Daughters of John D. and Nancy (Johnson) Brown

   ©  Kathy Duncan, 2021

My search for any more newspaper references to Johnsons has sent me down a few rabbit holes on the Brown family. All of my little digressions are helping to flesh out the Brown family and may yet lead me to the Johnsons. 

Nancy Johnson and John Delos Brown had two daughters who died as young adults, both unmarried. 

Daughter Eva C. Brown was a twin to Emma C. Brown. She died at home at the age of 21. The Champaign County Gazette published her death notice on 6 August 1879:

"Eva, daughter of John D. Brown, of Weldon, DeWitt county, died at the home of her parents, August 1, aged twenty-one years. Eva was born in this township, and was a niece of justice Brown, who attended her funeral."

Her birth in Champaign County correlates to John D. Brown's obituary, which states that he and wife Nancy moved to Champaign County shortly after they married in Pike County, Illinois in 1857. The twins were the Browns' eldest children. It is possible that their twin births might have merited a newspaper notice in 1858. Something to watch for. 

Because Eva died in 1879, her birth was noted in the 1880 mortality schedule. The mortality schedule confirmed that she died at home from an inflammation of the stomach. It also noted that she had been a resident of DeWitt County, Illinois for twelve years. That would mean that the Browns had moved to DeWitt County in 1867. 

Eva's younger sister Catherine E. Brown died at the age of 22 in 1894. A relentless search for the family in newspapers finally netted information about her illness and death. I found it by searching for her, using a potential nickname: Kate.

In early April, she was suffering from a "nervous trouble" as reported by the Weekly Pantagraph.  I have no idea what a nervous trouble would be.

Two weeks later, she was termed an invalid with little chance of recovery. At the point this notice was run, she had already died on 18 April 1894. News, of course, did not travel quickly in that time period.

A week later the same paper ran her death notice with the added information that she had been sick for many months. 

Catherine E. Brown was buried in the Nixon Township Cemetery where her mother was buried later. They share a tombstone. Eva C. Brown is probably buried in the same cemetery. It is unclear why she does not have a tombstone.