Clara Brown – Angle of the Rockies
By
John C Abercrombie
Today is day day 7 of 31 and speaks to Clara Brown a pioneer of Colorado. An outstanding citizen of Colorado who had the Mayor of Denver and the Governor of Colorado attend her funeral. So honored that there is a stained glass memorial to her in the Supreme Court of Colorado.
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The story of Clara Brown is the very definition of a Christian life in action and deed. Clara Brown is the essence of the American Spirit, yet her story is largely unknown. During her lifetime she was so well-known and respected, she earned the name “Angel of the Rockies”. Like so many stories that are sometimes reserved for Black History, this is a true American History Story.
Clara Brown – An Inspiration
The story of Clara Brown is a model and should be a source of inspiration not only for Blacks, not only for women, but for ALL PEOPLE!
The Early Life of Clara Brown
Born a slave in 1800, she and her mother were sold to a tobacco farmer in Virginia. Later Clara was moved with the family to Kentucky.
Slavery is not a choice that a person would make if they had any say in the life they would choose. Every aspect of a slave’s life was based on profit to the owner with no consideration given to the comfort, or desires of the human being held as a slave.
As in the case of Clara Brown, when enslaved, you had no choice of where you would live, your dwelling or even the type of work that you would performed. You could not better your condition based on profitability of your work.
Clothes were the cheapest available, with no consideration to fashion, or comfort. Food was the cheapest available with no consideration to enjoyment. Even the amount was strictly rationed.
Time was without consideration for the slave in any manner as you were often forced to work from “can’t to can’t” … So dark, you an’t see in the morning because the sun ain’t up to can’t see at night because it has gone down. No 8 hour days here. No 5 day work week here either. There was no free time, no days off, no sick days, no vacation days.
The same with housing. The cheapest available, little if any furniture, often with no floor, sleeping on the ground in winter and during prolonged rains.
While there is often debate about how well the slaves assigned to the house had it, there are many accounts of slaves being required to sleep on the floor outside the master’s quarters “just in case the master may want a drink of water during the night”. Even then, they had a full day’s work to do the next day.
There was little consideration for family life as time was only for earning a profit for the owner. The only consideration of the family is that the children produced were additional profit for the owner. Often the man and woman would be owned by different owners.
Family Life
Clara was able to marry a man by the name of Richard. The ability to marry was denied most slaves as they were considered property and not able to enjoy the benefits normally available to Whites. From this marriage she had 4 children, 1 son Richard, Jr. a daughter Margaret and twin girls Paulina Ann and Eliza Jane.
When the twins were 8 years old Paulina Ann tragically drowned. Eliza Jane tried in vain to save her but was unable. Eliza Jane suffered tremendously from the accident and would often wake in terror at the event. Clara often had to comfort Eliza Jane in order to get her to sleep.
A Horror of Slave Life
Clara faced another of the horrors of slavery in 1835 when her owner, Ambrose Smith died. To settle the estate Clara and Richard and the entire family were sold at auction. Sold to separate buyers in far distant locations. Families being split and never seeing each other again was one of the realities of a system that considered slaves as property with no consideration given to any human qualities such as emotional attachment, or grieving.
To justify their actions, slave owners and believers in the system had to consider slaves as less than human. This allowed them to sell, beat, separate, and treat with great cruelty these people held in human bondage.
A New Owner
While Clara was on the auction block, George Brown, a plantation owner from Kentucky sensed Clara’s intelligence and strength and bought her.
She worked for the Brown family 20 years. At the age of 56, Clara Brown received her freedom and another reality and cruelty of slavery reared its ugly head. She was required by law, to leave the state within one year or face the possibility of being re-enslaved.
Therefore, a freed person had to leave everything and everyone they knew and move to a different place where you often knew not a single soul. Prospects for employment were slim to none. There was no money to pay for the move as all of your earnings were pure profit for the owner with nothing coming to you. There was no network of helpful friends to help you get on your feet. Nothing! This was not a pretty sight.
Again, Clara Brown was fortunate as George Brown’s children upon the death of George Brown, freed her and arranged for her to be given employment in St. Louis
Clara Brown – Moves West
A cook and laundress, she had heard of many Blacks moving to Colorado to enjoy freedom. She made the decision that she would go West. She had limited information but heard that her daughter Eliza Jane had moved West.
She was hired as a maid and cook by a family heading west to Kansas. She worked for them until her decision to head to Colorado.
Although she had earned enough money to purchase a ticket to Colorado, there was no stagecoach that would allow a Black person to ride.
Therefore, she hired on as a cook on a wagon train headed to Colorado being led by Colonel Benjamin Wadsworth. It is virtually impossible to escape the torment of being Black. The trip to Denver, Colorado was arduous and made more uncomfortable by a Southerner who complained constantly about having to travel with a Black woman.
In addition to having to be up and prepare the morning meal and staying up at night to take care of cleanup, Clara walked the 700 miles in 8 weeks. Imagine an almost 60-year-old woman holding up under this rigorous schedule, but Clara Brown was one determined woman.
