The Brown Family in the War  of Northern Aggression

This is the story of how the War Between the States affected the east Texas area, particularly one farm family, the Browns.

  My ancestors came over from England in the 1600s.  One was a courier in the Revolutionary War and proudly claimed that General Washington once commended him for being his fastest connection with forces in Carolina.  Two other ancestors served in the Revolution: one a clergyman in Lighthorse Harry Lee’s troop; another built the first Methodist Church in Virginia.

  My grandfather, John Garland Brown, a sixth generation American, was born in 1810 in Albemarle County, Virginia. Albemarle County is in central Virginia, which my grandfather attended, are located.  Family legend has it that he roomed with Edgar Allen Poe.

He married Francine Brown Rodes, also of Albemarle County, in 1832 and in 1845 left Virginia with their five children, his parents, brothers and sisters and settled in Marshall County, Mississippi.

  Early in 1850 he came to Texas to visit his cousin, Taylor Brown, in Henderson and selected a large farm that was for sale.  On March 27, 1850 he contracted to purchase a farm in the Thorne Survey in northeastern Rusk County from Mr. Frost Thorn of Nacogdoches.

After the Mississippi crops were gathered in the fall of 1850, he and Fannie moved their seven children and 15 Negroes to Thorn Hill located just northeast of the present Gregg County Airport.  He paid $475 in 1851, ’52, and ’53 and the deed was recorded on January 13, 1854.

  Now for a brief geography lesson.  There was no Gregg County.  It was created out of Rusk County when the railroads came.  There was a Tyler, a Henderson, a Gilmer, and a Jefferson, where the railroad stopped. Marshall had a population of about 1400. There was a post office located about where the Pine Tree High School is now.  There was also a post office located in what is now Lakeport, named Cotton Plant.  On what is now the southeastern corner of the Gregg County airport, there was a community named Center, called Elderville today.  There were no bridges, but a ferry on the Sabine River, which was located at Fredonia and another one at Cotton Plant.  There was stagecoach service through the area.

  The newer towns and cities, such as Longview, Kilgore, Gladewater, etc., came into being when the railroads came, and the communities that were bypassed, for the most part, disappeared.

  The Brown home was just northeast of what is now the airport. So much for geography; now for the history.

  John Garland Brown was been pretty well off.  The 1860 federal census records his property as 1,000 acres valued at $8,000, 19 Negroes valued at $10,800, ten horses at $1,000, 40 cows at $240, plus a wagon, buggy and team of oxen. This total, $20,643, was up from $7,350 in 1852.

  His wife Fannie kept a diary - actually a farm wife’s journal.  These diaries were preserved and a distant relative copied, bound and distributed them to various family members.  It is from this diary that I compiled this information.

The first diary is for the year 1861.  The second begins on January 1, 1863 and continues until her death in August 1864.  I regret there is no record of the year 1862.

Being a farm journal each day’s high and low temperature and weather conditions were recorded as well as the day’s activities of the various family members.  I found it interesting that when mentioning slaves she called them by their names.  When referring to them collectively she called them as Negroes.  Nowhere in the diaries does the word ‘slave’ appear.  The farm produced wheat, oats, corn, cotton, some cows and wild hogs.  Garland owned a gristmill on the Sabine River.

Recorded were the comings and goings of friends and neighbors with many staying for supper, and often overnight.  Every Sunday the family went by wagon to hear preaching somewhere.  Strangely, there is no mention of either Christmas or Easter, although they were obviously a very devout Christian family.

There are three entries that had nothing to do with the war, but I want to share.  On Friday March 22, 1861 she wrote that the men caught a buffalo in the evening.  On Monday April 18, in ’64 she wrote that spring had come and she “took off her drawers yesterday.” Another time she wrote that Doris ran away and the men were searching for her.  I was terrified to think that this poor black slave girl had run off, but to where? Where could she possible go to escape?  Two days later it was noted that the men found Doris in the Sabine bottom with a broken leg and they had to put her down.  It was a relief to learn that Doris was a horse.

