NOTE: THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS!
The Recollections of Geraldine Parr – Clark
William Wilkes Brown asked Geraldine Parr-Clark to write down all the interesting things she could remember about their grandparents, James Walter Brown and Martha Elizabeth Blackwell. During her early years, between about 1908 and 1919, Geraldine spent summers with them while they were living on their farm near Providence, Union Township, Johnson County, Indiana. The foregoing was typed from handwritten notes prepared by Geraldine Parr early in 1983 while spending the winter in St. Petersburg, FL with her husband Myron Clark.
JAMES WALTER BROWN & MARTHA ELIZABETH BLACKWELL
FOR REFERENCE, their children were:
- Arthur George Brown (1883 – 1947) – never married
- Rosa “Rosie” Mae Brown (1884 – 1954) – m. Roscoe Stanley Parr
- Tillus Richard Brown (1885 – 1947) – m. Della Wilkes
- Bessie Jane Brown-Tingle (1887 – 1913) – m. Bryon Tingle
- Chalmers James Brown (1888 – 1970) – m. Martha Charlotte Vandivier
- Ressa “Ressie” Mattie Brown (1891 – 1961) – m. Byron Franklin Parthurst
The Brown homestead is east, little South of Providence. You will see by the picture that the front steps led right up to a door that opened into the living room, In it were several rockers, a “center table” holding a “Reo” lamp, an organ and a folding bed where Grandpa [James Walter Brown] and Grandma [Martha Elizabeth Blackwell] always slept. A phone (the old crank kind of course) was by the side window which overlooked the orchard which was between the fenced in yard and barn (red). Speaking of the phone, I can remember Grandma [Martha Elizabeth Blackwell] rushing to the phone when it rang whether it was their ring or not. Several were on the line and each had a different ring – think theirs was “12 shorts & a long”. She wanted to keep up on the news. There was a fireplace on inside wall too, between the door to boys room and the dining room. I can remember a big old clock on the mantel and I can remember Grandma [Martha Elizabeth Blackwell] telling me to put my letters to Santa in it and they’d go right up the flu to him. When real winter came up they put a base burner in front of the fireplace.
Right back of the living room was a small bedroom where Uncle Arthur [Brown] slept. At the left side of the living room by the wall of Uncle Arthur [Brown]’s room and a step down was the dining room, a large room. A long table, where all meals were eaten, was always covered with a red & white, or a blue & white checkered table cloth except that a white one was used for company. Breakfast was always early and eaten by lamplight and consisted of ham & eggs, biscuits etc., – sometimes even left-over pie. I never honored them with my presence at that meal altho I could hear the clatter and chatter. There was a “side-board” in there too (same one they had in Franklin) where Grandma [Martha Elizabeth Blackwell] kept her best dishes & lump sugar for company, and, me if I could get by with it! A door and window (not sure about the window) at the back. It was L-shaped. By the dining room window facing the garden in the “L”, (I know this is about as clear as mud), was Martha Blackwell-Brown’s sewing machine where she and any or the girls who might be there spent much time. These rooms were always the same in my time. I often wonder how it was when the six kids were all at home.
You will notice 2 doors opening off the porch. The door at the end led to a large room & I can remember changes in it from time to time. It had a window facing the front & one facing the garden “patch” as they called it, And a door opening into the living room. When I first remember it, it was called “the boys room”. Somehow I can’t remember when Aunt Ressa [Brown-Parkhust] & Bessie [Brown-Tingle] were home so don’t know how or where they slept, although it seems I have a dim memory of 2 beds being in there for awhile. Uncle Tillus [Brown] and Uncle Chalmers [Brown] slept there with me in the middle if I played my cards right. That is the way I first remember it. Later when all the kids were out on their own and only Uncle Arthur [Brown] there, they made the big room into a “parlor”. Moved the organ in there, bought one of those gramma-phones with a big horn, a divan which opened into a bed for company and new chairs. The divan and chairs for that room they also had in Franklin.
