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University of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

A Mother’s Grief

 
 
A Mother’s Grief Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Christopher Busta-Peck, March 26, 2008
1. A Mother’s Grief Marker
Inscription.
In an age of high infant mortality, Sarah and John Brown experience more than their share of loss. Plagued by smallpox, yellow fever, cholera, typhoid, measles and mumps, early Baltimore families buried one of every three children before their first birthday.

Sarah Levering Brown (1751-1832), a Pennsylvania, and John Brown (1745-1794), a native of Belfast, Ireland moved to Baltimore in 1772, a year after their marriage. Over the next 23 years, Sarah gave birth to 10 children. Six of them died over a 12 year period - four before their second birthday - along with their father. Sarah brown would live another 30 years, dying at age 80 during Baltimore's horrible cholera epidemic of 1832.

[painting]
Mourning Rites Charles Willson Peale's depiction of his wife and infant daughter captures the pain and suffering all too familiar to people like Sarah and John Brown.

Rachel Weeping by Charles Willson Peale, oil on canvas, 1772
Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of the Barra Foundation, Inc., 1977.

A Timeline of Loss: Sarah Brown's Long Journey
1772 (Oct) Sarah, 21 years old, gives birth to her first child, James
1774 (Oct) Sarah's second child, William, is born
1777 (Feb) Sarah gives birth to a girl, Hannah
1780 (Apr) Sarah has another son, John
1782
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(Dec) A second daughter, Sarah, is born
1785 (Dec) Sarah gives birth to another boy, Thomas Jameson
1787 (May) Jesse, Sarah's seventh child, is born
1790 (Jan) 20-month-old Jesse dies
(Nov) Sarah gives birth to twins, Mary and Margaret; Mary dies two days later
1792 (Aug) 20-month-old Margaret dies
1794 (July) Sarah, now 43, gives birth to her tenth and final child, Joseph M.
(Nov) Sarah's husband, John, dies at 49, leaving seven children
1795 (?) James, Sarah's eldest at 23, dies
1796 (July) Two-year-old Joseph M. dies
1802 (Oct) Sarah's 16-year-old son Thomas, dies, leaving the 51-year-old widow with four grown children, ages 19-27

Brown family inscriptions:

1. Jesse Brown Died the 29th day of January 1790, Aged 20 Months
2. Mary Brown Died the 14th of November 1790, Aged 2 Days (Footstone M.B.)
3. Margaret Brown Died the 14th of August, 1792, Aged 20 Months
4. John Brown Who departed this life November 4th 1794 in the 49th Year of his Age (Footstone J.B. 1794)
5. Footstone J.B. 1795 [James Brown, born 1772]
6. Joseph M. Brown. Died the 3d day of July, 1796, Aged 2 years (Footstone J.B. 1796)
7. Thomas J. Brown The Son of John and Sarah Brown Who died the 3d day of Oct. 1802, Aged 16 years 9 Months, and 24 Days
A Mother’s Grief Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Christopher Busta-Peck, March 26, 2008
2. A Mother’s Grief Marker
(Footstone T.J.B. 1802)
8. Footstone S.B. [Sarah Brown]
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial SitesColonial EraWomen. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1790.
 
Location. 39° 17.404′ N, 76° 37.392′ W. Marker is in Baltimore, Maryland. It is in University of Maryland. Marker can be reached from the intersection of West Fayette Street and North Greene Street. Marker is on the grounds of Westminster Hall and Burying Ground. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 519 W Fayette St, Baltimore MD 21201, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. A Swashbuckling Merchant (a few steps from this marker); The Sleep of Young Innocents (a few steps from this marker); Rev. Patrick Allison (a few steps from this marker); Fame, Fortune and Financial Scandal (a few steps from this marker); Monumental Lives (a few steps from this marker); “…a truly affectionate wife” (a few steps from this marker); John McDonogh (within shouting distance of this marker); The McDonoghs of Baltimore (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Baltimore.
 
Mourning Rites image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, September 5, 2015
3. Mourning Rites
Charles Willson Peale's depiction of his wife and infant daughter captures the pain and suffering all too familiar to people like Sarah and John Brown.
Rachel Weeping 1772 by Charles Willson Peale
Close-up of image on marker
Footstones image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Allen C. Browne, May 29, 2017
4. Footstones
The only marker on the grave of Sarah Brown is her footstone simply marked S.B.
View south from the marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Christopher Busta-Peck, March 26, 2008
5. View south from the marker
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on October 8, 2021. It was originally submitted on March 26, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio. This page has been viewed 3,416 times since then and 9 times this year. Last updated on May 10, 2010, by Eleanor Wheeler of Bainbridge Island, Washington. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on March 27, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio.   3, 4. submitted on June 28, 2017, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.   5. submitted on March 27, 2008, by Christopher Busta-Peck of Shaker Heights, Ohio. • Kevin W. was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 19, 2024