Holding History

Sometimes you see something and it makes you think, "What's the story?". Ever since I was named the official Dennis and Laurie Brown family historian. (Thanks guys) I have wondered that question about a few things. One item specifically has kept coming to my mind.



This pocket watch.




The back is engraved "A. Brown Sept. 7th, 1865"

Hard to see the engraving, sorry, apparently I am too shaky with a camera. Anyway, I wanted to know who A. Brown was. I didn't remember hearing any stories about him, ever. As a matter of fact, I was first convinced that the A was in fact a fancy H. I had heard stories of Henry Brown, my great-grandfather. That didn't make much sense though, because grandpa was born in 1911, so even if this watch had been given to Henry when he was first born, it still would have made him 46 by the time grandpa came along, possible, but it didn't seem right.

And then, the miracle of the internet came to my rescue. Familysearch.org showed that Henry's dad was Alwood, not Henry as I had supposed. Henry wasn't actually born until 1874, two years after his parents immigrated. Mystery solved. Still, since I had never heard of Alwood, I wondered about him. Believe it or not, the internet has dirt on him too. I searched Alwood Brown, England. and a few things came up, notably this, BROWN, Alwood - with wife Anne Elizabeth BROWN daughter of Henry BROWN and Ann HILL of Old Brampton arrived in New York 17 Sep 1872 aboard the ship Minnesota. They settled in Centreville Davis Utah, where they raised a large family. Alwood was a fruit farmer.

Maybe this isn't cool to you, but it was to me. Knowing his history adds more to my own and to the story of the watch. Next, I googled Alwood Brown, Utah.

This was part of the Deseret Weekly. The article was talking about growing grapes in Utah. Alwood had a vineyard.

Through the new family search, I was able to learn that Alwood was baptized at age 15. His parents were not baptized with him, so he did it of his own accord. Makes me wonder who taught him the gospel. Maybe I am better suited for this family historian business than I thought.

I know this is weird, but if you're still here, it must have been a little interesting

I haven't decided whether or not I'll have the watch repaired, but every time I look at it, I will think of great-great-grandpa Alwood, standing in his vineyard, pulling this watch from his pocket to see if it was time to head in for the day.