My grandfather was called Garland.  Their eldest son, born in 1836, was John William, and in typical motherly fashion that’s what she called him, but the family in later years called him Uncle Billy. 

This is not a historical journal, but there are entries throughout that mention some news event, and from these I learned the war’s effect on this east Texas farm family.

The first was on Monday, February 18, in ’61 when she wrote of the first Confederate Congress at Richmond, then on Saturday the 23^rd Garland and John William went to the secession election at Center.

On Sunday, April 28, she wrote that Garland went to Danville, but bad war news brought him back.  She writes that on Monday April 29 that she “laid down and read the war news”.

On Saturday May 18, at the Roberson farm, Garland was elected Captain and John William, Orderly Sergeant.

The first muster of volunteers was held at Center on Sunday May 19.  Drilling began on Saturday, June 1, at Union Church.  The men enlisted from Center (now Elderville), Cotton Plant, New Danville, Millville, Peatown, and Pine Tree.  The various communities did a superb job of providing for the basic needs of these volunteers.  They were provided warm uniforms, blankets and homespun canvas tents.

There is no information contained on what the drilling of these troops entailed, but for the most part at first they were limited to weekends as all these men had to work their farms during the week until the crops wee laid by.

There are continued references to the musters and drilling at various locations, including Center, New Danville, Peatown, and at Brown’s Bluff near the river on the Brown farm near Cotton Plant.  She wrote that families often attended the drills to watch and on at least two occasions bar-be-ques and picnics were held for the men.  Later in the summer they drilled for several days at a time at the Civil War Camp at Sulphur Springs in Wood County.

There are references of volunteers from other areas passing through and in some cases spending the night.

Jeff Davis designated Thursday, June 13, as a day of fasting and prayer.

She notes that the first battle of Bull Run occurred on Thursday, June 18, and on Sunday the 19^th, a great victory at Manassas.

Wednesday, July 17, Garland and John William were at Center all day electing officers.  On July 19, Garland started off with his company of volunteers from the ferry at Fredonia at 3 o’clock.  Saturday, August 3, Garland got home from the camp in Wood County, and on the 5^th Garland was at the election at Center for governor.

She notes on August 10, Garland drilled 28 men and “we went to the church to see them.”  She also noted on that date General Ben McCulloch’s victory at Springfield, Green County, Missouri.

My grandfather at 51 was too old to go to war so stepped down as captain.  An election was held and John William was chosen to replace him as captain of the company named the Sabine Grays.

A warehouse was located in Jefferson where they obtained the material each family needed to make their soldier’s uniform.  She wrote that John William  got seven  yards of War Confederate gray for a coat and pants, which was a plenty.  She also made him a flag.

On Wednesday, September 25, she writes that the Kanawha River rose 50 perpendicular feet at Charleston, ten feet higher than the first time it overflowed its banks…great damage to property, 60 houses swept off, Yankee loss great, and in parenthesis she noted that “the finger of the Lord is seen in this.”

The Sabine Grays left their homes at 12 o’clock on Sunday, September 29, 1861 and mustered into service in Marshall on Monday, October 7, after electing officers.  They became Co. I, 7^th Texas Infantry, known as Gregg’s 7^th Texas Regiment.

She records on October 10, that she gave two comforts, four blankets and gave John William a mattress and pillow, 13 pair of socks and six pair of drawers.

Garland went to Camp Davis on the 16, near Marshall where he told John William goodbye.  The next day, Thursday, October 17, the company embarked for Monroe and was seen at Vicksburg a week later.  On November 28, she wrote to John William at Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

On Saturday November 2, Garland was at Center where he had a meeting to clear the deserters, whatever that means, and on the 6^th at Center for the president’s election.

This concludes the 1861 diary.  There was none for 1862.

