HLedger Found In Hope Valley Wall
By KELLY SULLIVAN
Said to have been found inside the wall of a house on Spring Street, the opening page of the heavy brown ledger bares the eloquently penned words “C.H. Brown, Manufacturer of Clothing, Opened July 11, 1886.”
Charles H. Brown was born in North Stonington on October 28, 1857 to Charles Lathrop Brown and Margaret (Reynolds). Before relocating to Rhode Island, he worked as a grocery clerk. He married Mary Alice Maine on September 9, 1879 in Hopkinton and had three children; Lillian, Margaret and Charles Jr. The family resided on Spring Street and, in addition to running his store, Charles was also employed as the Hope Valley postmaster.
Charles Jr. helped his father in the store but, five years after its opening, he died from the side effects of a hernia operation at the age of nineteen. In 1919, Mary Alice died of a brain tumor at her daughter Lillian’s house in Providence.
Brown’s clothing store was much more than a place to buy garments, however. The 361-page ledger contains the accounts of dozens of regular customers and includes purchases of cheese, tea, coffee, flour, beef, lard and numerous other food items. A gallon of oil was six cents, tobacco was nine cents, a can of peaches was twenty cents, and cookies were twelve cents. In addition, Brown was a horse dealer and his accounts for that business are contained in the ledger as well. One of the most interesting accounts is that of Lucius Dwight Brown, a slightly infamous horse dealer whose obituary stated, “he was in many lawsuits and usually won”.
Brown apparently had ties, business or personal, with questionable people. A letter written in 1892 from a Connecticut sheriff to Hopkinton constable George Barber, detailed the escape of certain prisoners from a Norwich jail. He asked Barber to keep a look-out for them, especially one who he expected might pay a visit to his friend, horse dealer Charles Brown, near Wyoming.
Brown died in Hopkinton in 1929 and was laid to rest with his family in Pine Grove Cemetery. How his store ledger, now over 130 years old, ended up inside a wall is a mystery.usband of M. Alice Brown
By KELLY SULLIVAN
Said to have been found inside the wall of a house on Spring Street, the opening page of the heavy brown ledger bares the eloquently penned words “C.H. Brown, Manufacturer of Clothing, Opened July 11, 1886.”
Charles H. Brown was born in North Stonington on October 28, 1857 to Charles Lathrop Brown and Margaret (Reynolds). Before relocating to Rhode Island, he worked as a grocery clerk. He married Mary Alice Maine on September 9, 1879 in Hopkinton and had three children; Lillian, Margaret and Charles Jr. The family resided on Spring Street and, in addition to running his store, Charles was also employed as the Hope Valley postmaster.
Charles Jr. helped his father in the store but, five years after its opening, he died from the side effects of a hernia operation at the age of nineteen. In 1919, Mary Alice died of a brain tumor at her daughter Lillian’s house in Providence.
Brown’s clothing store was much more than a place to buy garments, however. The 361-page ledger contains the accounts of dozens of regular customers and includes purchases of cheese, tea, coffee, flour, beef, lard and numerous other food items. A gallon of oil was six cents, tobacco was nine cents, a can of peaches was twenty cents, and cookies were twelve cents. In addition, Brown was a horse dealer and his accounts for that business are contained in the ledger as well. One of the most interesting accounts is that of Lucius Dwight Brown, a slightly infamous horse dealer whose obituary stated, “he was in many lawsuits and usually won”.
Brown apparently had ties, business or personal, with questionable people. A letter written in 1892 from a Connecticut sheriff to Hopkinton constable George Barber, detailed the escape of certain prisoners from a Norwich jail. He asked Barber to keep a look-out for them, especially one who he expected might pay a visit to his friend, horse dealer Charles Brown, near Wyoming.
