavenworth, KansasLeavenworth is the largest city and county seat of Leavenworth County, in the U.S. state of Kansas and within the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area. Located in the northeast portion of the state, it is on the west bank of the Missouri River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
Kansas TerritoryKansas TerritoryThe Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....
. From there Brown was hired by Colonel Benjamin Wadsworth in April 1859 to work on the wagon trainWagon trainA wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
as a cook for 26 men. It was a hot, difficult eight-week journey to Denver, Colorado, made more uncomfortable by the complaints of a southern man about a black woman traveling with them. Brown is believed to be Colorado’s gold rush first African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
woman.
Denver and Central City
- In the Denver area, Brown settled in nearby Auraria where she worked at the City Bakery. She was one of the founding members of the nondenominationalNon-denominational ChristianityIn Christianity, nondenominational institutions or churches are those not formally aligned with an established denomination, or that remain otherwise officially autonomous. This, however, does not preclude an identifiable standard among such congregations...
Union Sunday schoolSunday schoolSunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
through her affiliation with two MethodistMethodismMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
missionary ministers. Following the tide of miners heading into the mountains, Brown set up the first laundry in Gilpin CountyGilpin County, ColoradoGilpin County is the second least extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Gilpin County was named after Colonel William Gilpin, the first Governor of the Territory of Colorado. The county population was 4,757 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Central City...
in Gregory Gulch, now called Central City, ColoradoCentral City, ColoradoCentral City is a home rule municipality in Clear Creek and Gilpin counties in the U.S. state of Colorado, and the county seat of Gilpin County. The city population was 515 in the 2000 United States Census...
. She also worked as a mid-wife, cook and nurse maid. Brown's income grew substantially when she expanded her laundry business after taking a partner. She invested her earnings in mine claims and land and within several years had accumulated $10,000 in savings and reportedly owned 16 lots in Denver, 7 houses in Central City, and property and mines in BoulderBoulder, ColoradoBoulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, GeorgetownGeorgetown, ColoradoThe historic town of Georgetown is a Territorial Charter Municipality that is the county seat of Clear Creek County, Colorado, United States. The former silver mining camp along Clear Creek in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains was established in 1859 during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush...
, and Idaho SpringsIdaho Springs, ColoradoThe City of Idaho Springs is a municipality in the U.S. state of Colorado that is the most populous settlement in Clear Creek County, Colorado. Idaho Springs is located in Clear Creek Canyon, in the mountains upstream from Golden, some thirty miles west of Denver...
.
- Brown gave generously of herself to those in the community. She hosted the first Methodist church services at her house and helped people those in need in any way she could, whether newly settled Euro-Americans or Native Americans. Lovingly called "Aunt Clara," her home was "a hospital, a home, a general refuge for those who were sick or in poverty." She was quoted as saying, "I always go where Jesus calls me." The Catholic Church and the first Protestant church in the Rocky MountainsRocky MountainsThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
were built partly through Brown's donations towards their construction.
- Frank C. Young, who some called the Washington IrvingWashington IrvingWashington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
of the RockiesRocky MountainsThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
said of Brown:
"In our little community everyone knew everyone else, whatever might be the positive differences in social position. In this connection I might speak of Aunt Clara Brown. She was raised in old Kentucky, and with her won freedom secured after years of persistent, patient toil, when well along in life she joined the procession of gold seekers to Gregory gulch. Through the unusual returns of a mining camp for labor such as hers, she was able to bring out from the old plantation her children and later her children’s children [relatives]; and with them, whether aided by her efforts or stimulated by her example, have, year by year, come many others of her race, worthily represented by the Poynters, the Lees, the Nelsons and other families who are as tenacious of recognition as subjects of the 'little kingdom' as you or I may be."
Attempts to find her family and aid to former slaves
- Letters were sent to locate her family with the aid of friends who could write. Brown heard that her husband Richard and daughter Margaret had both died, her son Richard was lost, but she vowed to find her daughter Eliza Jane. At the end of the Civil War, she liquidated her holdings to travel back to Gallitan, KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. She didn't find Eliza Jane, but she helped 16 (or 26) relatives and others who were former slaves travel to Colorado by train and wagon train and helped them find work once they were settled. Brown also went to Kansas in 1879 to help former slaves "build a community and farm the land." At eighty years of age Brown's funds were depleted due to monies spent on charitable contributions, her efforts to find her family, and having been cheated by real estate agents.
- Brown moved to Denver when she could no longer sustain the higher altitude and lived in the home of a friend. After years of writing letters, Brown heard that her daughter lived in Council Bluffs, IowaCouncil Bluffs, IowaCouncil Bluffs, known until 1852 as Kanesville, Iowathe historic starting point of the Mormon Trail and eventual northernmost anchor town of the other emigrant trailsis a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States and is on the east bank of the Missouri River across...
and traveled there at 82 years of age to meet her. The Council Bluffs Nonpareil reported on March 4, 1882 that Brown was "still strong, vigorous, tall, her hair thickly streaked with gray, her face kind." Brown returned to Denver with her grand-daughter after a lengthy visit and was later visited by her daughter, Eliza Jane until Brown's death. In remembrance of her pioneering role in Colorado history, she was voted into the Society of Colorado PioneersSociety of Colorado PioneersThe Society of Colorado Pioneers was formed in 1872 to recognize and support the first Anglo American settlers in Colorado. The organization originally only for men, spun off a woman's auxiliary group and later a sons group...
and interviewed by the Denver Tribune-Republican on June 26, 1885.
Death and memorials
- Clara Brown died in Denver on October 23, 1885 and was buried in Denver's Riverside CemeteryRiverside Cemetery (Denver, Colorado)Riverside Cemetery, established in 1876, is Denver, Colorado's oldest operating cemetery. More than 67,000 people are buried there, including 1,000 veterans.-Location and operation:...
. Colorado state dignitaries were in attendance at her funeral, including Denver mayor John Long RouttJohn Long RouttJohn Long Routt was a U.S. Republican political figure. Born in Eddyville, Kentucky, he served as the first and seventh Governor of Colorado from 1876 to 1879 and 1891 to 1893. He also served as Mayor of Denver, Colorado from 1883 to 1885...
and governor James Benton GrantJames Benton GrantJames Benton Grant was an American mining engineer and the third Governor of Colorado from 1883 to 1885. He was born in Russell County, Alabama and died in Excelsior Springs, Missouri....
. The Central City Opera HouseCentral City Opera HouseThe Central City Opera House located in the National Historic Landmark District in Central City, Colorado, USA was constructed in 1878 by Welsh and Cornish miners....
dedicated a permanent memorial chair in her name.