About the Brown Family

JOHN BROWN (1838-1894): John Brown was previously not known as a burial in the Gualala Cemetery. A Burial Permit was found during a manual search of an unindexed collection of Mendocino County records at the Family History Library. It indicated that he died on 10 October 1894 and is buried in the Gualala Cemetery. A search of major repositories for local newspapers, however, failed to uncover a published obituary for a John Brown who matched the birth/death information recorded on the Burial Permit.

Looking to the Burial Permit for additional clues, the place of birth for John Brown, who was recorded as being single at the time of his death, is not clear, but appears to be Holland. His age at the time of death calculates to a birthdate of around 1838. If John Brown was born in Holland, his birth name may be Johan or Johannes, and his last name may be Bruin, Bruijne, Bruyne, and might also have a De in front of the name. No records (newspaper, census, voting) have been found for any of those names in the vicinity of Gualala.

Given that many of the workers in the Gualala Mill traveled up and down the coast working in timber camps and usually migrated to the coast from Sonoma or Marin counties, Census records were reviewed throughout the region. This search included three prospective John Brown’s, including one married to Minerva Hitchcock, a close relative of the Hitchcock family buried in the cemetery. However, all three were determined by their death dates and burials elsewhere to not be the John Brown buried in the Gualala Cemetery. At this time, John Brown’s identity remains unknown.

Research compiled by Kelly Richardson, APR, AG. Anchored Genealogy. Research for this report was funded through a grant by the American Society of Genealogists.