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Joseph Randall Brown Joseph Randall Brown was born May 24, 1842 in Hawkins County Tennessee to George and Pulcherry (Smith) Brown. (Some family members say his middle name was Randolph.) He was one of 12 children. Joe Brown was 29 when he married Louisa Swaim in 1871. She had been born in North Carolina and was the 17 year old daughter of John and Elizabeth (Idol) Swaim of Abbott's Creek in North Carolina. Joe had been serving in the Civil War which had probably postponed his marriage until this time. He was a Corporal in the 29th Tennessee Infantry, Company E. Joe and Louisa settled in Hawkins County Tennessee and he worked as a farmer. They had twelve children, all born in Tennessee with the youngest Grace Pulcherry being born in 1898. Sometime during the next ten years Joe moved with his family to California. The family seemed to settle primarily in El Dorado County which is on the opposite side of the state from San Francisco, in the northern part of the state. Family members and families married into by his daughters were primarily working for the lumber mills. The family also spent some time in Oregon. Louisa died in 1906 at age 52, when their youngest daughter Grace was only eight years old. By 1910 the family had split up with Grace age 12 and her brother Clarence age 27 going to live with their sister Bessie who had married George Nehrbass. In 1910 that part of the family was living in Klamath County Oregon. Klamath was right on the northern California boarder and Bessie's husband was working for a lumber mill there. Joe himself was 67 and living as a boarder with a family a few doors away from the home of several of his children: Lamar age 32, William age 24, Mary age 18, and Lady age 14. His oldest son Frank had married before the family left Tennessee and chosen to stay in that area, eventually moving to Scott County Virginia. His second son James had died in Tennessee when he was only two years old. His daughter Lena had also married and stayed in Tennessee and his son John born in 1881 is unaccounted for. However, most of Joe's children were close by but not living with him. He died December 10, 1911 at age 68 in Camino, El Dorado County California. What drew him and his family to California is not known--perhaps a wish to escape the poverty of the Civil War post years. In October 2005 California members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans verified that Joseph was a corporal in the 29th Tennessee, Company E and erected a headstone denoting his service. Submitted by Vinita Lynch Shaw |
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