Grant, born on Sept. 18, 1899, was the second child (of seven) born to Jane Bodily Galbraith and Orson Pratt Brown.  Grant was born in the Mormon colony Colonia Juárez,  in the state  of Chihuahua,  Mexico.  Jane was born on April 2, 1879 in Kaysville, Utah and Orson was born on May 22, 1863 in Ogden City, Utah.  The Mormon colonies in Mexico were established to allow polygamous families to continue living together, as polygamy had been declared illegal in the United States.

In 1952, Grant stated:  "I don't remember the exact moves or the dates we made them, but I do remember the different places that we lived in Mexico.

Some of the things that happened was that we had a terrific hurricane storm, and it blew several windows out of the house and blew the barn roof out into alfalfa.  We had about 2 or 3 acres of alfalfa joining this house that we lived in.  I remember that this house sat southwest from the mercantile store.  South of that we had other holdings, more land, about 160 acres, I believe.  I can remember taking cows out there when I was a young man and sometimes in the evenings when the coyotes were around, I used to get a little bit scared.

I remember one incident that happened to Ronald.  We had lived in a different place there in Dublán, across the railroad tracks and Mr. Bowman, who owned the mercantile store, had a large dog that took Ronald and chewed him up pretty bad.  In fact, he dragged him about 100 yards down the track by the legs.  Then in this other house that we lived in, we had a hailstorm where hail was actually as big as eggs, as I remember them.

From Chihuahua I think we went to Colonia Morelos in Sonora, Mexico. In Morelos we developed a produce ranch, that is a man developed it on shares for my father, Orson Brown. And it was just beginning to produce well when we had to leave there in 1912.

I guess we went to Oaxaca from there where we had a tremendous flood that wiped practically all the colonists out.  I remember that Mother had some pretty nice oil paintings, the only paintings she ever did, and some oil, that were lost in that flood.  We all met in the Mormon meetinghouse, which was on higher ground, and it was one of they very few buildings left in that town.

Another incident was where Ronald, who was quite adventurous and being the oldest, he went back into the flood area to try and turn a calf loose and almost lost his life! From there we went to live on the Las Sparas Ranch for some time. There was a large cave there, and I remember that one time Dad [O.P. Brown] offered five dollars to any one of us children who would go inside that cave and if I am not mistaken Betty was the one that would do it.

We had a summer home on the Petacachi Ranch and were there at the time (Pancho) Villa was having his revolution down there (in Mexico) and this General Blanco, who was one of Villa's men, gave us 24 hours to either fight or get out.  And not having either the ammunition or the manpower to resist, we left Mexico and went to El Paso, Texas where we stayed a short time.  From El Paso, Texas we went to Salt Lake City (Utah) and lived there a short time and went to Kaysville (Utah) and stayed with Grandmother Galbraith. Then back to Salt Lake where we lived at various locations.  We lived on 7^th West and 7th South, and 4th East, 3rd Avenue and Social Hall Avenue.

At Social Hall Avenue, we had some of our toughest times.  At that time, Mother was doing nurse work, which left us children at home practically alone nearly all the time.  I worked at the Deseret Evening News as an office boy.  I worked at Scram Johnson Drugs.  I worked at the Boss New House Building as an elevator boy, and then I worked for the State Road Commission of Utah.  That was the last job I had before I went to California where I worked for the California Highway Commission on the survey parties.  I worked there until I came in 1921 to Seattle, Washington, and from Seattle to Yakima where I met and married my wife and settled down.

My wife's name is Georgiana M. Foy, and she was born and raised and reared in Yakima.  Her folks' name, her father is Ovid Foy, and her mother's name is Molina Foy.  I have lived here continuously since 1927 when we were married October 11th.  I am now working at Sears and Roebuck.  I have worked at various places.  I have worked on the Government projects at Seattle, in the shipyards, at Hanford at the Atomic plant, and through the Rosa reclamation projects here and now at Sears and Roebuck.

Family of "Ovid Foy" is written on the back of this photo.
It is believed Ovid Foy was Georgiana Foy's relative (father?)

Then comes Porfirio (Thomas Patrick Brown).  Now Porfirio is the fourth (son) in our family.  The last recollection I have of Porfirio was in San Jose, California.  There was Orson (Pratt) Brown, Porfirio (Thomas) Brown, Betty (Martha) Brown, Emma Brown and I and Mother in San Jose.  I was working in Parks Royal Cafeteria, and Orson and Porfirio left for San Francisco in 1922.  That was in 1922.  Then the information that I have was from Orson.  Orson was the last one to talk to or see Porfirio.  He told me that Porfirio shipped out on a job, some type of construction job, and since that time we have had no word from him.  We have never heard from him since then.

When my wife and I went back to San Jose, we attempted through the police department and other ways to locate Porfirio, but have never been able to do so.  We intend at some time to try another method of locating this brother of ours, and if he is not dead, we may be successful yet."

Grant was known as "Duke" by everyone, because of his attention to his clothes, always dressed in fine suits, silk ties, etc. 

After Grant retired from Sears and Roebuck, they sold their lovely home in Yakima and moved to Port Angeles, Wash.  They bought a fishing boat, and Grant at one time or another, had his nephews Ronald and Arnold working with him on his fishing trips.  He sold his catch to the Indian tribe. 

Georgiana and Grant had a good life together, traveling, fishing and visiting with relatives.  They loved to dance.  They never had children.  Georgi died from injuries received in an accident in 1962, after thirty-five years of marriage and when Grant was 63. Eventually, fishing became too much for him, and he sold the boat and retired totally.

