The Brown family like many has a long, convoluted, and colorful history. Beginning now, with the modern generation of the family, we have a photo displaying at right of Lucy Clark Brown Lester. Lucy married Henry Clay Lester on August 10, 1871 when she was 16 years old. She was also the sister of Tarleton Brown who played a role in the Spencer-Terry shootout in the late 1800s. At the time of the shootout Tarleton and his wife, Eliza, had one child named Mattie. After he was wounded he did not die, as is sometimes reported, but lived on a few more years and had two more children, a boy and a girl. The boy was named Rives Spotswood Brown; the girl was Lucy Brown. In studying history it is a common thing to find families that repeat given names over and over from one generation to the the next. And so it is with the Brown family. This sister of Tarleton Brown eventually came to be known as "Big Lucy". And the daughter appropriately was known as "Little Lucy". When Tarleton died the two younger children were adopted by "Big Lucy" and her husband. She and Henry Clay had no children of their own. The older daughter, Mattie, wasn't adopted and may have already been married by this time to George Milton Andes.
Who was Henry Clay Lester ... to follow.
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