Person Record
Metadata
Name |
Brown, Erskine |
Othernames |
J. Erskine Brown James Erskine Horton Brown |
Born |
03/17/1892 |
Birthplace |
Derby Township, Grey County |
Places of residence |
His birth record reads that he was born at Lot 12, Con. 6, Derby Township Lot 17, Concession 6, Derby Township is seen somewhere in a source, but it is an error? Later (1959+) at Thornbury, Grey County |
Titles & honors |
Canadian Museum of History has some (approximately 20) of his carvings. |
Father |
Samuel H. Brown (Samuel Horton Brown) |
Mother |
Jessie Melissa Brown (nee Fleming) |
Nationality |
Canadian |
Education |
S.S. No. 2 Dunn's School (Derby Township) Northern Business College (Owen Sound) |
Notes |
Erskine Brown was born in Derby Township, on March 17, 1892. He attended S. S.#2 Derby School (known as Dunn's School). In the book HISTORY OF DERBY TOWNSHIP, p. 74, there is a group image of the S.S.#2 students in 1902, and Erskine is shown in the 3rd row. He nostalgically kept the hand bell that was used when he started to school, and his father had also attended the same school before he did. Four generations of the Browns attended Dunn's School. Erskine's grandfather was the overseer when the school was being built. Erskine lived on the farm where he had been born until 1959, when he moved to Thornbury, Grey County. He died in 1981. He is buried at Owen Sound's Greenwood Cemetery. The headstone at Greenwood Cemetery includes Erskine Brown (b. 1891-d. 1981) [NOTE HIS BIRTHDATE IS WRONG], his wives Nellie Henderson (b. 1891-d. 1940), and Jean L. Malcolmson (b. 1907-d. 1966) are also there. Also, there are his parents, Samuel H. Brown (b.1863-d. 1943) and his wife Melissa Fleming (b. 1862-d. 1950), and Myrtle Melissa Brown (b. 1889-d. 1979). The Salem W. I. group have several images pertaining to Erskine and his family in their Tweedsmuir book, see Salem WIF 27, Volume 2, p. 32-34. It mentions that Erskine, in addition to farming in his youth, also attended Owen Sound's Northern Business College in the winter months. When he married Nellie, they lived c. 1917 at his family farm. In 1948, he married his second wife Jean Malcolmson, and they built up a herd of Holsteins. The Tweedsmuir has a picture of him in 1954 with some of his carvings (several Holsteins are depicted). In May of 1959, the Browns retired to Thornbury where Erskine developed his hobbies of collecting old glass, and carving farm-related subjects. The National Museum at Ottawa obtained 22 of these carvings. In 2011, two of these carvings are shown on-line by the Canadian Museum of Civilization: "Pioneer Wagon" CMC 74-1012 "Sleigh Ride" CMC 74-1014 Erskine's farm diary is in the Grey County Archives. It is from 1935 and mentions his day-to-day activities, e.g. "I plowed all day...", and mentions local people, and his wife Nellie. He might have begun his woodcarving work in 1961. He is also said to have made bird houses. His birth record is 009705. His full name was James Erskine Horton Brown, b. March 17, 1892. He was born in Derby Township at Lot 12, Concession 6. His parents were Samuel Horton Brown (a farmer) and the former Melissa Fleming. Dr. Allan Cameron, M.D., attended the birth (there is an image of Dr. Cameron in the Grey County archives collection). In the 1901 census of Derby, it has him listed as James E. Brown, b. March 17, 1890 (note that the census taker made a mistake of the year). In the 1911 census, he was listed as Erskine H. Brown, age 19. The family address at that time was Lot 12, Concession 6, Derby Township. One of his carvings, dated November, 1970, depicted a wagon load of barrels being pulled by a horse team, and was given by him to Derby Public School at Kilsyth, where it was kept until 2016. He died on January 15, 1981 at the Meaford Hospital. |
Occupation |
Farmer / Folk Artist / Carving / Carver Holstein Cattle |
Publications |
Deans, Dorothea, C.A. FLEMING: A BIOGRAPHY, 1953, provides some of the Fleming family history, and has an image of Erskine's mother, Melissa, posed with her siblings, p 148a. |
Relationships |
In the 1911 census, his siblings are: Myrtle Melissa Brown b. July, 1889 Albert F. Brown b. Nov. 1896 Annie Marguerite Brown b. Nov. 1898 (may have gone by "Greta" as per Erskine's obituary) Mary Wilda Brown b. March, 1902 Uncle: Christopher Alexander Fleming (b. 1857-d. 1945) Uncle: John Fleming Aunt: Anne Fleming (m. Joseph Murphy) Uncle: Albert E. Fleming Aunt: Mary Jane Fleming (m. A. L. McIntyre) Uncle: Thomas Alfred Fleming Aunt: Victoria Fleming (m. John H. Esplen) Grandparents: John Fleming and Margaret Fleming (nee Robertson) Great-grandparents: Alexander Fleming (1799-1869) and Jean Stewart Fleming (1803-1888) |
Role |
Artist |
Spouse |
1. Nellie Henderson (b. 1891-d. 1940), 2. Jean Malcolmson (m. 1948) |
Children |
Orlo Neilson (daughter) of Owen Sound Gordon Brown of North Bay Norman Brown of RR3, Owen Sound (locations of children at the time Erskine died in 1981) |