It is believed that Clara Brown is the first African American woman to reach Colorado as part of the gold rush.
Today, we don’t realize many of the hardships that faced slaves in ordinary activities. Activities often involved difficulties in even obtaining a ticket to travel. She started her journey to Denver, Colorado, finally settling in Central City, Colorado.
She first worked at the City Bakery in Auraria, Colorado, which is a small community in the Denver area today.
Clara Brown – Makes Her Mark
The population of the area was beginning to move into the Gregory Gulch area in Gilpin County. The area is now known as Central City, Colorado. It was here that she set up her first laundry business. In addition, she worked, doing laundry, cooking, even catching babies as mid-wives were commonly called in the day.
Clara Brown prospered from her hard work and strongly held Christian principals. Because of her belief that all people were created by God and worthy of being treated as such, she invested in helping people regardless of any physical quality. She grub staked miners in return for a percentage of their prosperity.
A devout Christian, she was one of the founding members of a nondenominational Sunday School. She held meetings in her home. She also had an affiliation with 2 Methodist missionary ministers.
Clara Brown worked long hard hours and invested in people.
With her money, she bought properties and invested in mines. Most of her holdings were in Bolder, Georgetown and Idaho Springs, Colorado.
She hosted the first Methodist Church services in her house. Her home was also used as a hospital and a general refuge for those who were sick or in poverty. Her motto was “I always go where Jesus calls me” as a testimony to her Christian beliefs, the first Catholic and the first Protestant church in the Rocky Mountains were built with donations from her for their construction. Clara Brown was a Presbyterian
A strong Christian woman, Clara believed people were created in the image of God and held all in high esteem. While Clara was not blind, she could see that some people were tall, others short, some slim and some stout. Some male and some female, some White, some Black, some Yellow and some Red. Some Christian, some not. It mattered little to Clara Brown, she saw all of these people as equal and what is more important, she treated them as equal in all dealings.
Physical differences were just that, a descriptor of a person without all of the baggage that it carries today.
She helped all people, White, Native American, and Black. She was called “Aunt Clara”, a term that some Whites used because they refused to honor non-Whites by calling them MS or Mrs. In this case we will accept it as a genuine term of endearment.
Clara Continues Her Search
A woman of faith, Clara Brown always knew that one day she would be rewarded by being united with her family. She would ask any wagon train traveling through the area if there were any knowledge of any of her family members.
She heard that her daughter Margaret had died. She also heard that her husband Richard had died and that her son Richard, Jr. was either deceased or lost. She held out hope that she would find the remaining daughter Eliza Jane.
Following the end of the Civil War, when it became possible to travel around the country with some freedom, she liquidated her holdings and headed back to Kentucky. She was unable to locate her daughter Eliza Jane, but helped almost 30 relatives, former slaves, move to Colorado. She paid all moving costs and helped them find work and freedom.
In 1879, she went to Kansas and helped former slaves build a community and buy land that they could farm.
Due to a flood, many records of her property holdings were lost, and she suffered financial loss. While devastating, Clara Brown’s work was not based on only finances, it came from a much higher calling!
At the age of 80, she was in Colorado, funds were depleted due to her charitable work and unscrupulous real estate brokers. Her health was suffering from the high altitude and she moved to Denver. It was there that she received word that her daughter Eliza Jane was living in Council Bluffs, Iowa. At the age of 82, she traveled to Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Clara Brown’s Search Comes to an End
As the train approached the station she saw and immediately knew that was Eliza Jane standing on the platform. They hugged, fell in the mud, but were reunited after all of these years. Hope lives eternal!
This very emotional scene rips apart one of the strongest tenants of those believing in slavery. They held that slaves did not feel physical pain, that slaves could not experience emotional feeling of loss when close family members, friends and acquaintances were sold away.
Clara Brown Remembered
The March 4, 1882 Council Bluffs, Iowa newspaper Nonpareil reported that:
“Brown was still strong, vigorous, tall, her hair thickly streaked with gray, her face kind”
Brown returned to Denver with her grand-daughter and was later visited by Eliza Jane. They visited frequently until Clara Brown’s death.
Clara Brown died in Denver on October 23, 1885[2] and was buried in Denver’s Riverside Cemetery. Colorado state dignitaries were in attendance at her funeral, including Denver mayor John Long Routt and governor James Benton Grant.[11] The Central City Opera House dedicated a permanent memorial chair in her name
The Central City Opera House has dedicated a permanent memorial chair in her name.
There is a stained-glass memorial to Clara Brown in the Colorado State Capital Building.
As tribute to Brown and her contributions to Colorado, she was voted into the Society of Colorado Pioneers. This is also a tribute to Clara Brown as the law had to be changed to allow a Black person to be honored.
This is a significant reflection on society that they have to change the law to allow recognition of a Black woman. This is a proclamation that in addition to other laws that deny Blacks opportunities that the legislature has to take additional steps to deny recognition to Blacks in order to maintain White Supremacy at all costs. It sets in motion the effects that we see today, deny recognition to any non-White or …
Clara Brown was interviewed by the Denver Tribune-Republican, June 26, 1885.
