San
Joaquin County
Biographies
MRS. JENNIE H. BROWN
An inspiring example of what an
intelligent, experienced, courageous and aggressively progressive woman may do
when called upon to manage farm properties, is afforded by the very
enterprising rancher, Mrs. Jennie H. Brown, who cultivates some fifty-four
acres in the upper division of Roberts Island, about thirteen miles southwest
of Stockton. A native of New York City,
she was born in March, 1862, and is a daughter of Edward and Margaret (Bennett)
Hewson, who had come to America on their honeymoon from their native County
Tipperary, Ireland, in 1861. She
accompanied her parents to California in the spring of 1868, or when she was
about six years old. Eventually they had
five children, among whom she was the eldest.
For many years Mr. Hewson was a prosperous West Side rancher, having
early bought a fine tract of land about six miles northwest of Mohr’s Landing,
now known as Bethany; and did his share to help develop that part of the
country. He passed away in January,
1891, at the age of fifty, survived by his widow and five children, and widely
esteemed. These children were Jennie,
the subject of our story; Lydia, since deceased; William H., now residing at
Bethany; George E.; and Mary A., who is the wife of Walter Mowry of
Stockton. Mrs. Hewson continued to
manage the old hospitable home until she passed away in 1914 at the age of
seventy-four.
Jennie Hewson attended the district
school and grew to womanhood on the home ranch.
At San Francisco, on August 23, 1882, she was married to John C. Brown,
the ceremony performed by the Rev. Robert McKinsey, taking place in the Howard
Presbyterian Church. Mr. Brown was born
in Scotland in July, 1847, and was brought to Canada by his parents when he was
three years old. They settled at
Pittsburgh and there he was well educated, taking up engineering. In 1862 he came west and established himself
as a reclamation engineer in the Delta of San Joaquin County, associating himself
with Bixler & Williams; but on marrying he
abandoned his profession for farming.
In 1882, then, Mr. Brown commenced
to farm 500 acres on Union Island, and later on he bought land from the
Pescardero Grant on Roberts Island, continuing to cultivate the same until his
death in 1919. This later purchase was
the home place from 1891 until the present day.
However, Mr. Brown lived to see his dream realized, and to behold an
unhealthful swamp area of Delta lands transformed into one of the richest of
ranch properties in the world, a triumph of American foresight and hard, honest
labor reflecting the highest credit upon such brave pioneers as Mr. and Mrs.
Brown, who struggled together for years against storms and floods. Few men enjoyed a more honored position than
that of Mr. Brown in the community, where he so long lived and labored, and
where his word was regarded as even better than his bond. For thirty-eight years he was an honored
member of Sumner Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Tracy, and he was also a good Mason of
fifty years’ standing at the time of his demise.
Mrs. Brown shared not only the hard
work and the perplexing problems and heavy responsibilities of her husband, but
also his success and honors, and today her deepest joy is in the associations
afforded by her children, all of whom are a credit both to the family name and
the community in which they have grown up.
There were ten children: Lydia
married A. J. Thompson, a rancher living near Lathrop, and is the mother of two
children; Jennie has become Mrs. A. Maggini, and they
reside with their one daughter at Stockton; John A. is a rancher at Bethany; Ed
H. is a railway mail clerk; and William C. also follows ranching but lives at
home; Pearl is the wife of F. Tiana of Stockton; her
twin sister, Ruby, is deceased; George A. farms on the home ranch; and Hazel,
who graduated from the Stockton Business College, is with the Holt
Manufacturing Company.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1455-1456. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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