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Note: In "Vital Records of Eastport Sentinal 1818-1900" edited by Kenneth
L. Willey pub. by Picton Press.
pg. 341 Vol 63 # 24 May 11,1881 -"In Eastport Maine,10 May 1881 by
S.R. Byram , WM. O. Brown to Clara A. Searles b/o Campobello".
The following information was received November 2001 from Roger Nason of New Brunswick:
"Back in the 1970's I personally participated in acquiring and cataloguing the records of the original Provincial Lunatic Asylum in Saint John; later called the Provincial Hospital and then in the 1970's it was known as Centracare.
My first clue to William's possible residency there was his untimely demise in 1888 when Clara P. Brown filed a petition for administration of his estate with the Charlotte County Probate Court dated 31 May 1889. This was done because he died without a will.
It stated that he died at the age of 28 in the City of Saint John on the 26th day of July 1888. At the time his estate did not include any real estate and personnel estate amounting to $83.00
He left her as a widow with three children, namely; Lowell-aged six years; Wheelock-aged five years; and, Nellie-aged eight years.
This information jives with events reported in the 1891 census which shows Clara living next door to her parents. By this time, of course, Lowell has removed to North Head. Thus, Lowell went to the Island between 31 May 1889 and the Spring of 1891.
The fact that I could not find his( William's) death record or burial location lead me back to Saint John. In the admission records for the Provincial Hospital ( RS140 ) William O. Brown was admitted on 17 April 1887. This was his first and only admission. He is listed as 28 years of age, fisherman, Baptist, and married. He was committed by the County Treasurer, meaning the warrant to cover his stay was paid by the County and not privately. (This seemed peculiar to me considering the status and possible wealth position of his grandfather James Burden Brown)
Apparently he had an attack described as a chronic mania with " tic trouble" or twitching of the head. This began when he was 27 in June of 1886. It disclosed that he died at the institution on the morning of 26 July 1888. So he apparently spent little more than a year there.
Incidentally, they gave only one physical description of him -his hair was dark brown and the record showed that his education level pointed out that he could read and write.
Prompted by these details, I was curious to know if he was buried in Saint John and if it might reveal his specific birth. No such luck yet, but I understand there is a location for burial of residents for whom their were no claim on the body; kind of like a Pottter's Field.
Returning to the records I noticed Case Books which were the admitting document that the doctor completed on the day of admission, Sunday, 17 April,1887. William O. was brought in by his Brother-in-law, Jno. M. Wilson and the local Constable, Henry Langmaid."
The summary said his address was at Campobello with Mrs. Alfred Brown (his mother). This, of course, would be his step-mother, Mary Brown. On the matter of his disease it cites that he was melancholy and suffered during the last 9-10 months and became violent in the last 3 weeks before admission.
The most startling section was in the doctor's comments which I try to quote:
" Mother died in this asylum. Case of (word indecipherable) mania, acute in character. Was( Fanny Elizabeth) admitted after birth of this son. Patient(William O.) had Thyphoid fever about 15 yrs ago. It was noticed by his neighbors that he seemed 7 acted strangely about 10 mos. ago.--3 wks became violent & boisterous. Has been at times in a state resembling Catelepsy. Has had domestic trouble. Wife is domineering & is Chief boss & P.(patient) is in poor physical health. Arms tied with ropes when admitted."
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ADDITIONAL NOTES ON WILLIAM O. BROWN
There has always been a mystery around why Lowell Brown Sr. who, at approximately the tender age of eight years old, was sent to live on Grand Manan with Stephen and Barbara(y) Thomas at Whale Cove.
To explain this event we must go back to Lowell?s great-grandfather, Col. James Burden Brown. The 1861 census shows that Magistrate James Brown and his wife Thankful (Wilson) Brown sharing their residence with their son Alfred, aged 30, and Alfred?s son, William, aged 2 years. This also included another son Jeremiah and two daughters, Victoria and Cornelia. In addition to these people, Col. James had a grandson, Martin Luther (age 4) and granddaughter, Clarasa (age 3), who apparently are the children of his son, Luther, who died unexpectedly at age 28 in 1856.
When Alfred and his wife Frances (Fanny) Elizabeth Bassett were married on 3 May 1857, it seems that at the time of marriage, they lived under the roof of James and Thankful. This is likely where William O. Brown was born in 1859, some time before April of that year*. On August 30th of the same year, Fanny was admitted to the Provincial Lunatic Asylum in Saint John. There she resided until her untimely death on 16 Nov 1859. It is clear from the Provincial Hospital records that Fanny Brown had their first child possibly in 1858 who died at birth or soon after. In any event, the records of the admitting doctor cite that she had two children; but only one living baby, who was obviously William O.
It seems likely that Alfred and William O. continued to live with Col. James until Alfred re-married in1862 to his new bride, Mary Starkie of Queens Co. (PANB, Marriage Bonds) and moved to his own residence on the Island. Apparently, William O. was not taken into his father?s new household because he still appears with James and Thankful in 1871; meanwhile, Alfred has added four new members to his family. It seems that Clara (Clarasa), now aged 13, is also living with Alfred.
According to data in the Searles genealogy, Clara Searles and William O. Brown were married in Eastport, Maine on 10 May, 1881. That same Spring, the 1881 Census for Campobello shows William as a bachelor living with Col. James and Thankful. It seems logical that the new bride and groom continued to live with William?s grandfather throughout most of the next decade. Subsequent events which I have already described saw William admitted to the Provincial Hospital in Saint John on 17 April 1887. There he died on 26 July 1888.
** Clara and her children Nellie, Lowell, and Wheelock continued to live with grandfather James until his death in January 1891.
In the probate of Col. James? will, the majority of his estate was left to his son, Bartholemew, including the house. It seems evident that Clara and the children moved out and took up residence next to William and Louisa Searles, her parents, as recorded in the 1891 census. At least between April, 1887, when William entered hospital, and, January, 1891, Clara may have continued to live in Col. James household.
The only event that may suggest that Clara and the children had moved out of that household before 1891 is the appearance of young Lowell in North Head, Grand Manan as recorded on the farm of Stephen and Barbara Thomas. I strongly believe that it became necessary for Clara to send Lowell there because she was in no position to care for all three children after moving out of the Col. James? house perhaps following William?s admission to hospital.
Barbara Thomas seems to provide a logical connection through the Gardiner family. Her parents, Joseph (1851-1920) and Barbara J. (1853- ), lived on Grand Manan and had Campobello ties through the Burden family which links up with Col. James Brown. Perhaps I am reading too much into a series of family connections but one other incident seems to dismiss the idea that Lowell?s sudden appearance at Whale Cove in the Thomas household is just a coincidence. In the census of 1891 for Grand Manan, one other lodger in the Thomas house was Grace Mitchell, a young girl of nine, born in New Brunswick and indicating that her parents were also born here.
Although I have searched available Mitchell family records on Campobello, I cannot find a connection even though I would wager that she also was from similar circumstances as Lowell. Unfortunately, Grace is of such an age she does not turn up in the 1881 census.
Roger Nason
May 2003
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April 2017
Found information indicating William Brown as living on Head Harbour Island in 1882.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-68X7-176?i=469&wc=M696-8TL%3A13842801%2C13841702%2C18879701&cc=1392378
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