Representative women of New England/Emma E. Brown
EMMA ELIZABETH BROWN, artist and writer, was born in Concord, N.H., October 18, 1847, daughter of John Frost and Elizabeth (Evans) Brown. Her father had no sons, his brother Henry (also deceased) never married, and, her grand-father Brown having been an only son, Miss Brown is the last of her line to bear the family name. As stated by the late Henry Brown, who was a genealogist, this family of Brown in New England is of German origin and the early spelling of the name was Braun.
Through her paternal grandmother, Mrs. Susannah Frost Brown, Miss Brown traces her descent from Edmund Frost, Ruling Elder of the church in Cambridge, Mass. Elder Frost, said to have been son of John Frost, of Ipswich, England, came over in the ship "Great Hope" in 1635, and was made freeman at Cambridge, March 3, 1630. He died in July, 1672. In his will, which was probated in October following, he left bequests to his widow Reana (his second wife, each of his eight children, something to the new college (Harvard) then building at Cambridge, and to George Alcock, a student. Much time was spent by Mr. Henry Brown in England, looking up the records of the Frost family.
Miss Brown's father, John Frost Brown, for many years a leading bookseller in Concord, N.H., was an ardent lover of beauty, whether in nature or art. During her girlhood, as she took long outdoor tramps with him, he taught her to note the changing beauties of sky and land and sea, which in later years she has been so skilful in reproducing on canvas. During his busy life he collected a large library of valuable books. He was a great reader himself, and he directed her reading, which dwelt mostly on outdoor themes and stories of golden deeds in ancient and modern history. This reading has borne fruit in the many interesting volumes to which Miss Brown's name is attached. Her mother, Elizabeth Evans, was also of English descent, but her family record shows more practical business men than scholars. She herself had great executive ability and an energetic temperament. Her parents were Artemas and Margaret (Sargent) Evans. The latter. Miss Browns grandmother, lived to be more than a hundred years old, and when she was ninety-two had four sisters living who were over ninety. Only two of the five, however, reached the century mark, and none of the later generation showed any striking longevity.
Miss Brown has made a name for herself with both pen and bush. Well-trained in the Concord schools, she was always a student at home and a keen observer a« she travelled. She is a versatile woman, and one turns with delight from her paintings to her histories, her poems, her clever illustrating.
Her magazine stories — many under the pseudonym "B. E. E." — have a grace and tenderness which are ai)t to send one back for second reading. Her biographies of Washington, Grant, Garfield, and Oliver Wendell Holmes are in steady demand. "Huldah," her book of patriotic verse, dedicated to a member of the D. A. R., is read with appreciation by lovers of graceful poetry. To change slightly the author's own lines about another, it may well be said that Miss Brown, "among New Hampshire's daughters, stanch and strong, has made her name well known, both for her story and her song."
As described by a friend. Miss Brown's personality is graceful and channing. The eyes are remarkable — deep as the. violets she so beautifully paints, with long dark lashes. Her presence diffuses sweetness and strength, and to have met her once is to always long to know her more intimately.
Not over robust. Miss Brown is unable to keep as busy as her ambition would direct. The demand for her charming water-colors exceeds the supply. At her exhibition a year ago the favorite pictures were scenes at the Azores, where Miss Brown has passed much vacation time. This year (1903) she has busily sketched along the Massachusetts coast. Few, indeed, are they who can depict life in two ways, on glowing canvas and printed page; but Miss Brown holds the secret of both arts.