Kitchen was very small. It was also “L” shaped. Just room for a cistern & small sink and a big coal range, a pie safe where I think she kept her every day dishes. And on an inside wall a big cabinet where she did all her mixing, etc. There was a window facing the back & one facing front (don’t think kitchen part shows in the picture) & we could look from that into the dining room window in the “L”. The back door was just a small distance from the cistern and just a few feet from door leading into the dining room. Here on the wall was a row of hooks holding older type wraps, where the men hung their work jackets and where the women grabbed something to put around their shoulders when they went to the smoke house, hen house or “Out house”! Myron [Clark]’s folks had the same kind of rack in their kitchen. Oh yes, there was a dinner bell in the back yard which Grandma [Martha Elizabeth Blackwell] rang to tell them it was meal time when they were working at Uncle Jesses or in the “holler” between the two places. If she rang it in between times they hurried for it meant an emergency.
Last time Gerald [Parkhurst] drove us out there the home place looked much the same except time worn. And the distance (so long to me then) to Uncle Jesse’s place seemed shorter – and the hill back of the orchard where I loved to roll down had shrunk! And the surroundings so changed – a lake and resort across the road. Gerald [Parkhurst] or Raymond [??] will have to tell you about that or maybe you have been there.
Grandma [Martha Elizabeth Blackwell]’s house was always spotless and yet she spent a lot of time outdoors. Back of the house, way back even much farther than the “outhouse” there was a “thicket” and she loved to get back there with a scythe, etc., and try to clear it out.
She loved flowers & had many lovely flower beds. Both of them liked to garden and there was always lots of vegetables in the garden or canned.
Grandma [Martha Elizabeth Blackwell] always said Grandpa [James Walter Brown] was always happiest and humming a tune when, as she put it, he heard her in the kitchen rattling the pots and pans.
They belonged to the Providence Methodist Church. Along around the early 1900’s Grandpa [James Walter Brown] bought two matching tables for the church. I don’t know what they were used for. Years later, (mid or late 30’s, I think), the church disbanded and Grandpa [James Walter Brown] went out (they were in Franklin then) and bought them back and gave them to his two daughters, Mom [Rose Brown-Parr] and Aunt Ressie [Brown-Parkhust]. Mine from Mom [Rose Brown-Parr], is still in use and in very good shape and will go on down to Rose Ann, etc. She is getting very interested in the Brown heritage too. Aunt Ressie [Brown-Parkhust] kept her table by her bed so no doubt you saw it. I never got around to telling that tale to Gerald until a year or so ago and he said he wished he had known sooner, would have taken better care of it.
Grandpa [James Walter Brown] farmed of course, and was Township Trustee for· a term or two. I remember Grandma told me to stop running ‘round’ & ‘round’ the dining room table and I told her I couldn’t stop — I was running for trustee.
Of course I don’t remember all these things I did and said at a very young age. They just told me about them. They all remembered so much about me as I was “It” for 6 years. He was trustee when the Union High School was built; their yearbook was dedicated to him, and his picture was in it. I doubt if that was the time I ran for trustee too. He ran one time and lost, I know. I don’t know where the book is. I hope Marie didn’t throw it out, which she was dumb enough to do. After she entered the picture we never found the family Bible either. Raymond went upstairs telling her – but not asking permission – and searched high and low for it.
Grandpa [James Walter Brown] loved having company. Grandma [Martha Elizabeth Blackwell] said that after church on Sundays she thought he would never stop saying: “come home with me for dinner.” And almost always some one came. She never knew how many to prepare for, so just in case she killed an extra old hen and baked extra pies & there was always a cake and always plenty of fruit and vegetables, fresh or canned. When they got home, she could peel extra potatoes & make an extra big batch of dumplings. Always had plenty of Jams and Jellies. I don’t know how such a busy person in such a small kitchen could get such wonderful meals.
Grandpa [James Walter Brown] was road contractor for awhile. Maybe your Dad [Tillus Brown] was too, at least for awhile he helped Grandpa. I haven’t the faintest idea where it was; not too far from Trafalgar. I think your Dad & Mom met about then, for the family snoop (guess who!!), heard your Dad [Tillus Brown] tell Aunt Ressa [Brown-Parkhust] (outside the kitchen door) that he was going to get married, but for her not to tell, as he wanted to keep it secret awhile. The secret was out right then, for I ran around the house to where all the family were all sitting under the trees and yelling “Uncle Tillus is going to get married”.
