Cyrus S. Brown Family History
INTRODUCTION
As some of you know, I
have been working on family history for about 35 years. My goal is to share what information I find
with family members to show the human side of our ancestors and hopefully spark
an interest in others to join me in this work.
Dick Brown
Cyrus S. Brown
(9/23/1847---12/13/1913) married Elizabeth Fleming (1/31/1850---8/10/1908) on
January 18, 1877. They had seven
children including Mary, Fred, Warren, William, Ray, Charles and Cora. Only Fred, Warren and Ray have living
descendants.
This document was written
by Cora Elizabeth Brown who was , Cyrus
and Elizabeth's youngest daughter. She
chronicles the illness and subsequent death of her Mother Elizabeth between
1905 and 1908. She was 11 years old when
her mother first became ill and assumed the duties of running the family
household at age 14. It appears Cora
wrote this sometime after her Mother's death, but there is no definite date
recorded.
These writings were in
a 3 x
5 booklet found by family members in the original homestead, now called the Wilbur(son of Warren) House and
currently owned by Susan and Joe Korinchak.
Joyce Brown Baird acquired the document after Wilbur's death and passed
it on to me at the Brown Family Reunion in the summer of 2014. I have tried to follow the text faithfully
and added some punctuation and words in brackets for clarity.
LOVING THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT DEAR MAMA
by
Cora E. Brown
1905-1908
Mama (Elizabeth) took sick with the disease which
caused her death, in Sept. 1905, as she had not been feeling at all well for
several weeks, she decided to go out to Dr. Simpson.
So on Sept 2end, her and Papa (Cyrus) went to Mill
Creek and she went in to see the Doctor, and after an examination he told her what it
was and that an operation would be necessary to remove it.
So on Monday Mama and Papa started to Philadelphia to
the St. Joseph Hospital and on Wed. Sept. 6, 1905 Mama underwent an operation
by Dr. E. E. Montgomery,
and so Mamma soon began to get a little stronger and
seemed to get along fine and in three weeks she was well enough to come home.
The first word we received after the operation was
that Mama had stood the operation and was getting along as well as could be expected.
Mama seemed to be feeling right well when she came
home, and kept right well for a little while, but it was not long till Dear
Mama began to feel unwell again and seen signs of the return of the disease
again.
Along about this time Mamma lost her voice and often
could scarcely speak above a whisper. This was a great worry to her besides the
distress of the return of the disease. Mamma
kept about the same, some days she felt fairly well, and some days she felt
very bad, but was still able to do a great deal of the work and be around most
of the time but she was far from happy.
She knew that the disease was likely to come back and she
was not well enough to be happy, but she did not see anything very alarming
until the next August 1906 when she began to feel sure she was again afflicted
with the same disease, so she had Dr. Simpson come out on Aug. 30, 1906 and
after an examination he found that it was the return of the disease and she
would again have to go to the hospital, so on August 31, 1906 Mamma and Papa
started again to Phila.
It surely was
hard on her, being there before, she knew what she would have to come
thru. Mama was not in as good health as
the other time. So they operated on
Sept. 3, 1906 and Mama (was) very low all night, they did not expect her to
live through the night, but she got a little better toward morning and at last
was conscious. The first word we heard
was that Mama was very low and we was to prepare for the worst.
Then the next evening Papa phoned that Mamma was a
little better, then from that [time] on Papa still wrote every day that she was improving slowly, but
she was very weak for several days but
kept on getting a little stronger. Mama kept this way for about two weeks and
then she took worse again, and was very low for a few days, and then got better
again and then she got better day by day. She was very anxious to come home to
us, but it was two months before the doctors consented to leave her come
home. So on the last day of October Dear
Mama and Papa came home again and oh how happy Mamma was, the first thing she
said to me was "Cora Dear, I never want to leave you again".
And then Mama just seemed to be so well and happy and
enjoying herself so well all winter and we were all very happy together. I went to school that winter after Mama came
home, Mama was able to do most of the
work. That next Christmas Mamma was so well and she had Fred (Fred W. Brown,
Cora's oldest brother) and Margaret (Fred's wife) come up for dinner.
Mama kept real well all summer and the next
winter. I don't relate much that
happened between this time only that we were, oh, so happy for Mama was well. One time during the summer of 1907 Mama said
to me "Cora, I have never been so happy in my life as I am now". I
don't think Mama had much fear of the disease coming back that summer because
it did not seem to worry her, altho no doubt
but what Mama often thought about it. We
were now beginning to feel that Mama had been cured. And Mama was happy about something else at
this time. This was about Sept. 1907.
But alas, Mama was not to be well very long. On Jan. 7, 1908 the day Anna (daughter of Fred
W and Margaret Brown) was born, Mama was down (possibly to assist Margaret
after the birth) and seemed to be real well but about the 15th Mama began to
feel bad again, a pain in her hip seemed to be all that was the matter and she
thought it was neuralgia. But she had Dr. Simpson come out and he said it was
neuralgia and gave her medicine for it, but it did not seem to help her very
much.
