PAULINA LOUISA (SWEATT) BROWN

Paulina Louisa Sweatt, known as "Lina", was the youngest of ten children born to Captain John Dennis Sweatt, Sr. and Louisa Maria Simpson Sweatt, who traveled from Henry County, Tennessee by covered wagon to Missouri about 1850. At about age 18 she professed her faith in Christ and united with the Christian church at Sunnyside. Her family always said that her every day life proved her love of her Saviour. She loved her children, relatives and friends and always thought of their needs before her own.

Paulina and David Harrison Brown were married December 9, 1880. They built a two-room log house in 1880 and moved into it after they married. Over the years as their family grew, they added on a front porch and a dining room and kitchen; the upstairs attic space was used as sleeping quarters for the children during warm months. They had five children, Rhoda Maria, Fred Harrison, Emma Luvenia, Maude Eler, and John Lewis. Maude died at age 5; John Lewis died at age 7 months; both are buried in Brown Cemetery beside their parents. The other children grew to adulthood and had families of their own.

Her husband, David Brown, died at home on August 30, 1898, leaving the young widow to handle the farm and the family alone. Lina was a strong, determined, tiny woman who took over everything and kept the farm running with the help of her children and later her father, who moved onto the farm to assist after his wife's death. After his death she was a soul companion to her three living children, always sharing their sorrows as well as their pleasures. Paulina was adored, respected, and admired by her 3 children and 20 grandchildren. They suffered switchings at Paulina's hand when they did not tow the line, but they loved her dearly.

Paulina was the last living child of a family of eleven children. A few days after her last living brother's sudden death, her health deteriorated until she was stricken with pneumonia and died. She was buried beside her husband and two children in Brown Cemetery.