Kate Brown, Daughter of John D. Brown

 ©  Kathy Duncan, 2021

Catherine E. "Kate" Brown was one of two young adults daughters of John Deloss and Nancy (Johnson) Brown who died young. She, evidently, was named after her grandmother Catherine E. (Hay) Brown. To date, her middle name is undiscovered.

Kate shares a tombstone with her mother in the Nixon Township Cemetery in Weldon, DeWitt County, Illinois.

The events surrounding her death can be surmised from period newspapers. The short version is that she contracted typhoid, never regained her health, and died months later. She was buried in the wedding dress that she never had a chance to wear and attended by her intended at the end.

But I prefer the long story.

The Clinton Public of 28 July 1893 revealed that Kate Brown was ill with typhoid fever.

On the same day, the Herald and Review of Decatur, Illinois reported that Kate was ill at her sister Mary Ellen (Brown) Miller's home. At that time, Mary Ellen was a widow. Although she later moved to Weldon, I believe at this point she was still living in Springfield, Illinois, so that is where Kate would have been.

A few weeks later, Kate seemed to be improving but was still ill.

Months later Kate was still ill and was by now termed an invalid. She and her mother traveled from Weldon to Springfield so that she could receive medical treatment. They would have probably stayed in the home of Mary Ellen (Brown) Miller. 

It seems likely that Kate Brown and her mother Nancy (Johnson) Brown had remained in Springfield from mid-November to mid-February. Evidently, the medical treatment they sought had not resulted in an improvement of her health. 

Two months later on 6 April 1894, The Clinton Register related that Kate was somewhat better and a doctor from Springfield had arrived to treat her. The little Opal Miller mentioned was her niece. 

The Weekly Pantagraph of the same day termed her illness a "nervous trouble," which sounds frivolous. No doubt she had not recovered from her bout with typhoid. 

By mid-April, The Pantagraph was reporting that she was likely to die from her illness. 

By the end of the month, Kate Brown was deceased.

I was delighted to find this little obituary published by The Clinton Public on 4 May 1894. It has a bit more detail than most obituaries of the period, including the detail that she was buried in her unused wedding gown.

However, it was her hometown newspaper, Weldon Record, that published a truly detailed obituary on 27 April 1894. It details who was in the choir, the hymns they sang, the sermon, the pallbearers, the flower arrangements, the viewing of the body, her engagement to C.O. Stone, and his contributions to the funeral.