Your Dad [Tillus Brown] and Grandpa [James Walter Brown] stayed in a little partly-furnished farmhouse while the road was being built. Grandma [Martha Elizabeth Blackwell] would hitch old Fanny to the buggy and we would go over there and take them fried chicken, pie, etc.
There was a cedar tree in the front yard on the right of your picture. (One on the left side too but don’t know what kind) & Grandpa loved to sit there (maybe his chair is in that picture). On summer days he loved to sit there. I can see him yet, chair tilted against the tree and his old hat pulled down over his eyes. Siesta time!!
Aunt Martha [Vandivier-Brown] told me once that she and Aunt Della [Wilkes] had talked about Grandma [Martha Elizabeth Blackwell] one day, and they agreed they would have had to search far and wide to find a mother-in-law like her. Said she made no difference between her own children and the in-laws. Said: “she treats us just as she does Ressie & Rosie!”
Well, Grandpa [James Walter Brown] thought he had enough money for them to live in retirement comfortably, but as you know, it didn’t work out that way. For awhile it did— he was bailiff for awhile and bought a little building — I think it was on that street West of them, very near to the courthouse. I was old enough then, but not there as much, and as a teenager, without the interest I should have had. Then he had the unsuccessful eye (cataract) surgery which left him blind, and then the heart attack which left him an invalid, bedfast for 4 or 5 years; couldn’t feed himself and couldn’t turn in bed. Sometimes he slept in the day time but most all nite he was awake and wouldn’t let Grandma out of his sight. In the midst of that, Uncle Arthur [Brown] had a stroke and was bedfast awhile. And, money was nil, except for what the kids could give them.
And now for the tale which puts a lump in my throat and made, tears roll down Mary’s cheeks when I told her at Christmas (1982):
One day Grandma [Martha Elizabeth Blackwell] sent me to the grocer on the street that was West of them, and about a block or so South. A small store long gone. Everyone knew of their troubles. The grocer asked if I was Mrs. [Martha] Brown’s granddaughter, and then said he believed in giving his flowers to the living ,and wanted me to know something. It went something like this:
Everyone knows she is weighed down with more burdens than anyone should be asked to bear, yet she comes in here looking nice and always smiling, talking about the nice day for a walk, etc. Never one complaint about her problems, but always asked about my health and my family and left with her head high. I have always thought of her as the most gallant lady I have ever known, and I wanted to say it to someone in her family.
I never forgot that: A Gallant Lady.
And I am so proud of her. She and Grandpa were very close and I loved them both.
Additional information was given to William Wilkes Brown by Geraldine Parr-Clark in her letter of March 25, 1983, in response to his query concerning Bessie Brown-Tingle and Arthur George Brown, children of James Walter Brown and Martha Elizabeth Blackwell.
1. ARTHUR GEORGE BROWN (1883 – 1947)
Uncle Arthur was crippled in his late teens or maybe a little later. He was on a hay ride with a bunch of friends and when “clowning around” fell off the wagon and broke his leg. There was no hospital then, and the country Doctor didn’t set the leg properly.
If you look at the early family picture, you will see he was handsome. From the from things I overheard Mom and Aunt Ressie saying,he was engaged to a girl whose reputation didn’t please Grandma. Whether his becoming crippled or Grandma’s feelings caused the break-up I never heard them say but they did say it was too bad (they thought) that he hadn’t married and had a fuller, happier life.
He was very close to his parents and I think they tried extra hard to make him happy. He and Grandpa fished a lot in the Franklin area and Woody made it a trio.
4. BESSIE BROWN-TINGLE (1887 – 1913)
Aunt Bessie was married to Uncle Byron Tingle. She didn’t die in childbirth, but she was pregnant and having a hard pregnancy. She died very suddenly. Uncle Byron had gone to the kitchen to start on the days chores when she called (from the bedroom next to the kitchen) for him to bring her a drink, and he told her “in a minute.” When he did go, she was gone. Grandma resented that “minute,” which she thought must have been very long. My baby brother James Robert [Parr] is buried by her in Hopewell Cemetery.
