C H A R L I E   a n d   L U L U   B R O W N

For all the rich farmland and solitude of southern Vigo County, Charlie chose to live in a quiet suburb beside Otter Creek on the north side of Terre Haute.  This was my father's (Charlie's grandson) favorite get-away, for all the tumult in his ancestor's lives, Charlie chose to live a quiet life. For this, we have Charlie and Lulu Brown.

Columbian Home Products, makers of Graniteware, Terre Haute, Indiana, 1902.

Charlie was born on his father's farm in southern Vigo County, the fourth of nine children, the second son. His older brother, Nick, would become a farmer, but Charlie had other plans. Terre Haute was growing into a bustling city with colleges and businesses in what must have seemed like a very modern world. Charlie got a job in a factory that was known nationwide for their graniteware.

At some point, Charlie met Miss Arlulu G. Richey. The introduction may well have come through Tighl and Lizzie Brown, Charlie's cousins. The Browns and the Richeys became uniited by a couple of marriages. To understand this, here are the children of Abijah and Purlina Richey.

The Children of Abijah and Purlina Richey

i James H. Richey, b 1868

ii Mary Jane Richey Molzen, b 1868

iii Lee Anna Richey Smith, b 1872

iv Adrian Beecher Richey, b 1874

v Eli Noble Richey, b 1876

vi Elizabeth Hannah "Lizzie" Richey Brown, b May 23, 1879; m November 22, 1899, George Tighlman "Tighl" Brown, son of James Sutton Brown

vii Lula G. Richey Brown, b October 6, 1881; m December 7, 1904, Charlie T. Brown

viii Delma Andrew Richey, b 1884

Tighl Brown was a both a cousin, brother-in-law, and friend of Asa's family, and a friend of Charlie's. Till had grown up next his cousin Asa's farm. Till lived on the north side of Terre Haute with his wife Lizzie. They ran a grocery store there.

Charlie, Lulu, and Paul Brown, about 1906

Charlie and Lulu Brown moved into their house in North Terre Haute, near Till and Lizzie. Two doors down, their neighbor was Gordon Reeve, who would, in a couple of decades, become related by marriage. Two years later, on February 7, 1906, they had their first child, a son, whom they named Paul Maurice Brown. Later in life, Paul would say he felt like an only child growing up. Charlie and Lulu would not have their second child, also a son, until Hubert Eugene Brown was born on December 27, 1912, some six years later.

Paul and Hubert Brown about 1923

Charlie and Lulu would live out their lives there, through two World Wars and the Great Depression. Charlie would change jobs a become and coal truck driver for Indiana State Teacher's College, the precursor to Indiana State University. Lulu was a natural cook and worked in the kitchen of Reeves Hall, the women's dormitory, named for Helen Reeves, Gordon Reeve's sister.

 

Charlie and Lulu Brown

It was a nice, easy life. Charlie and Lulu had a back yard filled with flowers. There was always a good dinner coming every evening. The boys attended the local schools, Paul played saxophone in the band at the local church. Then, the dream came to the end.

Doctors had determined that the only way to find out why Lulu was sick and losing weight was to do exploratory surgery. They took her into the hospital, opened her abdomen and almost immediately closed her up. Lulu had inoperable cancer and was not given much time to live. Lulu was discharged to her sister Lizzie's house so her sister could tend to her during the time she had left.

On the evening of December 19, 1946, Charlie and Paul were visiting Lulu. Lulu remarked that she heard bells that no one else heard. Thinking this an omen of her impending death, Charlie and Paul said their goodbyes to Lulu and went home. There, Charlie and Paul each had a cigar before retiring for the night.

The next morning, when Paul woke up, he did not hear his father stirring. Paul went to Charlie's bedroom to find his father had passed away in the night.

The funeral was held at Thomas Funeral Home at Twelve Points on the north side of Terre Haute. Before the funeral began, an ambulance took Lulu to an upstairs room so she could hear the funeral, then, after everyone left, Lulu was brought down on a stretcher to see her Charlie one last time. Lulu would survive to see the flowers bloom one last time before passing away on May 22, 1947. Lulu was laid to rest beside her husband in the Brown family plot at Roselawn in North Terre Haute, Indiana.

The Children of Charlie and Lulu Brown

i PAUL MAURICE BROWN, b February 7, 1906, Vigo County, Indiana

ii Hubert E Brown, b December 27, 1912, Vigo County, Indiana