Friday, December 31, 2021

Liz Writes Life - 12-29-2021 The extraordinary life of Manuel Browne

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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