Mom [Rosa Brown-Parr] and I were at Aunt Ressie’s when Grandma called with the shocking news. Even now I can remember the havoc it caused. Uncle Byron [Clark] was at his folks (they lived in a little house on his Dad’s farm), and Mom wanted him to get the news and get home before Aunt Ressa found out.
I still didn’t know what was going on, but Mom [Rosa Brown-Parr] got on the phone and, not knowing the elder Parkhurst’s ring, just kept ringing constantly and I guess every one on the line answered. By the time she got them on the line, Uncle Byron [Tingle] was in sight. He had heard Aunt Ressie [Brown-Parkhust] yelling for him. I can remember the grown-ups throwing things into suitcases, and the “toddler” Gerald [Parkhust] throwing them out as fast as they put them in. I remember nothing about going to Indianapolis or the funeral. There is no one left who remembers her, except that after she died Grandma and Grandpa had picture of her enlarged and it was always hung in the Living Room in Franklin. Later, Aunt Ressie [Brown-Parkhust] hung it in her upstairs and it was still there when Phil [??] took us up there to show what he hoped to do up there. Gerald [Parkhurst] asked if I knew who it was. I wish I could have brought it home, but knowing our intentions of living in a mobile home full-time, I had no place for it. I wish you had it, but you don’t remember her either.
Phil [??] does have a feeling for family so maybe he won’t “junk” it.
A couple of years or so ago, Dorothea [Doan-Parkhust] wrote that while clearing out the upstairs, they had found a dirty straw basket with a pair of baby shoes in it. I told her to hang on to it until I got there. I knew what it was. Grandma always kept it well protected in her chest of drawers, and after her death, Aunt Ressa took it to her upstairs and kept it just as it was. Marie [??] took everything out and threw the basket aside so it was really dirty. It was a cute heart shaped little basket and inside was a Christmas Card saying “To Bessie from Rosa.” It was no doubt given to her by Mom [Rosa Brown-Parr] on her last Christmas, and Grandma brought it home as a keepsake. In it was a pair of baby shoes which Aunt Bessie no doubt had worn. I wrote the kids about it, and immediately had a call from Shari that she wanted it, so she has it
I nave “snatches” of memories about the Tingles, of being cuddled by her and his kindness. He made me a darling doll bed one Christmas and she made a little mattress, quilts, etc. His father had been dead awhile and his mother had remarried a wealthy man – a widower with children – so Uncle Byron didn’t inherit anything. I wish I could remember the name (Woody’s Helen will know), it was something like Ellenburger! Uncle Byron [Clark] lived in a little house on a road back of them and we had to climb over a stile and walk through a wooded area to get to the big house. Helen told me that Mr. (whatever his name was) donated the land where the big house was to the city, and it is now Ellenbarger? Park. An acquaintance I see once in a while – who was married to a funeral director in the Irvington area in East Indianapolis (where Tingles lived) – told me the road, stile and little house are still there.
Also, I wanted to tell you, Aunt Bessie and Uncle Byron Tingle were married at our house on West Jefferson Street in Franklin. I have pictures of us on that porch, that is, Bessie, my mom & I. She seemed to be staying with us and Uncle Byron was “courting” her there. Have no idea where she met him nor where he lived. Maybe when his father was alive, they lived in Franklin? Just supposition!
I have a hazy memory of being awakened by a loud noise – the “chivaree” the night of the wedding. Dorothea [Doan-Parkhust] was shocked when I told her who Aunt Bessie’s husband was. The Doan’s knew him years later when they lived briefly near Carmel, IN, and he had a farm near them. She said he had a fat wife and several children. When I was about 13, I wrote a letter to a farm magazine. It had a page for letters. I have no idea what I said, but soon after, a letter came from Byron Tingle saying they had read the letter and wondered if I could be “their” Geraldine. I guess I answered, but I can’t remember more.
