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Note: e homestead. He had a pony which he trained to "stop short" and dump its rider on the ground [per. Viola Brown Suydam]. The story is also told that his grandfather, Jonathan Vail Tuttle, took him up what is now Tuttle Avenue with a horse team while Jonathan worked his farm. Bart wandered to a comfortable spot in the field and fell asleep. When the horses approached the spot where he lay sleeping they stoped. His grandfather, not seeing Bart, tried to get the horses to resume but they did not. When Jonathan investigated, and saw his grandchild asleep in front of the horses, he became so upset because of what might have happened and could not work the rest of the day.
Stories are also told of Bart using a hog's bladder for a ball, and of scaring the girls with baby field mice that he kept in his pocket. He was able to produce a sharp, piercing whistle with his two thumbs, and frequently whistled familiar tunes. He sustained an eye injury while playing high school basketball, which left him nearly blind in one eye.
Bart and Jo were married December 22, 1929 at her parent's house in Springwater, NY. Almost immediately after their marriage they moved to East Quogue, NY where Bart worked on a duck ranch. They lived on West Side Avenue in a small house owned by the ranch, and paid a monthly rent of $25. [1930 Federal Census]. A few years later he worked in Eastport as a Tydol gasoline station attendant located by the old Wells Tuttle homestead where he was born. He later bought the gas station and added two service bays to it.
Some time between 1932 and July 1934 he acquired from his father the old Wells Tuttle house, built about 1775. The gas station was situated directly to the west of the house, and the house was very close to the street. A new foundation was constructed for the house on the north side of Montauk Highway and it was moved about 40 feet to the north. A westward extension on the house was removed and reattached to the north side of the main structure, to serve as a bedroom. This modification to the house made space for the expansion of the gas station.
When World War II arrived it became difficult to obtain gasoline to sell, so Bart attempted to join the navy but was rejected because of the high school sports injury to his eye. He then took a defense job with Handy and Harmon, Bridgeport, CT. Several Eastport residents also worked there and came home on weekends.
In 1942 the family spent the summer at Craig Court, Fairfield, CT. In late August his sons Dick and Bob took the night train to Dansville, NY. Jo's parents had a farm in Springwater, Livingston County, NY. A few weeks later Josephine and toddler Jonathan joined Dick and Bob. They remained until early the following year.
In the 1944-45 time frame Bart established residence in Hawthorn, NV, working for a contracting firm known as "Babbit." From this, but more probably from the maker of the kitchen cleanser "Babbo" (B. T. Babbett, Inc.), he acquired the nickname "B. T. Babbit." He returned to Eastport with final divorce papers a few months after his mother died. This was the original purpose of the Nevada trip.
Shortly thereafter Bart remarried, moved to 2255 N.W. 96th Street, Miami, FL and started a new family. He worked for Harris Construction Company as a heavy construction carpenter.
When he moved back north, to Eastport, he acquired his parent's house next to the Eastport Gospel Church, Eastport, NY, and had the house moved from its original location on Montauk Highway to its present location on Tuttle Avenue. After sprucing up the house his family moved in. After he and his wife passed away Bart's house was sold to his nephew, Roland Brown, son of Thomas L. Brown.
He was a very fast driver and there are numerous "BT" stories involving that fact. One is when he and Jo were going to go out on a boat with some friends. When the car got within sight of the bay BT put on an extra burst of speed, then at the last moment applied the brakes. Everyone thought for sure he would wind up in the bay. He was still a 'cowboy' driver in Miami, where he lived with his new family, but his driving style eventually tamed down to a more normal pace. Several years after his wife's death BT developed colon cancer and had surgery at Mather Memorial Hospital, Port Jefferson, NY. He died of pulmonary thrombosis soon after the surgery.
The Index to Moriches Bay Tide Obits (65) p. 10 says Bart died 24 Nov 1976, but that was the date of his funeral.
Note: He was originally named "Bartlett Vail Brown" but when his brother Leslie Tuttle Brown died Bartlett's middle name became "Tuttle." Bart grew up in his father's house which was situated between the Methodist Church and the old (1775) Wells Tuttl
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