WILLIAM R. BROWN:
An Inventory of His Family Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
Part or all of this collection is restricted.
For
details, please see restrictions.
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Brown, William R. (William Reynolds), 1816-1874, creator. | |
| Title: | William R. Brown and family papers. | |
| Dates: | 1840-1972 (bulk 1855-1900). | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Diaries and notebooks, ledgers and account books, genealogical papers, correspondence, photographs, and other papers of Brown, a farmer near Newport (Washington County, Minn.), and relatives from the McDonald, Hoyt, Johnson, and Scofield families. The diaries discuss pioneer farm activities, social life, and legal affairs in the St. Croix Valley and Brown's Civil War service with the Sixth Minnesota Infantry. | |
| Quantity: | 0.85 cubic feet (8 folders and 6 volumes in partial box; 1 oversize folder in partial box; 1 volume in reserve) and 2 microfilm reels. | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
William Reynolds Brown was born in March 8, 1816, in Virginia. In 1833 he was apprenticed to a carpenter in Mount Carmel, Illinois, where he remained until April 1841. He and Charles T. Cavileer then traveled to St. Louis, where they joined Benjamin T. Kavanaugh, superintendent of Methodist missions to the Dakota and Ojibwe in Minnesota, on a trip to that state. Kavanaugh had promised Brown a year's carpentry work at the mission. On May 18, 1841, they arrived at Red Rock, located on the Mississippi River directly east of the Dakota village of Kaposia. That autumn Brown married Martha A. Boardman. Cavileer and Brown soon began farming on claims near the Red Rock mission, where Brown continued to do carpentry work and also served as justice of the peace. Around 1846 Cavileer sold his portion of the farm to Brown and dissolved the partnership. In 1851 Brown moved to St. Paul and engaged in land speculation. During the panic of 1857, he lost all of his wealth, said to be near $50,000. He then returned to farming.
Brown served with Companies G and H, Sixth Minnesota Infantry. He was mustered into the regiment on August 16, 1862, aged 46, and was mustered out on August 19, 1865. His wife died during his absence, and upon his return he remarried, to Clara A. Parker of Newport, Minnesota. They settled in Newport where he operated a carpentry shop and engaged in land speculation. Brown also served several years as Newport's justice of the peace.
William R. Brown died on November 25, 1874.
Biographical information was taken from Loehr, Rodney C., ed., Minnesota Farmers' Diaries: William R. Brown, 1845-46; Mitchell Y. Jackson, 1852-63 (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1939), pp. 2-5.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
Also included are records of a lawsuit between Louis Robert and the city of St. Paul [1861?]; and Brown's correspondence (1858-1862) with Henry H. Sibley's half-Dakota daughter Helen, who was raised by the Browns, and with Helen's husband Sylvester J. Sawyer.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Access Restrictions:
Access to and use of reserve materials requires the curator's permission.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. William R. Brown Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Microfilm Production:
St. Paul, Minn. : Minnesota Historical Society, 1958. 2 reels ; 35 mm.
Microfilm is available for sale or interlibrary loan from the Minnesota Historical Society.
Location of Originals:
Diary (1863-1864) loaned by Mrs. Vena Henry, St. Paul, MN 55116
Accession Information:
Accession numbers: 4320; 6629; 8388; 9547; 9755, 11,475; 11,840; 16,618; 16,644
Processing Information:
Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Processed by: Cheryl Thies, March 1982 and Jennifer Huebscher, May 2012.
Digitized by: Patrick Blaine, October 2011.
Digitization of reserve material
was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of
Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.