The next diary begins on January 1, 1863

On Monday, January 5^th she writes that John William returned from Jefferson.  On the 6^th she cut out an overcoat for him from 8 ½ yards of material.  On the 9^th she dyed three blankets and pillowslips for him and on Wednesday the 14^th John William had a pair of new saddlebags from his old ones.

Evidently John William returned to duty then because she begins noting letters to and from him in February.

She writes on Saturday March 14, that a fight began at Port Hudson, then on April 14, Garland was getting meat for the company at Port Hudson.

On May 26, she says she heard the Gregg Regiment was cut to pieces, and on the 31^st, that John William was wounded.  She got a Henderson paper that said he was slightly wounded.  In mid-June she learned he was wounded in the head and breast.  She received a letter from him on June 20. 

The next war entry is on July 18, when she writes that the Republican newspaper says Vicksburg fell on July 4.  There is no mention of the Battle of Gettysburg, which occurred the same day.

On Monday August 4, Garland was a judge at the election for Congress and Governor.

Saturday, September 19, the great battle between Brag and Rosecrans commenced on Peavine Creek.

On November 18, she received a letter and photograph from John William.  Regretfully, we do not have that photograph.  On the 30^th, a Mr. McFarland spent the night and said he saw John William in Montgomery, Alabama.

The next entries of interest were made in 1864 as on January 7.  John William got home from Chickamauga.  There are several subsequent entries of men coming to visit him.  He stayed home until March 28, when he started to Shreveport.

On the first three days in April passing soldiers were fed, three on Friday, two on Saturday who stayed the night, and seven on Sunday.

On Wednesday April 6, John William returned from Jefferson with a badly wounded foot. She had noted on February 23, that “men had to go up to 55”.

On Monday April 11, Garland organizing a company to go. On February 16, she writes that Garland was after deserters, that 16 men ate breakfast there and that they caught a man, Hicks, and two Negro men. On April 16, Col. Sutton’s Company arrived.

She writes that on Monday, April 25, Garland, John William and a neighbor, Tom Cock, started for Marshall where John William then left with others for the Army in Mississippi.  Then on May 13, Tom Cock returned from the Mississippi River.  She and Garland went to see him the next day to hear from John William.

On Friday May27, the ladies gave a party at Mr. Buffums for the soldiers.  They danced ‘til 3:00.  She doesn’t say what soldiers.

On Friday, July 8,  the ‘hands’ shelled corn for the government. 

On Monday August 1,  Garland was at the election held at the ‘P’ church.  She probably couldn’t spell Presbyterian.  On the 11, Garland and others took a Yankee prisoner named Rigby to Tyler.

The last entry in the dairy was August 25.  She earlier had made several references of her illness and she died September 6, 1864.

Northwest of Marshall about where East Texas Baptist College is now located, the confederates built a powder mill.  In the back of the dairy Fannie wrote:

“…of powder was anywhere manufactured in the Confederacy.  War and privation had awakened Southern ingenuity and enterprise.  The result is that at the cost of about $20,000, one of the most perfect gunpowder mills in the world has been produced which turns out five thousand pounds per day.  There is another government powder mill at Columbia in South Carolina.  In hundreds of matters of necissity (sp), which has thought by the North certain to crush the South, has been developed an energy for which the world, and especially England was very little prepared…”

Also in the back of the 1863-64 diary is an entry, August 7: “I paid Woodie a $100 for Mr. Ward’s pistol for John William. I gave Mr. Ward 2 ¾ of home spun for pants, eight lbs. of nails, eight cakes of soap to Woods, two and ½ of wool rolls to Woods.”

John William Brown

John William Brown died July 9, 1905 at age 69 leaving a widow and five children. He returned from the war a colonel. He must have been the highest-ranking veteran from the area based on his obituary published in the Longview Times-Clarion July 19, 1905.

“He entered the Confederate service in 1861 as Captain of his company which belonged to Gregg’s 7^th Texas infantry. He was captured at the battle of Donaldson and was a prisoner nine months, most of which time asked to surrender his sword to a Union General he broke the weapon in twain, throwing the pieces at the feet of the officer.