SIBLINGS OF JAMES WALTER BROWN (1860 – 1941)
SARAH FRANCES BROWN-BOLES (1853 – 1930)
(Sarah Frances was 7 years older than her brother James Walter)
Yes, I knew Aunt Frank [Sarah Frances Brown-Boles] and Uncle Joe [Joseph] Boles very well. In my earliest memory, they lived 2 or 3 miles from the home place, on a road parallel to that road the folks lived on. About a mile, “as the crow flies,” probably. They had a big farm and lived in a big white house set well back from the road. They later moved into town next door to their daughter Flora [Boles-Vandiver] (I was named for her). That was on West Jefferson Street, right across from the street where I lived until I was 3 or 4. I was in both of those homes for big family dinners. By the time I came along there were only the 3 of them left, Grandpa, Uncle Jess [Jesse Brown] and Aunt Frank [Sarah Frances Brown-Boles]. They were close and got together often.
I can’t remember when Uncle Jess [Jesse Brown] died [29 Oct 1919], but I can well remember when his wife, Martha McColgin-Brown died (1932). In their later years they lived in another house in Franklin, but I can’t tell you the location. I only know we walked past the library to get there. I expect that is where you visited our Grandparents, and they visited back and forth a lot. I remember one Sunday (in town) they were coming for dinner and Grandma said: “Looks like Frank and Joe had a fight!” They were just driving up. Uncle Joe [Joseph Boles] was at the wheel with his long white whiskers, and heavy set, very dignified, Aunt Frank [Sarah Frances Brown-Boles] with a big hat on, sat very straight in the middle of the back seat! They always rode that way.
Their son George was a favorite cousin of Mom’s and of all the kids I think, and a wonderful nephew to our Grandparents. He often walked across town in their later years and visited with them and did little chores for them. When Mom and I would be there, he and his wife (Florene Land) had us over for dinner. They named one of their daughters Mattie after Grandma. She (Grandma) was always called Mattie but I wished they had remembered it was Martha Elizabeth — I loved that name.
You know about Herman [Guilford Boles]- who doesn’t?
Aunt Frank’s older children, besides Flora and George, were Otto and Henry. I remember Otto (Ottie of course) and his wife, although they moved South to Louisiana when I was young [I believe she must be referring to James Oscar Boles]. Their little girl, Erlene [Boles], was a little older than I, and their son still older.
Aunt Frank’s other son was Henry [William Henry Boles]. One day, when they were all together at the Boles farm, with several of them standing on their big front porch, Henry took out a gun and killed himself! Mom [Rose Mae Brown-Parr] told me this. It was before my time. No one knew why he did it. Grandpa [James Walter Brown] was very upset — took every gun out of their house and hid them for awhile for fear one of his kids would do it too.
[RESEARCH NOTE: Boles farm was located in Union Township, Johnson, IN. Henry committed suicide on 22 Dec 1907. Cause of death: Gunshot to the heart. Contributory cause: Insanity.]
Henry had two sons, William Lester and Lewis Leason, and I am not sure which of the two the rest of the story involves, so I’ll just say “L”. When “L” reached the age Henry was when he killed himself, “L” did the same. I dimly remember this. Then much later, when I was in my late teens I expect, Aunt Ressa called [Rose Mae Brown-Parr] Mom to tell her that “L”‘s son had done the same thing, killed himself as his father and grandfather had done.
That is a strange happening in our family. I have lost track of that branch now.
[RESEARCH NOTE: Henry was 34 years old when he died. His son, Lewis Leason Boles, committed suicide by carbon dioxide poisoning in an enclosed car at the age of 50. As for the “3rd generation” – she could only be referring to Robert “Bobby” Zane Boles, but he died from “blunt force trauma” in a multiple car collision.]
JESSE BROWN (1850 – 1919)
(Jesse was 10 yrs older than James Walter Brown)
Yes, Uncle Jesse [Brown] was an older brother and he did marry Aunt “Marthy McColgin.” They lived in a smallish white house back of the folks across the “holler”. I ate there often too, but never spent the night as I did at Aunt Franks [Sarah Frances Brown-Boles] home.
NOTES: Providence was originally called Union Village, and under the latter name was platted in 1837. A post office was established at Providence in 1880, and remained in operation until it was discontinued in 1908.