Catalog ID number: 990017151750104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| P18 | Genealogical data, undated, 1930. | ||||||||||
| Contains information on the McDonald, Hoyt, and Scofield families. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence and related papers, undated, 1858-1928, 1972. | |||||||||||
| Consists mainly of letters from Dr. Sylvester J. Sawyer and Helen Hastings Sibley Sawyer to Brown. Helen was the daughter of Henry Hastings Sibley and Red Blanket Woman, a Wahpekute Dakota Indian. Written from Milwaukee (1858-April 1860) and Raymond, Wisconsin (May 1860-1862), the letters discuss the Sawyers' everyday life in Milwaukee and Raymond; the doctor's practice in both places; the happiness of their marriage; Sawyer's wish for information about Helen's mother; the couple's relationship with her father, Henry H. Sibley; the birth of their daughter, Helen Mary, on September 4, 1860, and the death of Helen Hastings from scarlet fever two days later; the infant's death (letter of September 19, 1860, to Mrs. Brown); the doctor's great sense of loss over the deaths; and a final letter (February 5, 1862) concerning Brown's locating of Helen's halfbreed scrip and Sawyers' forthcoming remarriage. | |||||||||||
| Additional letters between Brown and A. H. Cathcart discuss Brown's military service in the Civil and U.S.-Dakota wars (October 3, 1862; October 25 and December 8, 1864), and prices, politics, and the management of Brown's financial affairs by Cathcart's law firm. Other letters are from various relatives and friends, including his brother, E. H. Brown, discussing family, religion, and the Civil War. | |||||||||||
| Legal and financial records, 1850-1874, 1877, 1896. | |||||||||||
| Includes a typed transcript of a lawsuit between Louis Robert and the City of St. Paul (circa 1861) concerning the platting of St. Paul, copied from a notebook kept by Brown; a statement of receipts and disbursements from Brown's estate (October 24, 1877); an invitation to the St. Paul Old Settlers' Association reunion (1896); and Brown's personal ledger (1850-1874). | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous papers, undated, 1862-1928. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Deeds and other lands papers, insurance policies, and estate papers relating to the Brown, Scofield, McDonald, and Johnson families. | |||||||||||
| Photographs: | |||||||||||
| Scofield and Brown families, circa 1896-1899. | |||||||||||
| Includes views of the Scofield family home near Grey Cloud Island, the church home in Northfield with Scofield, McDonald, and Brown family members, and a portrait of Clarissma Scofield Parker Brown. | |||||||||||
| 142.H.12.6F-1 | Photograph of Eliza Sproat Scofield and her children, circa 1895. | ||||||||||
| P18 | William R. Brown's notebook of scripture texts. | ||||||||||
| William R. Brown's account and memoranda book, circa 1844; 1856, 1869. | |||||||||||
| Includes Brown's notes regarding Louis Robert's land dispute with the city of St. Paul. | |||||||||||
| William R. Brown's memoranda book, 1855, 1880-1883. | |||||||||||
| Includes financial accounts for a trip in 1855 to Niagara Falls, New York; the 1880-1883 materials may be from a Brown descendant. | |||||||||||
| William R. Brown's diary, 1855. | |||||||||||
| Clara A. Park Brown diary, 1865. | |||||||||||
| Diaries, 1888; 1891. 2 volumes. | |||||||||||
| Possibly written by a daughter of Elias Scofield. | |||||||||||
| Reserve 136 | Diary, October 25, 1845-June 14, 1846. 1 volume. | ||||||||||
| Access Restricted. | |||||||||||
| Brown kept this diary while living at Kaposia, St. Croix County, Wisconsin. In it he describes pioneer activities such as soap making, threshing wheat by hand, and storing vegetables in the ground; the marriages that Brown performed and other social events in the St. Croix Valley; a case of forcible entry and detainer against Jacob Falstrom, which was tried before Henry Jackson in St. Paul; Brown's services as arbitrator in a dispute over land and as a deputy register of deeds; the prices of food, clothing, and livestock; and steamboat arrivals. | |||||||||||
Digital version, October 25-December 23, 1845
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Digital version, December 24, 1845-March 11, 1846
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Digital version, March 12-June 14, 1846
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| P18 | Typescript of diary, October 25, 1845-June 14, 1846. | ||||||||||
| Reel | |||||||||||
| M93 | 1 | Diary, October 25, 1845-June 14, 1846. | |||||||||
| Reel | |||||||||||
| M93 | 2 | Diary, May 28-August 23, 1863; February 18-October 6, 1864. | |||||||||
| Brown kept this diary while a member of Company G, Sixth Minnesota Regiment. The diary gives information on the regiment's march from Fort Snelling to an unnamed camp (possibly near Fort Ridgely), descriptions of the countryside, meetings with other regiments, and Brown's work as a nurse in the regiment. | |||||||||||
| Brown continues his narrative on February 18, 1864 to June 22, 1864. There are only a few entries for each month. The final entry gives information on the regiment's activities through June and July, describing the trip from St. Paul to Helena, Arkansas. The diary concludes with several pages of memoranda (April 8-October 6, 1864). | |||||||||||
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Agriculture -- Minnesota.
- Dakota Indians -- Wars, 1862-1865.
- Frontier and pioneer life -- Minnesota.
- Physicians -- Wisconsin.
- Sibley Expedition, 1863.
- Steamboats.
- Persons:
- Brown family.
- Brown, E. H.
- Cathcart, Alexander Henry, 1820-1899.
- Falstrom, Jacob, 1793-1859.
- Hoyt family.
- Jackson, Henry, 1811-1857.
- Johnson family.
- McDonald family.
- Robert, Louis, 1811-1874.
- Sawyer, Helen Hastings Sibley, 1839-1860.
- Sawyer, Sylvester J.
- Scofield family.
- Sibley, Henry Hastings, 1811-1891.
- Organizations:
- United States. Army. Minnesota Infantry Regiment, 6th (1862-1865). Company H.
- United States. Army. Minnesota Infantry Regiment, 6th (1862-1865). Company G.
- Places:
- Milwaukee (Wis.)
- Raymond (Wis.).
- Saint Croix River Valley (Wis. and Minn.) -- Social Life and Customs.
- Saint Paul (Minn.) -- History.
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
- Document Types:
- Diaries.
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