This is Annie Brown's page. At age 16 she joined her father's
army in Maryland, across the Potomac River from Harpers
Ferry. Her story has been used in bits and pieces by many
historians and novelists: it is now her descendants' turn to
bring Annie's special relevance to the John Brown story.
| from left to right: Beatrice Keesey, granddaughter of Annie Brown Adams. troubles" at her home in Sunnyvale, California, December 2, 1976. Alice Keesey at age 16, granddaughter of Beatrice Cook Keesey, Alice Keesey Mecoy at age 48 Photographed in Allen, Texas, on her way to Kirke Mechem's opera about John Brown in Kansas City, May 3, 2008. Alice Cook Hunt, at age 92. Mrs. Hunt is the closest descendant of John and Mary Brown in lineage alive today--granddaughter of Annie Brown Adams |
Alice Keesey Mecoy Daughter of Paul Keesey Son of Beatrice Cook Daughter of Bertha Adams Daughter of Annie Brown Daughter of John Brown, Abolitionist "People call him a saint, a hero, a murderer and a terrorist, or a martyr. But I am glad to call him family." Alice Keesey Mecoy |
| The Kennedy Farm in Washington County, Maryland -- John Brown's headquarters. Annie Brown spent her sixteenth summer in 1859 as lookout for her father and his growing army of black and white men. Her job was to warn of neighbors curiosity. "Invisibles" she called them, as they would rise from a meal, taking "vittles, utensils and all" with them out of sight. South Lynn, owner and preserver of the Kennedy Farm is pictured here by John Frye, archivist.
|
| My name is Alice Louise Hunt. I am the great granddaughter of John Brown. I suppose I am the oldest living descendant of his having celebrated my 92nd birthday Mar.27 this year (2007). I am the youngest child of Bertha and George Cook. My mother being Anne Brown Adams daughter. I have many memories of Grandma Anne. She came to live in a house just down the block that my parents rented for her. This was about the time I was ready to start school. This was in Holmes Flats, Humboldt County, CA. The expense war to much for my folks so they rented a farm at Shively, CA. It had a small house on the property that became Annes home. Since I was the youngest and smallest of my parents nine children it was my job to button Grandma Annes shoes and also assist her in any way she required including carrying in her meals that were prepared in our home. I was about ten when Grandma died of cancer. She had a horrible passing. We buried her at Rohnerville, CA. I remember taking my mom to her grave site years later. We found the site flooded and the grave marker slab in bad shape. My husband Melvin and I went to the cemetery association and arranged for the needed repairs. Many years have passed but I think of those times frequently. I still have the small tintype picture of Grandma Annie. My mother gave it to me in November 1937. Mrs. Hunt donated the tintype of her grandmother, Annie Brown Adams, to the Saratoga Historical Museum in March, 2009. |
| Annie's grave at the Old Pioneer Cemetery in Rohnerville is now restored, personally by Alice Hunt. Photos by her friend Don Bumgarner in February and March, 2011 History note: Mrs. Alice Louise Cook Hunt is the closest descendant to John Brown living today. She is the granddaughter of Annie Brown Adams. This photograph was taken at her 95th birthday on March 27, 2011. |
Alice Keesey Mecoy brings flowers to the
grave of her g-g-g-great grandmother,
Mary Brown, on March 8, 2009.
| Mary, her only surviving son Salmon and three daughters (Annie, Sarah, Ellen) moved to California by the Overland Trail in 1863 - 1864. Annie Brown settled in Rohnerville, marrying carriage-maker Sam Adams there in 1870. Mother Mary Brown came from Red Bluff to Rohernville with younger daughters Sarah and Ellen. After Ellen married schoolteacher James Fablinger, all except Annie and Sam Adams moved to the San Francisco Bay area, settling finally in Santa Clara County. Annie lived the longest of any of the children of John Brown, dying in Petrolia in 1926. She was born in Akron, Ohio, in 1843. Annie helped many biographers, historians, and collectors with her memories and experiences throughout the years. One of her descendants, Alice Cook Hunt remembers the family caring for her in her final days. photo by Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz, biographer, in 2007. |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| quilt patch designed and stiched by Beatrice Keesey for a bicentennial quilt made in Sunnyvale, California, in 1976. See Patchwork History by Connie Young Yu, 2010 ISBN 978-098255770-9 at the Saratoga Historical Museum |
| Annie's obituaries researched and published by Alice Keesey Mecoy October 2011 |