| Notes |
- Sarah Jane Brown, the ninth child of James Brown and Mary Ann goggin,
was born on June 20, 1879 in Norfolk Township, Minnesota near the
village of Birch Cooley. The tenth and last child of James and Mary
Ann, a son, died soon after birth. Like her brothers and sisters,
Sarah's early life was spent on the farm, going to school through the
eighth grade in Norfolk and attending catechism in Henryville. We
have no precise record when Sarah Janes' parents died, the only
record being that James was first buried in Henryville and later was
removed to the cemetery at New Birch Cooley. From this, we surmise
that when Mary Ann died she, too, was buried with her husband in New
Birch Cooley cemetery.
After finishing the eighth grade in Norfolk, Sarah Jane went to high
school for one year in Bird Island, and then transferred to the
school at Franklin. Sometime after she finished school, Sarah Jane
met a likeable young fellow from Golden Gate, Minnesota, by the name
of Willie Grimes. They started seeing each other regularly, and soon
they were engaged to be married. This event took place on January 15,
1901 at New Birch Cooley. Their married life began on a farm
purchased from Herb Scott. Some eight years later in 1909, Willie,
Sarah and five children left the farm and headed for Great Falls,
Montana, on an immigrant train. Besides the family, they took four
men, four wagons, eight horses and the household furniture. The
children who made the trip were: Mary Edith, Eight years old; James,
six years old; Patrick, four years old; Catherine, two years old and
the baby, Margaret.
While in Great Falls, Willie, or as he is also know, Bill, did
construction work, but things did not seem to work out right. His
wife, Sarah was in poor health, suffering from a kidney ailment, and
there was also a prevalence of typhoid in the area. Such being the
case, Willie and Sarah decided to retrace their steps to Minnesota,
and so they came to Franklin to live. Bill purchased a livery stable
and had three teams for hire. After some time, he went back to
farming in the Franklin area. Again, the family moved back into town,
and Willie drove a team on a grader. In the meantime, seven more
children were born in this order:Wilfrid, Lorraine, Larry, David,
Collette, Clare, Grace and Lois. During the time, the family lived in
Franklin, James moved to Detroit, Michigan, and opened a drycleaning
plant, which proved to be very successful. During the next several
years, Jim's brothers and sisters joined him in Detroit, and finally
his father and mother. Here, Willie took a job as a guard at the
Burroughs Corporation plant. After several bouts with pneumonia, and
being in his seventies, he finally retired from active work.
As this is written, Willie is still in fairly good health and is
approaching his ninety-third birthday. His wife, Sarah Jane, who is
nearing Eighty-four, continues to enjoy good health and leads an
active and interesting life.
Written by Thomas J. Shay February, 1963
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1879 - 1972 (92 years)