| CLIMBING THE BROWN
FAMILY TREE
by: Brenda Brown Lasko Chapter 13 Grover and Bessie's Story William Grover Brown, always called "Grover" by his family, stayed with the family of Emaline and David Brown until he reached his teens. He lived with Leander and Celesta after leaving David's house and, while living there, fell in love with their youngest daughter, Bessie Leila. The were married around 1915. Their first son, Dale, born in 1916, died when he was only a year old. They eventually had three more children, Cecil Ray, Ruth Louise and Homer Earl, who is my father. Bessie and Grover lived for a time in West Virginia, near Wheeling, where Grover worked on the Oglebay farm as a hired hand. This farm later became Oglebay Park, a beautiful recreation and tourist area. I can remember his stories of the way the Oglebay's lived such a splendid life style. They had frequent visitors who were the cream of Pittsburgh and Wheeling's social circles. Being a very talented man, Grover did many different jobs at Oglebay but left there to return to Belmont County and begin working as a farm hand. They lived on a houseboat in Dilles Bottom for a while and he worked in the Big Run coal mine. From there they went to York Township and lived several miles up Captina Creek near the area where old Abel had settled. They moved down the creek to Steinersville and it was there my father was born on May 17, 1924. When they moved from Steinersville, he moved into the house owned by his father-in-law, Leander, in Powhatan, near Captina Creek. In this house he would raise his children through the depression years. There was no work in the mines and little anywhere else, so he worked as a farm hand when large farm owners needed help. He was lucky to receive 50 cents for a long day's labor. By doing everything they could, Grover and Bessie managed to get through one of the toughest times this country has known. Sometime before 1936 Grover bought land on Gravel Hill to build a new house and to get his family out of the flood district. Nearly every spring the Ohio River and Captina Creek overflowed their banks and got into their house along the Creek. During the construction of the new house, the 1936 flood waters got into the second story of their old house. The house on Gravel Hill would be Grover and Bessie's home for the rest of their lives. (My father lives in this house today.) As I have already mentioned, Grover and Bessie also raised a son of her brother, Robert Vernon Brown, after Robert and his wife died. Junior Wayne Brown lived with them until he moved to Lorain, Ohio after the war. Just before my father graduated from high school in 1942, World War II began. Immediately after graduation he went to work in the mines but was drafted a short time later and went to the conflict in Europe for 4 years. His brother, Cecil also served in the war in the Pacific. When the war ended my father married my mother, Hilda Bellville and his brother Cecil married June Dishong a short time later. A round the same time, their sister Ruth married William Carlos Barnhouse, a minister and career service man. Grover continued to worked in the coal mines until he retired from mining just as I was starting to school. For a few years he worked as a janitor at the Powhatan school I attended. My father went back to work in the mines after the war and remained there until he retired in 1983 after forty years of mining. All through the years the families in Washington County and Belmont County remained in contact. When my father, his brother and sister were children, they used to make trips to Washington County to visit the relatives living there. Most of them were the families of George and Mary Brown's children. Some of the people they visited were Rachel and Rufus Woods, Lydia and William Gorby and Isaac and Retta Brown. The 50 mile trip was no easy task especially if it rained. There were no paved roads and half of the way the car had to be pushed from one mud hole to the next. Family ties were always important and everyone looked forward to seeing the aunts, uncles and cousins who lived on the Little Muskingum. My father's family loved the Little Muskingum area and as I mentioned they bought the Abel Brown place. The property was purchased from Ernest Smith, husband of Clara Woods, a daughter of Rufus and Rachel Brown Woods. This property would be our summer home for many years and we spent nearly every weekend there. (The property is still owned by my Uncle's daughter.) Ernest and Clara lived on a nearby farm and he used to stop by everyday on his way to pick up the mail. He walked two miles each way although he was in his 70's. He was one of the most interesting characters I have ever known and I loved to listen to him tell stories, which he could do for hours. I would often walk to his home to visit with Clara. She was a dear lady who always seemed to be busy doing something. She had the most beautiful fruit cellar I'd ever seen. All the shelves were lined with jars filled with every kind of fruit and vegetable you can imagine. Like all the people from her generation, she would insist on feeding you no matter what time of the day you came. I was blessed in having the opportunity to grow up with my grandparents and I had the benefit of learning about life and the history of the Brown family from them. My grandfather helped to build many buildings in Powhatan, just as his father, Mort, had done. One of these included the Methodist Church. Skill in carpentry was passed on in the family to my father, who can do a good job when the need arises. My grandmother Bessie, was active in most of the women's clubs in town including the Eastern Star. She was a loyal church member until the time of her death in 1957. She was a very talented woman and could play many musical instruments. When it came to gardening there were few who could equal her green thumb. They were fine, descent people and well thought of in the community. Of all the things that I remember about them was the love and respect shown in their marriage. They were best friends as well as husband and wife. I never remember fighting or arguing in their home. When she died in 1957, I think a part of him died with her. We all stayed there together for the next 8 years and some of the best times were spent at the camp on the Little Muskingum. His love for hunting, fishing and gardening remained with him until his last days. Grover was one of the most intelligent people I have ever known. I don't think there was anything he couldn't do if he put his mind to it. He could build anything or make a gadget that would make a complicated job easier to do. We all have at least one of these gadgets somewhere in our possession. He worked the daily crossword puzzle in the paper with little difficulty, using a vocabulary that a college student would envy. It is amazing when you consider that he had almost no formal schooling. He was in the second grade when his mother died and was never given the opportunity to attend school again. He was called "Pop" by his grandchildren and most of the kids in the neighborhood as long as I can remember. When I married in 1965 and my father remarried in 1966, Pop lived alone in the house for the first time since he built it. He was always busy at some project or his garden and all of his family were frequent visitors. One of his proudest moments came 5 years before his death when a grandson was born who carries his name. William Grover Brown, Jr. was born to Homer and his second wife, Geraldine Doty, on October 6, 1970. Pop died on December 7, 1975, and was buried beside Bessie in the Powhatan Cemetery. Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Epilogue
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