Brown

Brown married Amanda Williams, daughter of James Addison Williams and Harriet A. Jones, about 1898 in Indiana. (Amanda Williams was born in 1873 in Indiana,^{1 2 3 4} died on 20 June 1945 in Brainerd, MN ^{4 5} and was buried after 20 June 1945 in Brainerd, MN ⁵.)

  Marriage Notes:

It is apparent that Amanda was either married to or had a relationship with a Brown about 1898 probably in Indiana prior to her marriage to Daniel Chord and had one daughter named Ethel as a result. No direct evidence of a marriage has yet surfaced.

The 1920 US Census shows the daughter Ethel living with Amanda and her husband with Ethel correctly listed as a stepdaughter to Amanda's husband, Daniel Chord.

In 1940 Amanda was living at the home of Ethel and her husband Fremont H. Mahle and Amanda was correctly listed as a mother-in-law to Fremont.

The short marriage of Amanda Williams to a Brown is further supported by the fact that on Amanda's 1930 US Census, she stated that she had been married for 42 years whereas he husband, Daniel Chord, stated that he had been married for 40 years.

But these numbers of 40 and 42 bring up a major problem or two. First, it would mean that each of them were married when they were only 15 and 16 years old. Second, this would mean that they were married sometime around 1890. A marriage at that date cannot be true because both Amanda and Daniel were living with their parents in 1900. In fact, the 1900 US Census for Amanda states that she was widowed.

I suspect that these numbers should be 30 and 32 instead of 40 and 42. This would mean that they were married about 1910 and that Amanda's previous marriage lasted only two additional years from 1898 to 1900.

Brian L. Lightfoot
14 Feb 2020
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