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Overview

The Euro-American pioneer in Camptonville, CA, Josiah Perkins Brown, lived in this Gothic Revival House with his first and second wives between about 1854 and the early 1880s. The house was reportedly based on designed published in Andrew Jackson Downing well-known architectural book, The Architecture of Country Houses (New York, NY: George F. Appleton, 1850).

Building History

As per a file card in the California State Library, 22-year-old Josiah Perkins Brown (born 01/24/1827 in Boston, MA-d. 04/14/1909 in Ross, CA) made the 139-day voyage around the Cape Horn from Boston to San Francisco, arriving in the latter city on 11/19/1849. (There is some disagreement in documents as to his date of birth. Some say 01/1827 others indicate it was in 02/1828. The California State Library's Pioneer and Immigrant File card for him listed 01/24/1827.) His parents were second cousins, Josiah Brown and Eliza Brown, both of whom were from NH.The 1850 US Census found Josiah mining on the Middle Fork of the American River. He had accumulated assets of about $700, comparable to other men listed in the census. The men in this vicinty in 1850 had ventured here from all over the world, including France, Italy, Portugal, Hawaii (the Sandwich Islands), England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Austria, Holland, Sweden, Germany, Peru, China and from most every state of the Union. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Middle Fork of the American River, El Dorado, California; Roll: 34; Page: 479b, accessed 11/17/2023.) The lure of wealth had drawn people from across the globe in a strikingly short time. His obituary noted that "Josiah Brown in the early fifties was associated with N.D. Rideout at Galena Hill." Galena Hill was a gold camp north of Camptonville, CA, whose founders had migrated from Galena, IL. (See "Yuba Pioneer Foretold His Own Death," Marysville Appeal, vol. XCIX, no. 90, 04/16/1909, p. 1.)

According to this California State Library biographical card, he resided in Yuba County, CA, for 30 years and Seattle, WA, for 3 years. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Sacramento County, California, Pioneer Index File (1906-1934), A-Z; California History Room: MICROFILM 734; Roll Number: 41, accessed 11/17/2023.)

Brown married three times. He first wed Susan E. Purington (born 1834 in ME-d. 04/10/1874 in Camptonville, CA) in Nevada County, CA, on 04/27/1852. With Susan Purington, he had two children, Frances Jeanette Brown (born 11/17/1865 in Camptonville, CA-d. 04/02/1901 in San Francisco, CA) and Willis Merritt Brown (born 11/15/1867 in CA-d. 09/21/1943 in Marin County, CA).

He settled with Susan and their children in the Yuba County town of Camptonville, building this Gothic Revival dwelling in 1854, thought to have been patterned on a residence appearing Andrew Jackson Downing's treatise, The Architecture of Country Houses (1850). An historical marker on the site related that the "architect" was the landscape and architectural designer A.J. Downing (1815-1852).

In sparsely populated Yuba County just after the Gold Rush, Brown served in a variety of roles, likely of necessity. In 1867, Brown worked a telegraph operator at Lamping's express office in Camptonville. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. Pacific Coast Directory, 1867 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000, accessed 11/17/2023.) Again out of necessity, he successfully farmed for a time in Camptonville, before turning to banking, an occupation he followed from at least 1866 until about 1900. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Copies of Nonpopulation Census Schedules; NAID: 2791276; Record Group Number: 29; Record Group Title: Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007, accessed 11/17/2023 and Ancestry.com Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1866. Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 140; FHL Roll Number: 978599, accessed 11/17/2023.)

Brown also worked as Yuba County's Treasurer between 1862 and 1866, and was elected to two terms as a Yuba County Republican in the CA State Assemby, during its 23rd and 24th sessions in 1880 and 1881. He served as a Captain in the CA National Guard's Yuba Light Infantry, Company E, 4th Infantry Regiment, between 11/07/1863 and 01/11/1873, at least. (See Ancestry.com, Source Information Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Military Registers, 1858-1923 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014, accessed 11/17/2023.)

According to the 1870 US Census, the Brown House in Camptonville had eight people residing in it. They included Josiah, his wife and their two children. Also dwelling here were: Willie Newberry (born c. 1854 in MI), a student; Ellen Taylor (born c. 1846 in Ireland), a domestic worker; RIchard Munt (born c. 1823 in England), a butcher; and August Millouvin (born c. 1822 in France), a clerk in Brown's bank. The census record indicated that Brown had an estimated personal estate worth $29,788, making him by far the wealthiest man in town. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1870; Census Place: Slate Range, Yuba, California; Roll: M593_93; Page: 676A, accessed 11/17/2023.)

After Susan's death in 1874, he married the much younger Agatha J. Daily (born 1852 in -d. 10/01/1939 in San Francisco, CA) on 11/23/1874 in Yuba County, CA. They had a daughter, Rosie (d. 08/27/1876 in Camptonville, CA), who died very early in life, and later divorced.

In 1880, the dwelling in Camptonville housed Josiah and his second wife Agatha, as well as his children Frances and Willis. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1880; Census Place: Slate Range, Yuba, California; Roll: 86; Page: 506C; Enumeration District: 171, accessed 11/17/2023.) After her divorce from Josiah, Agatha married Frank Bauquier (1852-1898).

Brown married a final time to Sophia Josephine Robertson (born c. 11/1847 in Canada-d. 11/05/1935 in Ross, CA) in Modesto, CA, on 07/19/1885.

Brown retired to the Bay Area by the mid-1880s, where he relocated periodically. San Francisco voter rolls of 1886 listed Josiah Brown as living at 237 Oak Street, and working as in hardware. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 62; FHL Roll Number: 977213, accessed 11/17/2023.) By 1888, voter records noted that he lived in the 4th Ward of Alameda County, CA, where he listed his occupation as "merchant." (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 2; FHL Roll Number: 976447, accessed 11/17/2023.)

As noted in 1900 San Francisco voter and US Census records, Josiah lived with Sophia at at 741 McAllister Street in San Francisco. Others in the household included his son Willis, his wife Elferina (born c. 01/1870 in VT), their daughter Norma (born 09/1899 in CA) and two boarders, Edward C. Kelton (born c. 02/1863 in CA) and Margaret Kelton (born c. 01/1863 in Canada). (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Register of Voters, 1900, accessed 11/17/2023 and Ancestry.com, Source Citation Year: 1900; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: 104; Page: 9; Enumeration District: 0168, accessed 11/17/2023.)

Josiah passed away in the Marin County town of Ross at the age of 82. (See "Yuba Pioneer Foretold His Own Death," Marysville Appeal, vol. XCIX, no. 90, 04/16/1909, p. 1.)

PCAD id: 24851