“Col. Brown served two terms as Tax Assessor for Gregg County and proved a faithful and efficient officer. At the time of his death he was Commander of Camp John B. Gregg, Confederate Veterans, and also of Camp J. Wm. Brown, Sons of Veterans.

“Although small in stature, he was endowed with the energy and persistency of a giant, coupled with a high sense of honor, and was known in adjoining counties and as a kind and chivalrie gentleman.”

The Rest Of The (Brown) Story

On January 27, 1863 Garland sold the farm to Joseph Cock for $8,250 in Confederate bonds issued by Rusk County.

Mr. Cock had been the Brown’s neighbor in Mississippi and barely escaped the Yankees with his son’s widow, also named Fannie, her two sons, his livestock, and negroes.

Garland moved his family and negroes to the widow Becton’s farm seven and ½ miles west of the Danville community. For the duration of the war he hauled salt to Rusk, Upshur and Harrison Counties from Steen’s Saline, now Grand Saline, north of Tyler, often hauling lumber on the return trip.

When the war ended in 1865, the slaves worked until the crops were gathered, then were set free. Garland was 55 years old; he owned no land, no slaves. His Confederate bonds were worthless. He was a widower and still had four children at home.

He stained his gray beard with walnut juice and began courting the widow, Fannie Cook. Her youngest son Ed said he and his brother thought the old man Brown was there to visit grandpa. Uncle Ed, as we called him, died in Kilgore in 1952.

Fannie Hudson Cock, my grandmother, owned a 300-acre farm at Ederville. She and Garland married December 20, 1866; she was 36 and he was 56. They had three sons, the second of which was my father, Frank Beverly Brown, born in 1870.

John Garland Brown died in April 1891 at the age of 81. Fannie died December 1908.

Their second son Frank and his first wife Della Morrow had six surviving children, three boys and three girls. She died in childbirth in 1912 and was buried with her stillborn child in her arms.

The family home was two blocks west of the Gregg County courthouse in Longview at the spot where until recently a Wyatt’s Cafeteria stood. When the three girls had grown and married, Frank married a neighbor, Clyde Aten. She was employed in the County clerk’s office, which had no typewriters. My mother wrote the most beautiful cursive handwriting until she died in Henderson in 1987 at age 100 years, six months.

Frank died in 1927 at the age 55 in a Shreveport hospital and was buried in Longview on their daughter’s 4^th birthday. Clyde said that when they came to take his body there was a dime and two nickels on his hospital bed stand, all the money he had in the world.

Two weeks later, August 30, 1927 I was born.

A word about two of Garland’s and Francine’s children. Their fourth child Mollie had eight children. The fifth was John Garland Pegues, founder of Pegues Motor Company in Longview.

Their eighth child, Robert Jr., and John Calhoun came to Carthage in the 1930’s and built a sawmill on Cotton Street south of the cup factory. Following W.W.II they opened Brown Hardwood store on South Shelby across form the Methodist Church. They later sold the store to John Pace, who later sold it to John Cain who operates it today as Cain Building Supply.

Robert Brown and his family lived in the two-story house on West Panola now occupied by Bob Parker Insurance. He served for a number of years on the Carthage School Board and was prominent in the First Methodist church. Mr. Robert, as he was affectionately called, was a member of the Rotary club.

John C. Brown and his family lived in the two-story house recently restored at the corner of West Sabine and Maple streets. John C. served on the Chamber of Commerce. He was deacon in Central Baptist Church where Brown Chapel is named for he and his wife, Brownie.

The youngest brother, Sam Beverly Brown, came to Carthage to work for his brothers after serving as Chief Petty Officer in the Navy Seabees in W.W.II. He also served on the city commission and as president of the chamber of commerce. He married Sammie Matthews of Carthage and was a strong supporter of her efforts in the Carthage Service League Library, which appropriately bears her name. 

Hats Off! to Bev. E. Brown for providing this story. 

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03/21/05