Marin-Sierra County CA Archives Biographies.....Brown, William 1825 - 1876
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 6, 2007, 3:52 am

Author: Alley, Bowen & Co. Publishers (1880)

  William Brown, (deceased). The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears
in this work, was born in Zanesville, Ohio, on November 4, 1825. He moved to and
resided in Missouri about five years, where he married Sarah Brown, who is a
native of Davis county in that State. In 1853 they crossed the plains to
California, and settled at Pine Grove, Sierra county. After a residence at this
place of two years, or in 1855, they moved to San Antonio township, Marin
county, and settled on the farm Mr. Brown's widow now occupies, there being
thirteen hundred acres in the ranch. That Mr. Brown was an excellent citizen,
kind and considerate to friends and family, there is no doubt. We are informed
by those who knew him best that he was always to be found on the right side of
momentous questions implicating the rights of citizens, on the advancement of
any laudable project that tended to better the community in which he lived. We
close the sketch of this pioneer who had battled with hardships incident to a
new country for nearly a quarter of a century, by relating how he was brutally
murdered on the night of October 21, 1876. He had been to Petaluma, in Sonoma
county, that day, and was returning to his home in the evening, when he met Juan
Salazar, a Spaniard, at Spanish town. Here he remained for a short time, and
then proceeded on his way. Just as he crossed the bridge which is about
three-fourths of a mile from his home, he was overtaken by Salazar and an Indian
named Egary, one of whom caught Mr. Brown around the neck with a lasso, dragged
him from his buggy, and robbed him of his money and watch. Not content with
securing the booty, the fiend, Salazar took his dirk-knife and stabbed his
defenseless victim four times in and near the heart. The following are the names
 of their children: Richard, Emma, George F., Jessie Ellen, Robert H., and Edgar
A. Poe. George F. Ward, who married the widow of William Brown on September 12,
1878, was born in Marietta, Washington county, Ohio, on November 11, 1855. He
resided in his native county till twenty-one years old, then moved to Mexico,
Missouri, and engaged in school teaching till he came to this State, and settled
in Petaluma, Sonoma county, in 1877. Since his marriage, he has been conducting
the affairs on the farm left by Mr. Brown. In June, 1878, they commenced the
erection of a fine residence completing it the same year. The building is of
wood, thirty-eight by forty-four feet, two stories high above the basement of
stone, and constructed in the most substantial and attractive manner. There is a
main entrance opening out to the north. On the first floor, and to the left of
the hall, is the drawing-room. Opposite this room, and on the other side of the
hall, is the parlor. A handsome set of furniture and a beautiful carpet is a
portion of the adornments, while a handsome moulding made of plaster of Paris,
and representing a wreath of flowers, encircles the ceiling, and is as white as
the driven snow. To the left of the hall, and at the rear of the building, is
the dining-room and kitchen. The upper story is divided into sleeping
apartments. By a system of pipes attached to a large tank situated at the rear
of the building, water is conveyed to the first and second floors as required.
There are five bay, tri-set windows, one on the west, two on the north and two
on the east. The house is lighted with gas, and supplied with soft water brought
through pipes from a spring on the mountains a mile away, and is as pure as the
dews of the morning. From the observatory a marvelous scene is presented. The
mountains to the south and those on the north completely hemming in Chileno
valley, the valley itself dotted with fields, farm houses and grass lands, and
through which Walker's creek creeps lazily along on its way to Tomales bay, make
up a panorama in nature combining at once the grand, the sublime and the
beautiful. When the finishing touches shall have been applied to the building
and its immediate surroundings, it will embody the elements of beauty, taste and
refinement.

Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA;
INCLUDING ITS
Geography, Geology, Topography and Climatography;
TOGETHER WITH
A Full and Particular Record of the Mexican Grants; Its Early History and
Settlement, Compiled from the most Authentic Sources; Names of Original Spanish
and American Pioneers;

A Full Record of its Organization; A Complete Political History, including a
Tabular Statement of Office-holders since the Formation of the County;

Separate Histories of Bolinas, Nicasio, Novato, Point Reyes, San Antonio, San
Rafael, Saucelito, and Tomales Townships;

Incidents of Pioneer Life, and Biographical Sketches of its Early and Prominent
Settlers and Representative Men;
ALSO
An Historical Sketch of the State of California,
In which is embodied the Raising of the Bear Flag

ILLUSTRATED.
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
ALLEY, BOWEN & CO., PUBLISHERS.
1880.


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