George Henry Brown was a wealthy farmer from San Saba, Texas.
After the death of George's first wife Dora in 1906 he remarried Sarah "Sallie" H Brown (Wilson) (Weatherford).
On 10 April 1911, George was convicted and sentenced to serve life in prison for the 10 September 1911 murder of his second wife Sarah.
George's convict number was #36280 and according to available information obtained from the Texas, Conduct Registers, 1875-1945, he served time in the following Texas prison's until his pardon: Huntsville, Rusk, and Earthow (not sure of spelling).
On 12 January 1921, after serving "nearly eight and three-fourths years of his sentence", George was granted a full pardon (Proclamation #17391) by William Pettus Hobby (1878-1964) who was the Governor of Texas from 25 August 1917 to 18 January 1921.
It is however unclear if his pardon was as a result of new evidence of his innocence of the murder of his wife or as a result of good behavior.
According to a story told to [email protected] by Garince Land Sr., who was the grandson of Sarah, George was pardoned as a result of another man who was being executed and gave a chance to come clean on other crimes, and according to the story told by Garnice who was told the story by his mother Ava, the man said that his first crime he ever committed was the murder of a woman who was sleeping on her porch in Brownwood, Texas in the summer of 1911. As a result of his confession prior to his execution (which is estimated to have occurred sometime in 1920) and the resulting investigation, George Brown was released.
The above facts were recently discovered after several months of research by dthem_2000 and the wonderful assistance of Jeannette Buris who did the leg work in finding all the newspapers in the archive.
The Pardon information/documentation was obtained as a result of an information request submitted by dthem_2000 to the staff of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
For some unknown reason, George was referred to by the media as George W Brown in several news articles about the murder however, that is incorrect.
George Henry Brown was a wealthy farmer from San Saba, Texas.
After the death of George's first wife Dora in 1906 he remarried Sarah "Sallie" H Brown (Wilson) (Weatherford).
On 10 April 1911, George was convicted and sentenced to serve life in prison for the 10 September 1911 murder of his second wife Sarah.
George's convict number was #36280 and according to available information obtained from the Texas, Conduct Registers, 1875-1945, he served time in the following Texas prison's until his pardon: Huntsville, Rusk, and Earthow (not sure of spelling).
On 12 January 1921, after serving "nearly eight and three-fourths years of his sentence", George was granted a full pardon (Proclamation #17391) by William Pettus Hobby (1878-1964) who was the Governor of Texas from 25 August 1917 to 18 January 1921.
It is however unclear if his pardon was as a result of new evidence of his innocence of the murder of his wife or as a result of good behavior.
According to a story told to [email protected] by Garince Land Sr., who was the grandson of Sarah, George was pardoned as a result of another man who was being executed and gave a chance to come clean on other crimes, and according to the story told by Garnice who was told the story by his mother Ava, the man said that his first crime he ever committed was the murder of a woman who was sleeping on her porch in Brownwood, Texas in the summer of 1911. As a result of his confession prior to his execution (which is estimated to have occurred sometime in 1920) and the resulting investigation, George Brown was released.
The above facts were recently discovered after several months of research by dthem_2000 and the wonderful assistance of Jeannette Buris who did the leg work in finding all the newspapers in the archive.
The Pardon information/documentation was obtained as a result of an information request submitted by dthem_2000 to the staff of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
For some unknown reason, George was referred to by the media as George W Brown in several news articles about the murder however, that is incorrect.
Family Members
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Polly Ann Brown Hall
1841–1919
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Lavina Brown Duncan
1843–1936
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Jasper William Brown
1845–1929
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Leah Catherine Brown Fleming
1846–1936
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Newton Carlton "*Newt" Brown
1849–1945
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Manerva J. Brown Fleming
1852–1915
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Rebecca A. Brown Chapman
1854–1914
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John Mathias Brown
1856–1926
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Lawson Alexander Brown
1859–1938
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Elizabeth "Eliza" Carolyn Brown Rowntree
1865–1954
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