| CLIMBING THE BROWN
FAMILY TREE
by: Brenda Brown Lasko Epilogue The memories of my family are some of my most treasured possessions. When we all get together from time to time, we retell the stories that bring back those memories of the people we loved. I love the fishing stories the best and there are some pretty good ones to tell. I hope I never forget even one of them. This is only part of the story and some day I hope to complete more of it. The descendants of Abel Brown that still live near Powhatan would fill the local football stadium. Each one of them has a different story to tell and a different way to tell it. It would be interesting to read them all. So many of the families that played such a big part in the early settlement of Belmont County have all but disappeared. The Stuckeys, Lemleys, Noffsingers, and Helms seemed to have nearly vanished over the years. Many of these families moved on before the 1900's. Many of the Lemley families moved to West Virginia and several of the other families went West in the migration during the 1880's. Some of the Browns also moved on but for the most part, they seemed to have remained in the Ohio Valley until the last generation or two. One of the events I miss is the Brown Family Reunion. It used to be quite an event when I was a child. I can remember attending several of them. One was held at Town Run when I was about 5 years old and several were in Washington County. I regret I wasn't old enough to remember much about them or the people who were there. It would have been a wonderful opportunity to have learned more about the people I've come to know while tracing our family tree. When I read the following verse from the Spoon River Anthology in "Voices in Your Blood" by G. G. Vandagriff it seemed to speak directly to my heart so I felt I had to include it. Where are Uncle Isaac and Aunt Emily, Edgar Lee Majors, Spoon River Anthology I have so many people to thank for helping me to get as far as I have in writing this story. To me, there few things worse than someone who would steal the hard work of another and claim it as their own. I have tried to mention, when possible, the people who have helped me along my way. I could not possibly thank James and Leona Brown for all they have contributed to the information I have. Leona has worked over 30 years on her research and she is the authority on the Brown Genealogy as far as I am concerned. I have seen her work appear in several other researchers reports and I am sorry to say that she wasn't given credit for her contribution. Shame on them. As far as the personal part this story goes, I have to thank my dad most of all because without him there wouldn't have been a story. I wrote it for him as a way to thank him for being the official keeper of facts and history in our family, whether he wanted to be or not. I am always amazed at how he can remember so much and at his patience when asked so many questions about so many different things. He has unselfishly given many, many hours of his life to those of us who have gone to him looking for pieces of history stored away in his head and mostly in his heart. I like to think it was his love of this family that I inherited and why I will continue this story until I too am "sleeping on the hill". The End...for now. Index 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Epilogue
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