Dec. 29, 2021
Liz Writes Life
It’s time to have some more fun learning about an ancestor of
the Timmon’s family, Emanuel Timothy Browne. His great-granddaughter, Tery
Timmons Drager, included the colorful story about Manuel in her family history
book. Tery’s great-aunt, Esther Browne Foulke, wrote much of the story I will
relate. He led a colorful life and little of his childhood can be certified, so
the family relied on his telling of it. Here we go!
Manuel was likely born in Portugal. His father was a sea
captain, who had his wife and two-year-old Manuel with him while crossing the
English Channel in the mid-1830s. The ship went down in a storm, but the child
was saved by the First Mate Jose de Brum also known as Joseph Browne. The
parents were lost.
It is not known who raised Manuel, but throughout his adult
years Manuel offered references to living in central Europe, Ireland, Spain or
Portugal. When he reached the age of 14, in 1849, he went to sea and was known
to speak five languages when he arrived later in Scott Valley.
He first worked as a cabin boy on a whaling ship. The Irish
whaling fleet, like many others in the early 1800s was based in the Azores.
Manuel stayed on whalers and worked his way up to First Mate. The tiny blue
star tattooed on his wrist was a First Mate insignia. He sailed to many lands,
suffering the hardships and also enjoying the glory offered by the sailing
craft of his day. He also had three stars tattooed on his arm -- one for each
trip around the world.
There were fascinating stories from many lands that Manuel
related by the fireside or campfire. The Islands of the Hawaiian group were his
favorite ports of call because of the abundance of vegetables and fruit – a
treat to a seafaring man of those times.
Manuel sailed with the whaling fleets in the Pacific. He told
of one excursion in 1859, when they successfully harpooned a whale and then the
whale wrecked the ship. All hands were cast into the icy water. He survived and
saved one other man by holding him up by his hair until another whaling ship
rescued them. Manuel was a strong and rugged man, who knew no fear.
Though not intentional, Manuel left his seafaring-life at the
port of San Francisco. The year was 1861. He was First Mate and all the crew,
including the Captain, jumped ship to go to the gold fields, so Manuel was
stranded. He began working his way to Northern California and the gold fields
as well. Manuel recalled having an overwhelming desire to own a ranch and stay
in one place.
Believe it or not, Manuel showed up in Modoc County during
the Modoc Indian War and related that he actually took milk to the starving
Indians hiding in the ice caves. From there, he worked his way into Shasta
Valley working on ranches and dairies in Siskiyou County.
He first worked on the John Fairchild Ranch in Butte Valley.
The ranch became the Army headquarters for the duration of the Modoc War. The
Louie Ranch and Orr Ranch provided him with more experience in Shasta Valley.
In 1872, he moved to Scott Valley and worked at the John Smith ranch and then
was able to purchase the O.V. Green property on Miners Creek portion of French
Creek and it was soon known as the Browne Ranch. Around 1890, Manuel became a
naturalized citizen.
In 1883, he married Mary Ellen Samon, daughter of Patrick and
Ellen Samon, who were Irish immigrants seeking gold and ended up in the South
Fork of the Scott River in the late 1850s. Mary Ellen was born at South Fork in
1862. Much of the success of the ranch is given to Mary Ellen’s ability, great
effort and grace of this fine pioneer lady.
In 1913, the Browne family home was built, where the previous
original house had burned. He homesteaded the surrounding areas, developed the
land and raised vegetables, fruit, grain, hay and cattle, which summered in the
Fish Lake and Russian Creek mountain areas.
The couple were blessed with nine children and it was
daughter Evelyn Gertrude Browne (1893 – 1856), who married John Timmons (1864 –
1835). These are Tery’s grandparents. Two of their sons, Fred and Jim, were
founding supporters of the Pleasure Park Rodeo in Etna, but that is another
story.
Manuel’s own freight teams hauled produce to as far south as
Redding by way of Scott Mountain trails. Pack trains loaded with produce
traveled to mines around Cecilville and then Black Bear and Ball Mines. From
1870s to 1890, Manuel and his brother-in-law, Jim Sullivan, drove ranch cattle
to these mines where they were butchered and the meat was stored deep in the
cool tunnels to feed the miners.
Manuel died in Scott Valley on April 29, 1930 at the age of
around 95.
So, there you go: A glimpse into the life of a rugged
adventurous pioneer. In this day and age of speedy travel, it is hard to
imagine the skill needed to sail the world, the challenge of catching a whale
and then to eventually settle in Scott Valley. Did he travel on foot or did he
have a horse or mule to ride, while forging through the mountains and valleys
of Northern California? Hum, likely both.
Sure do hope you are writing or recording some of your life
stories – even if you didn’t sail the world, catch a whale or grow a ranch in
Scott Valley!
May peace and calm
be with you this week. Smile – just cuz it makes you feel better!
Liz Bowen began
writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native
of Siskiyou County. Columns from the past can be found at:
lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.
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