Family Lore: Whatever happened to Uncle Judson?

 When I first started researching my family tree, one of the earliest questions I received was, "Can you find out what happened to Uncle Judson?" "Uncle Judson" was a maternal uncle to Mildred Bellinger Strand. He was the youngest brother of her mother, Elnora Truman Bellinger. According to family lore, Uncle Judson had traveled out west to Oregon and was never heard from again. What happened to him? Had he met with an unfortunate accident, or had he simply never found the time or willingness to sit down and send his family a letter or make a telephone call?   Let's investigate!

Judson Elwyn Truman was born May 28, 1880 in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was the youngest of the 5 children born to Madison Truman and Harriet Mabbs. Judson was born in Arkansas shortly after the family moved there from Michigan. So far no evidence exists to explain why the family moved to Arkansas. They didn't remain long and by 1884 the family was back in Michigan, where Madison passed away. Harriet remarried and gave birth to 5 more children with her second husband. As the youngest son, Judson stayed on and lived with his mother and stepfather. On the 1900 Federal census Judson is listed as a boarder and working as a farm laborer with his mother and stepfather.

After this Judson decides to go out west. On May 29, 1904 he marries Mary Elizabeth 'Bessie' Malcolm in Columbia, Oregon. They were married by a Justice of the Peace at Bessie's father's house. Judson and Bessie quickly start their family. Daughter Mildred is born in 1905. Sadly, she dies of cholera in 1907. Only son Reuben is born next in 1907. He's followed by 5 sisters: Hazel, Mary Lou, Edith May, Dorothy, and Myra. The paperwork isn't clear, but I think Hazel may have had a twin sister named Sally. Sally would have died as an infant or child as no other record is found of her.

Judson and his family start off living in Goble, Oregon, but then buy a ranch and move to Astoria, Oregon around 1920. On a side note, while Ray Bellinger talks of finding Uncle Judson in the summer of 1915, he mentions looking for him in Seattle or Portland. Judson lived in Goble the whole time. It's no wonder Ray never found him. :)

Judson's occupation on the 1910 and 1920 Federal census records is listed as a farmer. By 1930 the country was in the midst of the Great Depression. Judson must've been affected by it as he and his family are now living in Lewis and Clark, Oregon and his occupation is as a laborer on public docks. He does own his home, valued at $2000, and has a radio. In 1940 Judson is now employed as a truck driver for a lumber company. He says he has other sources of income, and that the highest schooling he achieved was 2nd year of high school. In 1950 Judson is retired and has moved back to Astoria, Oregon. He and Bessie have 2 of their grandchildren living with them. 

Judson dies on August 29,1957, still living in Astoria, Oregon.

Judson's children all married and had children of their own. The granddaughter who lived with him in 1950 just recently passed away in December 2020. On a side note, I found a petition for divorce from Bessie, filed back in 1928. There was a note on it saying, "Error, withdrawn." 

Judson seemed to have a pretty good life in Oregon. Perhaps he just wasn't good at writing and keeping the family back home informed of what was going on with him. I wonder if his family in Oregon knew about their father's extensive family back in Michigan? I haven't found any pictures of Judson but I do have pictures of his children Reuben and Edith.

And that is the tale of what happened to Uncle Judson. 

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.