Sara B. Brown, née Brujordet, 1864-1928

 

Headstone GPS Coordinates: burial location in the cemetery unknown

Birth: 1864, Bismo, Oppland, Norway

Death: 13 February 1928, Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington

Relatives in Seabeck Cemetery: Madeline Josephine Brown

 

Sigrid Olsdotter Brujordet was born in 1864 in Bismo, Oppland, Norway, the eldest of five children born to Ole Olsen Gubhagen Brujordet (1836–1881) and Magnhild Toresdatter Gjeilo, also known as Gjellaug (1840–about 1898). She was baptized on October 16, 1864 in the parish of Skjåk, Oppland. As a child, she was recorded with her parents and younger siblings in the 1875 census, growing up in a rural Norwegian community shaped by family ties, farm life, and the rhythms of the church.

In the summer of 1886, at just twenty-one years old, Sigrid left Norway for America. Traveling westward through Minnesota, she passed through areas where some of her relatives may have settled; an uncle lived there, and years later her sister would visit him. Eventually, Sigrid became known as Sarah B. Brown, the name she would use for the remainder of her life.

In November 1892, Sarah married Henry M. Brown, possibly in Oregon, though no marriage record has yet been located. Henry was a ship’s carpenter from Maine and was twelve years her senior. Their married life eventually brought them to Seattle, King County, Washington, where the births of their children were officially recorded. Their first son, Charles, was born on April 1, 1897, followed by William M. Brown on July 11, 1899. During this period, Sarah’s sister Thora—often spelled “Toro” in contemporary records—boarded with the family. Thora later returned to Minnesota, and when she traveled west again to visit Sarah in Seattle, her local Minnesota newspaper noted that she would be making the journey on the Northern Pacific Railroad.

By 1900, Sarah and Henry were living on 10th Avenue South in Seattle with their two young sons. They had been married for eight years, and Sarah reported that she had already lost one child, likely between the births of Charles and William. The home, however, was not a happy one. On January 30, 1901, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that articles of separation between Henry M. Brown and Sarah B. Brown had been filed with the county auditor. The document, described as the first of its kind recorded in King County, recited their marriage in November 1892, noted that there were two children, and stated that many differences had arisen between them. By mutual agreement, they resolved to live separate and apart for the rest of their natural lives.

At the time of the separation, it was unclear whether Sarah knew she was pregnant, as the papers made no mention of it. Nevertheless, on September 3, 1901, the birth of Maggie Brown was recorded. The record identified the parents as Sarah “Burjority,” a 37-year-old woman from Norway, and Henry Miller Brown, a 48-year-old carpenter from Maine.

Shortly after the separation, Henry filed for divorce and then disappeared from Seattle, likely returning to life at sea. He resurfaced in the 1910 census near New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was working as a ship’s carpenter. By 1930, he was again located in the census, this time living in East Palatka, Putnam County, Florida, employed as a laborer on a potato farm. Henry died there in 1932 and was buried in the Putnam County Poor Farm Cemetery. There is no evidence that he had any contact with his children in Washington during those years.

In 1907, Sarah left Seattle for a quieter life in Seabeck to raise her three children. 

By 1910, Sarah was enumerated in the census as a “widowed” mother of five children, only three of whom were still living. It was not uncommon at the time for women who had been abandoned by their husbands to describe themselves as widowed, even when their spouse or former spouse was still alive. Living with her were Charles R., age 13; William K., age 10; and Madeline J., age 8. To support her family, Sarah worked as a cook in a hotel.

Tragedy struck again in 1911, when a house fire claimed the life of her daughter. On Madeline’s death certificate, she was listed as “Josephine,” likely her middle name. Family lore holds that she ran back into the burning house to retrieve her doll. Her remains were presumably interred in Seabeck Cemetery, although the death certificate does not specify a burial location. A descendant later recalled that the house was rebuilt on the same property, only to burn down again years afterward.

By 1920, Sarah was living alone in her home in Seabeck, though her son Charles lived nearby. The census noted that she owned her property outright, free of mortgage, and that she was a naturalized citizen.

Sarah B. Brown died on February 13, 1928, at the home of her son Charles in Bremerton, likely as the result of a stroke. She had been bedridden for two years by that time. She was buried two days later in Seabeck, marked only by a temporary marker in the upper eastern side of the cemetery with Madeline, according to her family. Over the following decades, knowledge of Sarah had faded from local memory, and it was mistakenly believed that she was buried in the Brown family plot with William and Larry Brown. In fact, neither she nor her husband had any relationship to William or Larry Brown.