Opal & Grant Brown c. 1965

Bertha Brown Navas Ferrara, Opal (Grant's second wife for 30 years), "Porfie" Thomas P. Brown,
and Grant "Duke" Brown - some time around 1968 probably in El Paso, Texas

Grant remarried to Opal, his close friend's widow and they enjoyed their lives together for 30 years, until Grant died at the age of 93.  Grant never had children. He was still dancing until his late 80's.  In his latter years, he enjoyed sitting on the harbor watching the huge tankers come in and out.

Grant was quite ill the last year of his life, and Ronald Brown, his nephew, took good care of him.  He suffered from emphysema.  He died on Sept. 28, 1992.  He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Strait of Juan De Fuca.

Ronald Brown, Aaron Brown (son of Angela and Orson), Grant Brown

 __________________________________________________________

Thanks to all of our family members who shared their resources and memories, especially Aron Brown, Ronald K. Brown and Arnold G. Brown.
--Martha Brown Davis, October 10, 2002

Sources:

PAF - Archer Files = Orson Pratt Brown + Jane Bodily Galbraith > Grant "Duke" Brown

Research Notes:

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ga/tattnall.htm

Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ga/gafiles.htm

FOY, Washington Manassas, merchant and manufacturer, Manassas, Ga., was born near Egypt, Effingham Co., Jan. 23,1862. He was the son of George W. and Mary Jane Foy, the husband having been born Oct. 23,1825, in Effingham county, two miles from Egypt, and has been a resident of that county all his life. He was a farmer, a lumber and timber dealer, and was the oldest of sixteen children.

He is still living, and is a faithful member of the Baptist church, and a high Mason, he was married to Mary Jane Brinson of Screven county, Ga, a daughter of Simon Brinson. There were born to them five children, viz.: Entoil Tallulah; Geo. Brinson, deceased; Ida Gertrude; Washington Manassas; and Edward Jackson. Mr. W.M. Foy married Miss Maxie Poneta Olliff, of Excelsior, Bulloch Co., a daughter of W.W. and America Kenedy Olliff. They were married July 8,1891, and have two boys, both dead, Geo. W., born Nov. 9,1892, and died at fourteen months; and William Olliff, who died when nine months old.

Mr. W.M. Foy first entered the turpentine and sawmill business when he began life on his own account. He sold out the latter and has in recent years been engaged in raising sea island cotton, in the manufacture of turpentine and resin, and in his mercantile interests.

He came to the place where he now resides Nov. 18,1889. It was just before the S. & W. railroad was built, and liking the location he laid out the town of Manassas and so named it, and built the first house. The neat little town now has over 250 people, and bids fair to increase for many years to come. The principal shipments from the place are naval supplies, lumber and sea island cotton. He has three places for manufacturing the former, and the past year produced two thousand barrels of spirits of turpentine and eight thousand barrels of resin, and employs about 125 laborers, which is the largest output in this section of the state. He operates about 525,000 boxes, which increased in 1895 about twenty per cent. Mr. Foy's merchandise trade in his store at Manassas is about $25,000 annually.

Mr. Foy attended school for several years at a private institution situated near his father's home. He entered Mercer college in 1880, and graduated in 1883 at the state university at Athens. He is a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity. He and his wife joined the Baptist church at Excelsior, Bulloch Co., and transferred their letters and helped organize the church at Manassas.

The town of Manassas has a fine school, and in a business way is considered one of the best towns on the S. & W. railroad. The place is located with natural drainage, which is a great health protector. It is in the heart of the pine timber belt, and is surrounded by splendid farming lands. Near it is the largest saw mill in the county, which cuts about 40,000 feet per day. The town was commenced in 1889, and promises in the next decade to show a marvelous increase in population.

Mr. Foy is regarded as one of Tattnall County's best business men. He is progressive, and does not hesitate to go into any enterprise which will redound to the development of Manassas and his country.

By: Sandria G Swope (Swobunny@msn.com)

There is a town named Foy, King County in Washington state, east of
the Puget Sound, and north of Seattle. It has an elevation of 479 (143 m)feet.

Degrees Minutes Seconds: Latitude: 474403N Longitude: 1222038W
Decimal Degrees: Latitude: 47.73417 Longitude: -122.34389

foy (foi) n. Scots. A farewell feast, drink, or gift, as at a wedding.
[Dutch dialectal fooi, from Middle Dutch foye, journey, from Old French voie,
from Latin via, road; see wegh- in Indo-European roots.]

Fred Foy (born March 27, 1921) is an American actor and voice specialist.
As of 2006, he lives in Massachusetts.

There is Foy Lake located 14 miles west of Monticello in the Abajo Mountains

The Unauthorized World Situation Report (Paperback) by Patrick Foy

Foy death certificates:

http://content.sos.state.ga.us/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&
CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/gadeaths&CISOBOX1
=Foy&CISOSTART=1,21

Office Of Dr. Hjordis Foy - Professor Emeritus -Department of Epidemiology, Box 357236, University of Washington, Pacific ave 1500 Seattle, Washington 98195ip-
206-685-1751
206543-8525 (FAX)
hfoy@u.washington.edu

Will of James Foy at http://www.tcarden.com/tree/Foy/JamesFoy.htm

Laura Foy at http://uwnews.washington.edu/ni/uweek/uweekarticle.asp?articleID=25345

http://www.answers.com/topic/joe-foy

Neysa R. Foy in Seattle, Washington

"Fast as Foy Draper" 1936 Olympic Champion. Elizabeth Lee Draper, nee Queen -- was born in [12 Sep]1883 in San Angelo. Foy, born in 1913, had a hard childhood.
http://frankwykoff2.com/foy_draper2.htm

Dr. Judith G. Foy Professor at University Hall 4741 (310) 338 - 4591 jfoy@lmu.edu http://bellarmine.lmu.edu/psychology/jfoy.html

Copyright 2001 www.OrsonPrattBrown.org