Francis Brown

Francis Brown was born between 1908 and 1913 in Thomasville, Georgia. He died as a prisoner-laborer at State Road convict camp #46 in Ferry Pass, Florida on 16 JUN 1936. More on his death to come.

His mother is listed on the death certificate as Aster Brown; I believe this should be Esther Brown.

The first census in which I find Francis Brown is the 1930 Federal Census for Kissimmee, Osceola County, Florida. He lived with his mother, Esther, who rented a home on Alma Ave. for $6 a month. She was identified as a Negro woman, 35 years old, born in Georgia of two parents born in Georgia. She was married for the first time at the age of 20, and it appears that she was still married, though there is no husband in the household. She was literate, and made her living by taking in laundry. Francis was identified as a Negro male, 17 years old and single. He was born in Georgia of two parents born in Georgia. He was literate and had attended school, but had no occupation. One more person, a woman of color named Osie B. Love of Georgia, shared the household, though no familial relationship is indicated.

In the 1935 State Census of Florida, Esther and Francis are still in Kissimmee, though no address was provided. Esther was 40 years old, identified as a Colored female, and widowed. She was born in Georgia. She had a high school education, rented her home, and worked as a cook. Francis was 20 years old, identified as a Colored male, with no marital status given. He was born in Georgia, had a high school education, and worked as a laborer.

In the spring of 1936, Francis Brown was arrested in Kissimmee and “returned” to Fort Lauderdale where he was convicted in the Circuit Court after pleading guilty to grand larceny of 2,000 fertilizer sacks from the Blount Bros. Farm. It is not clear from the article if there was fertilizer in the sacks; an earlier article indicated it was $64 worth. Another article had said he pled guilty to stealing beans. He was sentenced to five years at the state prison for this crime.

Exactly one month after his sentencing, he died at the State Road Convict Camp in Escambia County, Florida, after having been at the camp only 4 days. The death certificate indicated he died “suddenly” of angina pectoris. According to the death certificate, he was 28 years old; according to Florida state prison record, he was 24. The prison record indicated he died of natural causes.

He was buried at the Escambia County Poor Farm Cemetery.

Esther appeared in the 1940 Federal Census for Kissimmee, Florida. She owned her home on Randolph Avenue. She was 40 years old and still worked as a laundress. She had three boarders, two of whom worked in road construction. I have not found her after that date.

What keeps me picking at this individual more than most is the man who was listed as the informant – and the undertaker – on Brown’s death certificate: M.H. Lynn. A search of the Pensacola newspaper of the era turns up M.H. Lynn pretty quickly. Captain M.H. Lynn, who ran the Indiantown State Convict Camp in Palm Beach County, Florida (the complete other end of the state from Escambia) was dismissed from his state employment after being investigated on charges of cruelty to the prisoners. The investigator had received an unsigned letter complaining of brutality in the camp, and his visit to the camp found convicts that had been beaten with a stick, one quite severely. The dismissal was October 31, 1936 – just over four months after Francis Brown’s death.

You better believe I’m still researching this one.

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Florida Certificate of Death for Francis Brown (No. 10611), Florida Deaths, 1877-1939. Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2016. Index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City.

“Highway Officer Bearing Down on Reckless Drivers,” Fort Lauderdale Daily News, 5 MAY 1936, p. 4.

“Veniremen Drawn for Crime Cases in Circuit Court,” Fort Lauderdale Daily News, 12 MAY 1936, p. 1.

“Check Kiter Gets Year’s Sentence,” Fort Lauderdale Daily News, 16 MAY 1936, p. 1.

Florida Division of Corrections. Florida State Prison Register: A, 1875-1959. 1959 (circa). State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/3462456>, accessed 22 December 2022.

“Florida Convict Officials Fired; Charge Cruelty,” The Pensacola Journal, 1 NOV 1936, p. 20.