Brown Family Reunion – 1943 – In the News.

81 Years Ago
By Don Taylor

Grandpa Brown was mentioned in the news as being present at a family reunion in Brainard in late August 1943.

I ran across a clipping regarding a family reunion at the Arthur W. Brown residence.

Family Reunion
  Held at Arthur
    Brown Residence

The Arthur W. Brown home in Northeast Brainerd was the scene of a family reunion held last week. An all-day outing was enjoyed by the guests with a dinner being served to 15 late in the afternoon.

Present for the occasion were Messrs and Mmes. Arthur Brown, Clyde L Brown of Berkeley, Calif., Earl Briggs of Richmond, Calif., Charles Brown of Minneapolis, Les Whiteis of Owatonna, Mmes. Roy Larson and Frank Bingham of Brainerd and Mrs. Mary Brown of Motley, Ed Brown of Brainerd and Clifford Brown of Motley.

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Person Mentioned	Comments
Arthur Brown	(Presumably Arthur W. Brown, but could it be my Arthur E Brown?
Clyde L Brown of Berkeley, Calif.	Great-uncle Clyde Leroy Brown? His 1943 location is unknown.
Earl Briggs of Richmond, Calif	Husband of my great-aunt Nettie Mae Viola Brown? His 1943 location is unknown.
Charles Brown of Minneapolis	Great-uncle Charles William Brown?
Les Whiteis of Owatonna	Husband of 1st cousin 1x removed, Marie Florence Brown? He lived in Owatonna during the 1940 Census.
Roy Larson (of Brainerd)	Husband of great-aunt Delores Sarah Brown? Roy lived in Brainerd during the 1940 Census.
Frank Bingham of Brainerd	Husband of great-aunt Victoria Cecelia Brown? Frank & Victoria lived in Brainerd in the 1940 Census.
Mary Brown of Motley	Great-grandmother Mary Elizabeth (Manning) Brown? Great Grandma Brown lived in Motley during the 1950 Census.
Ed Brown of Brainerd	Great-uncle Ed Brown? He lived in Oak Lawn (a township just east of Brainerd) in 1940.
Clifford Brown of Motley	Could be my Grandpa Dick (born Clifford) Brown. Dick lived in Chicago in 1940 and Brainerd in 1946. He appears in the 1950 Census as Richard Durand, living with his mother.

My Arthur Eugene Brown lived in Brainerd in 1935, but I don’t recognize an Arthur W. Brown in my genealogical records. Who is he; why is he hosting a family reunion for my Brown relatives? Could he be my great-uncle, Arthur Eugene Brown, misspelled in the paper? Is he related in a way I don’t know about, or is he totally unrelated? I thought I should look at this a bit more closely.

A quick Ancestry search of WW2 records for Arthur Brown found five records regarding three people.

• Arthur Brown was born July 29, 1881, in Brainerd but lived in Duluth in 1942. His next of kin was Mrs. Isabelle Brown, Rt. 1, Warroad, MN.
• Arthur Eugene Brown – Born April 2, 1912 in N. Dak. Mrs. Mary Brown of Motley will know his address. (The relationship of that person is blank.) It appears that he enlisted on March 7, 1944; however, this record indicates he was born in 1909.[i]
• Arthur William Brown was born on November 23, 1907, in Minneapolis. His father is S. F. Brown, 318 Fifth Ave. N.E., Brainerd. He enlisted in February of 1941.

Knowing Arthur William Brown’s date of birth, a quick look at Ancestry Trees found him in 42 trees. My review of several trees found no relationship between Arthur William Brown and any of my Brown Ancestors.

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1940 Census

(My) Arthur Brown, husband of Gladys Brown and father of James Brown, lived in Baxter during the 1940 Census. Baxter is just west of Brainerd.

Arthur Brown, Samuel F Brown’s son, and Dorothy Brown’s husband, lived at 318 D Street during the 1940 Census. – Google Maps indicate this is 318 D St. NE.

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1950 Census

Arthur (E.), his wife, Gladys, and his five sons live at 1223 14^th St. N., Brainerd.

Arthur (W.), his wife Dorothy Brown, and four children live west of Baxter in Sylvan, Cass County.

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I conclude that there was no typo in the article; there was an Arthur W. Brown living in Brainerd in 1943. Look as I might, I could not find a direct relationship of him to my Brown ancestors. So, I’ve added him and his parents to my tree as unrelated.

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Endnotes:

[i] I have several records that indicated Arthur was born in 1909 and several other records that indicate Arthur was born in 1912. I should review these records in a future analysis.