Luther Myrick Brown

BROWN HOUSEHOLDER

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 4/19/2010 at 20:55:42

Woodbury County History 1984

Luther Myrick Brown
By Douglas G Brown

Luther Myrick Brown was born in Rome, New York, February 15, 1833. At the age of 21 he did considerable walking through the states of Minnesota and Iowa, looking for a suitable place to settle. He walked from Rock Island, Illinois, to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and up river to Sergeant Bluff, arriving on July 18, 1855. His reasons for walking were twofold: the cost of transportation was high, and places providing lodging often charged guest double rates if they arrived on stages. During the winter of 1857, he walked to the communities of Smithland, Sac City, and Jefferson, Iowa. On this trip he stayed with the family of his bride-to-be, Elizabeth Householder.

L M Brown purchased 240 acres of land, what was to become the Glen Ellen community, about three miles east of Sergeant Bluff, at the time of his arrival in that community.

On this farm the developed a sixty-cow dairy heard. To handle the milk from this herd and several hundred cows of neighbors, he established a cheese and butter factory. A family by the name of Parker was employed in the dairy operation. In 1883 the dairy business declined and Mr Brown began raising bees for honey production. More honey was produced that could be sold locally so some honey was shipped out of the community by rail. This was the start of a business which was to be continued by his descendants for two more generations. In effect, it was the beginning of what developed into the world’s largest processor of honey. The Sioux Honey Association, better known as Sioux Bee Honey. A son of L M Brown, Edward Gregory, was the president of this company for many years.

In the 1860’s, L M Brown purchased two pieces of property located on the Iowa side of the Missouri River. Both properties were used as a source of timber to be cut into lumber. Ransom Parmeter operated the sawmill for these properties. The property located to the east of Sergeant Bluff, was lost by the laws of accretion when a flood changed the river bed and left almost all of the land on the Nebraska side of the river. The property located in Liberty Township, east of where Salix came into being, was located on the north side of an east-west loop in the river. A flood in the spring of the year, following acquisition of that property, relocated the riverbank leaving the original loop as an oxbow lake, Brown’s Lake.

Luther Myrick Brown married Elizabeth Householder, August 8, 1861. She died April 15, 1862 as a result of complications in the birth of triplets born April 12, 1862. The only one of the triplets to survive was Lizzie Jane. Luther married Sarah Househoulder Hart, a widowed sister of his fir st wife, on April 21, 1863. She died July 23, 1869, without bearing any children. Luther M Brown then married Eunice D Southworth, September 7, 1876. She died December 22, 1895. The children born in this marriage were: Chauncey Lewis, April 26, 1879; Edward Gregory, September 13, 1883; Eunice Mabel, July 4, 1885; Alice Augusta, August 23, 1887; and Ruth Ida, November 14, 1890.

Lizzie Jane Brown married Henry Ernest Brown. They lived on the Brown’s Lake property. They had four children and have descendants in Woodbury County.

Chauncey Lewis Brown moved to Northfield, Minnesota, where he operated a successful foundry business. Chauncey had four children: Robert, Richard, Ruth, Ella, and Ned.

Edward Gregory Brown continued to live in Woodbury County and had three sons. Descendants of Edward Gregory live in Woodbury County.

Eunice Mabel became a teacher and of the few single female homesteaders in Wyoming. Eunice married Robert E Lund at Roswell, New Mexico, July 25, 1917. She bore three children: Eunice Margaret, born March 25, 1919; Robert E, born June 6, 1920; and Luther B, born July 30, 1925. Eunice is deceased. Robert lives in PIttsburg, Pennsylvania. Luther lives in Denver, Colorado.

Alice Augusta Brown became a nurse and lived most of her adult life in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She did not marry and left no descendants.

Ruth Ida Brown became a school teacher and spent most of her adult life in Ypsilanti, Michigan. She did not marry and left no descendants.