Brown died in Hopkinton in 1929 and was laid to rest with his family in Pine Grove Cemetery. How his store ledger, now over 130 years old, ended up inside a wall is a mystery.usband of M. Alice Brown
HLedger Found In Hope Valley Wall
By KELLY SULLIVAN
Said to have been found inside the wall of a house on Spring Street, the opening page of the heavy brown ledger bares the eloquently penned words “C.H. Brown, Manufacturer of Clothing, Opened July 11, 1886.”
Charles H. Brown was born in North Stonington on October 28, 1857 to Charles Lathrop Brown and Margaret (Reynolds). Before relocating to Rhode Island, he worked as a grocery clerk. He married Mary Alice Maine on September 9, 1879 in Hopkinton and had three children; Lillian, Margaret and Charles Jr. The family resided on Spring Street and, in addition to running his store, Charles was also employed as the Hope Valley postmaster.
Charles Jr. helped his father in the store but, five years after its opening, he died from the side effects of a hernia operation at the age of nineteen. In 1919, Mary Alice died of a brain tumor at her daughter Lillian’s house in Providence.
Brown’s clothing store was much more than a place to buy garments, however. The 361-page ledger contains the accounts of dozens of regular customers and includes purchases of cheese, tea, coffee, flour, beef, lard and numerous other food items. A gallon of oil was six cents, tobacco was nine cents, a can of peaches was twenty cents, and cookies were twelve cents. In addition, Brown was a horse dealer and his accounts for that business are contained in the ledger as well. One of the most interesting accounts is that of Lucius Dwight Brown, a slightly infamous horse dealer whose obituary stated, “he was in many lawsuits and usually won”.
Brown apparently had ties, business or personal, with questionable people. A letter written in 1892 from a Connecticut sheriff to Hopkinton constable George Barber, detailed the escape of certain prisoners from a Norwich jail. He asked Barber to keep a look-out for them, especially one who he expected might pay a visit to his friend, horse dealer Charles Brown, near Wyoming.
Brown died in Hopkinton in 1929 and was laid to rest with his family in Pine Grove Cemetery. How his store ledger, now over 130 years old, ended up inside a wall is a mystery.usband of M. Alice Brown
By KELLY SULLIVAN
Said to have been found inside the wall of a house on Spring Street, the opening page of the heavy brown ledger bares the eloquently penned words “C.H. Brown, Manufacturer of Clothing, Opened July 11, 1886.”
Charles H. Brown was born in North Stonington on October 28, 1857 to Charles Lathrop Brown and Margaret (Reynolds). Before relocating to Rhode Island, he worked as a grocery clerk. He married Mary Alice Maine on September 9, 1879 in Hopkinton and had three children; Lillian, Margaret and Charles Jr. The family resided on Spring Street and, in addition to running his store, Charles was also employed as the Hope Valley postmaster.
Charles Jr. helped his father in the store but, five years after its opening, he died from the side effects of a hernia operation at the age of nineteen. In 1919, Mary Alice died of a brain tumor at her daughter Lillian’s house in Providence.
Brown’s clothing store was much more than a place to buy garments, however. The 361-page ledger contains the accounts of dozens of regular customers and includes purchases of cheese, tea, coffee, flour, beef, lard and numerous other food items. A gallon of oil was six cents, tobacco was nine cents, a can of peaches was twenty cents, and cookies were twelve cents. In addition, Brown was a horse dealer and his accounts for that business are contained in the ledger as well. One of the most interesting accounts is that of Lucius Dwight Brown, a slightly infamous horse dealer whose obituary stated, “he was in many lawsuits and usually won”.
Brown apparently had ties, business or personal, with questionable people. A letter written in 1892 from a Connecticut sheriff to Hopkinton constable George Barber, detailed the escape of certain prisoners from a Norwich jail. He asked Barber to keep a look-out for them, especially one who he expected might pay a visit to his friend, horse dealer Charles Brown, near Wyoming.
Brown died in Hopkinton in 1929 and was laid to rest with his family in Pine Grove Cemetery. How his store ledger, now over 130 years old, ended up inside a wall is a mystery.usband of M. Alice Brown
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