From the time Mama came home from the hospital the
second time she seemed to be well all the time until Jan. 15th, 1908 when she
began to feel bad again. Then from January 15 she seemed to keep nearly the
same only gradually losing strength and the pain increasing until about the
first of March, she then wrote to Dr. Montgomery and he advised her to go to
Phila again so on the seventh of Mar 1908 Mama and Papa started to Philadelphia
for the third time. Mama stood the trip
right well but was in terrible pain most of the time. After an examination Dr. Montgomery found the
trouble. He did not tell her what it
was, but said that it was an inflammation of the bone, but he told Papa what it
was.
So on March...Mama and Papa came home again, for the
Dr. said it would be better just for Mama to come home. But when Mama came home I soon seen that she
had not been helped or encouraged any.
Papa had just written one card
as saying that they had gotten down safely, and the
doctor rather encouraged them but this was the first time the Dr. had seen Mama
and he said they should come again the next day, and this was when the sad news
was heard. Mama was far from happy at
this time.
I did not think at this time that Mama would only be
with us a few months, but Mama thought it, she was sad and her suffering was
awful. Mama still thought that surely something
could be done for her so she decided to try Dr. Getter, but he could not help
her either, no one had encouragement for her.
Mama was now very anxious to have Aunt Maggie
(Elizabeth's sister Margaret Fleming Ennis) come and great was her
disappointment when we would hear that Aunt Margaret could not come for a
while. Aunt M. had talked both other
times that she was at the hospital of coming in (Margaret lived In Iowa) but
gave it up both times. But this time she
said as soon as she heard the sad news, that she would make arrangements to
come as soon as possible. Aunt Margaret
came on July 10, at this time Mama was able to go to the porch to meet her, at
this time Mama was not suffering as much, as she had been a few weeks before.
Mama kept on little by little getting weaker and
thinner, but at this time Mama still seemed
to have hopes of getting well, perhaps, it was more to make me glad when
she spoke encouraging, but soon she began to give up all hope of getting well,
but this was not until about the first of August.
One day as I was sitting with her, she said "Dear
Cora I guess you see that I will have to leave you. I can only be with you a
few more days". Another time she
said to me "Cora dear you have been an angel to me. You have nothing to
regret".
Mamma's last days with us was a great sermon to all of
us, I haven't any idea that I could of
stood it only that I felt that Mama had reached a better land where there is
neither pain nor sorrow.
These now were the days that I don't think I could [have]
lived thru them only for the one who gives us all, he gave us strength.
From about the first of August until the tenth Mama
didn't seem to suffer much pain, but she was so sick and weak, nearly every day she would talk to
us and say comforting words to us.
One day, I was sitting by her bed-side crying, she
said to me "Jesus will take care of you as he takes care of me".
On the tenth Mama seemed very weak and she didn't say
very much to any of us. And in the
evening about eight o'clock as Papa was sitting by her, he noticed a change and
called us all in the room. And we saw
she was dying. It was about a half hour
from the time we noticed the change until she died. Her dear face lighted up with brightness as
her spirit reached the fairer region.
Those who were with her when she died besides us
children and Papa were Aunt Harriet (Uncle Will's wife) who had been here a
week, Uncle Will (Cyrus's younger brother) came the day she died, and Aunt
Margaret, Mrs. Knode, Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Himes was here a little while before
she died. This was Aug 10, 1908.
The funeral took place the next day and a great many
friends were here. The next day Aug 12,
1908, Charley (Cora's brother) took Aunt M. and I to the White Hall Cemetery where
Mama's father and mother and brother is buried.
The next day Aunt M. started again for Iowa. I went with her to Huntingdon. Then the next
Saturday I went with Margaret McCord home so then I spent ten days in
Grantville, Lewistown and Burnham.
Then I came home on Wednesday the 26th and took up the
heavy burden of taking care of the home.
It was very, very hard on me, many was the day I had to spend alone
working hard and crying. Oh how I do miss her.
No one knows, only Jesus.
I will always remember that sweet face which was so
dear, so very dear to me, she was so kind and her thought was of us who were so
dear to her, she knew we would be sad and lonely.
Our Father gave us strength to come thru it and to
bear it, and oh how beautiful that our Father will let us meet again to part no
more in that beautiful land where there is no pain or sorrow.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THE BOOKLET
A piece that was in the paper about Mamma---
As the autaumn
leaf that fadeth
when the winter drawth
nigh
so she fadeth from among us
when the tempest still was high.
Hide me oh my saviour
hide me until the storm of life is past
sang in faith thru life's long journey
so her soul sang to the last
Grief and care had crossed her pathway
but she trusted still in god
and nearer draws to Jesus
as she passed beneath the rod
How she loved the blessed saviour
loved the preached words to hear
and she sang his praises
when her voice was strong and clear
She hath left a shining pathway
life well spent in doing good
all will truly say of lizzie
she hath done the best she could
All her trust was stayed on Jesus
All her care on him she cast,
peacefully her life was ended
God received her soul at last
AN ENTRY ABOUT CYRUS---
Papa took sick in the winter of 1912.
A cold seemed to be the.........
(Cyrus died on December 13, 1913 of tuberculosis)
LATER ENTRIES---
No one knows how discouraging my young life is only
one.
The times Papa and Mamma were at the hospital, Grace
Taylor staid with me for company.
The Christian life is of divine origin.
To believe is to receive Christ.
Contrition
Confession
Conversion
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