Brown Family Men, Take Note…Cook for Your Wives!

When at my grandmother’s funeral several months ago, I took the occasion to find some of my relatives grave sites.  Particularly my G-Great Grandfather David S. Brown (1853-1926 Four Mile cemetery, Anniston, Alabama). When I asked my Aunt (who still lives in the area) about him, she said that his wife, Lizzie, had died in a fire by “catching her dress on fire while loading wood in her stove.”  I remembered reading a similar story online when doing research before. So I looked it up again and found an obit. for my G-grandfather’s sister-in-law who died in a fire while cooking.  I posted the story and assumed word of mouth had transferred the story to my G-Grandmother…WRONG!!

Amazingly, my Great Grandmother Lizzie also actually died in a fire…while cooking.   SO… Brown husbands, cook for your wives!

Here’s the article.

“THE CLEBURNE NEWS” Issue of Thursday, MAY 2, 1935:

MRS. BROWN IS DEAD FROM BURNS

Burns suffered from several months ago as she started a fire at her home at Jacksonville, proved fatal to Mrs. Lizzie Brown, who died at 1 o’clock Friday morning at the home of her son Ernest Brown, at 705 King street in Anniston.  She had been with her son since the accident and several days ago was reported to be recovering.

AGED WOMAN BURNED TO DEATH

NEWSPAPER ABSTRACTS FROM “THE CLEBURNE NEWS, Heflin, Cleburne County, Alabama

for JULY 1919

AGED WOMAN BURNED TO DEATH

News of the horrible death of Mrs. Brown, wife of W.Z. [William Zealous] Brown on Heflin, route 8, near Lecta on Monday was brought to town on Wednesday morning by Mr. W.J. Bell. According to the report, Mrs. Brown was in the act of starting a fire in the stove preparatory to cooking dinner and in pouring kerosene on the hot coals in the stove, the blaze ignited the oil in the can causing an explosion, enveloping the unfortunate woman in a solid mass of flame, all of her clothing being burned off with the exception of the waistband of her skirt. Although her entire body was burned to a solid crisp, Mrs. Brown strugged to the well not far away and poured dipperfull after dipperfull of water on her head and body. Continue reading