If visiting the Denver, Colorado area, consider a visit to:
Black American West Museum
3091 California St.
Denver, Co 80205
Phone (720)-242-7428
Note: There are many other persons and events on Blacks in the West at the Museum.
*Be sure to check for days and hours of operation
There are sources of information below allowing you to learn more about Clara Brown in the form of videos and books, however, there are some life lessons that you can benefit from, all courtesy of the life of Clara Brown. For those interested in some of life’s most valuable lessons click Clara Brown’s Secrets of Success
To learn more about the remarkable life of Clara Brown, watch the following videos:
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Below the books and value offers are some amazing videos of Aunt Clara and her amazing contributions, some still enjoyed by the citizens today!
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Excellent video of Clara Brown
Although the preview picture is the same as above, it is not the same video. The one below is a PBS broadcast featuring Clara Brown. It provides greater detail on the life and deeds of this remarkable person and Colorado Pioneer.
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Aunt Clara Brown:
Official Pioneer (On My Own Biography) As a successful former slave, Clara Brown used her money to help other freed slaves get a new start in life. In 1859 Clara bought her own freedom and headed west to Colorado to find her daughter, who was sold when she was just a little girl. Clara didn’t find her daughter there, but she did get rich. The people she helped became her family, and she became known as “Aunt” Clara Brown.
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2 professors discuss the life of Clara Brown
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A story Clara Brown – First Black female Entrepreneur in Denver
Ex-slave turned Entrepreneur
Visit the grave of Clara Brown Denver’s first black woman resident, former slave, turned entrepreneur who lost her family and risked it all. In Riverside Cemetery Denver, Colorado.
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Clara Brown:
The Rags to Riches True Story of a Freed Slave of Central City, Colorado The wonderful and inspiring story of Clara Brown, 1800-1885, is one of my all-time favorite stories! At age 36 Clara was separated from her beloved husband Richard and three children on the auction block. After being freed at the age of 57, she begins a tireless search for her only remaining family member, her daughter Eliza Jane. What Clara accomplishes in her 28 years of freedom will simply astound you! I first wrote about Clara Brown in my book Unbreakable Dolls, Too. This single story eBook is the expanded version, with much more information and 9 photos.
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On the Shoulders of Giants – The life of Clara Brown
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One More Valley, One More Hill:
The Story of Aunt Clara Brown Author Linda Lowery chronicles the extraordinary—but little-known—life of black pioneer Aunt Clara Brown. Aunt Clara bought herself out of slavery, crossed the country on foot to reach the frontier, became a wealthy entrepreneur, aided other freed slaves, and eventually tracked down her lost daughter, sold away from Clara 47 years before. An inspiring piece of history that all Americans should know!
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Clara Brown – earliest memories
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Black Colorado Pioneers
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Professor Black’s History – “Aunt” Clara Brown – The Angel Of The Rockies
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The Book of Awesome Black Americans:
Scientific Pioneers, Trailblazing Entrepreneurs, Barrier-Breaking Activists and Afro-Futurists Black Americans who have shaped their country and beyond. We are familiar with a handful of African Americans who are mentioned in American history books, but there are also countless others who do not get recognized in mainstream media. Their biographies vary greatly, but each one contributes to the course of Black history and its influence on America and the greater world. Their stories encourage teenage boys and girls, to find their own path to change.
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The search for her daughter
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The following book is a great addition to the above and can be used to answer and further your search for ancestors that can bring pride to you. We come from strong roots, discover and take pride!
Black Roots: A Beginners Guide To Tracing The African American Family Tree
Trace, document, record, and write your family’s history with this easy-to-read, step-by-step authoritative guide.
Finally, here is the fun, easy-to-use guide that African Americans have been waiting for since Alex Haley published Roots more than twenty-five years ago. Written by the leading African American professional genealogist in the United States who teaches and lectures widely, Black Roots highlights some of the special problems, solutions, and sources unique to African Americans. Based on solid genealogical principles and designed for those who have little or no experience researching their family’s past, but valuable to any genealogist, this book explains everything you need to get started, including: where to search close to home, where to write for records, how to make the best use of libraries and the Internet, and how to organize research, analyze historical documents, and write the family history.
This guide also includes:
-real case histories that illustrate the unique challenges posed to African Americans and how they were solved
-more than 100 illustrations and photographs of actual documents and records you’re likely to encounter when tracing your family tree
-samples of all the worksheets and forms you’ll need to keep your research in order
-a list of the traps even experienced researchers often fall into that hamper their research
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Clara Brown had the makings of an American hero. She was determined, had character, was tough, grubstaked people showing them that someone had faith in them. She gave to her church, she was a source of medical aid, a good all around person and should be honored as such, except for 1 thing. She did not have White skin. It is time that we act like adults, discuss and fix the problems that plague us and rob all people of the best that society has to offer.