Charles Richard Brownell

 This week I'm writing about Charles Richard Brownell. Charles was the older brother of Eva Brownell Pulsipher, grandmother to Carl Strand, mother of Mary Pulsipher Strand. He would be Carl Strand's grand uncle.

Charles Richard Brownell was born February 25, 1840 in Allegan, Michigan. He was the oldest of 6 siblings. Eva was the youngest of the 6. She was also the only surviving sister. 2 other sisters passed away, one at age 2, and one at age 4. There were also 2 brothers but I haven't been able to find much on them. One may or may not have gone to Canada. The other brother stayed in Allegan and married 3 times. He had a child that died in infancy with his first wife and no children with his other 2 wives. Only Charles and Eva had any children, that I know of, who lived to adulthood.

In 1863 Charles married Clarissa Moon. They had 3 children, 1 girl and 2 boys.  The daughter died at the age of 2, and the youngest son died at 1 year of age. Only son Charles Horace Brownell lived to adulthood. Clarissa died and Charles married Fidelia Spencer. They had no children together. All of this is a long way of saying that children surviving to adulthood was not common in this family. Eva's oldest 2 children were girls, and the oldest died of pneumonia when she was only 23 years old. Carl's mother, Mary was the oldest and one of the few surviving girls in the family. My guess is that this resulted in a special relationship with her uncle Charles. Charles R. Brownell is the uncle who gave Mary and William what is now known at the Strand family farm. The farm was a gift from Charles to his niece, Mary. I wondered why Charles would do such a thing, but as I looked over the family and saw the large number of children, and specifically girls, not surviving childhood it became clearer that Mary was probably the closest thing Charles had to a daughter of his own. But, how was Charles able to afford such a gift? That's where the rest of the story comes in.

Charles became involved in the lumber business sometime in the 1860's. In the 1870 federal census he lists Lumber man as his occupation, $800 as  his personal worth, and $5000 as his real estate worth. Quite a sum of money for 1870. At some point in the 1860's and 1870's he begins going to Louisiana where he becomes involved in the lumber business down there. Specifically, in Morgan City, Louisiana. He starts a lumber mill with a partner. He becomes involved in civic affairs and is highly regarded in the community. When he passes away he is lauded in the local newspaper as a great citizen. 

Charles seems to have harbored some pretty liberal views for the times as he is mourned by both "white and coloured". Also, in another article on the Brownell family mentions how Charles R. thinks there should be a constitutional amendment allowing women to hold official positions as factory inspectors, be on school boards, etc. 

Charles's son, Charles Horace Brownell spends most of his time in New Orleans, but he also becomes involved in the lumber business. His son Charles Russell Brownell carries on in the family business in Louisiana. His son, Charles Russell Brownell, JR becomes a doctor and later serves as a popular mayor of Morgan City. I found this article which contains the pictures of all 4 Brownell men.

I wasn't surprised to find out that the Brownell men were involved in politics in Louisiana. Serving as mayor, and state representatives. As well as being business men they were civically minded, giving to local charities, helping others, and generally trying to make the world a better place. In 1971, Claire Brownell, a granddaughter of Charles Richard, donated a $1.5 million dollar carillon park to Morgan City, Louisiana. 

I've been able to trace this line of the Brownell family up to the 1960's. They still seem to be in the New Orleans area. I don't believe they're quite as prominent as they were back in the 20th century.

I don't know if Carl Strand ever knew of his Brownell relations but I think it's interesting that this line of the Brownell family was involved in civic affair and politics, just like Carl and Howard were. Maybe that's where the politics comes from, the Brownell side. This was definitely one of the more interesting branches of the family to study and find out more about.

Here are a couple of additional articles. One details the history of the Brownell lumber business in Morgan City, and the other is about the son, Charles Russell Brownell, Jr.