Why Formerly Enslaved African American Clara Brown is an Example for Our Time

 

By Donna Wichelman

As an author of historical romance, occasionally I'm inspired by a real-life historical figure and create a character with similar traits. Formerly enslaved, African American Clara Brown's true life story compelled me to bring to life the fictional character, Cecelia Richards, in my Gilded Age romance coming out in December.

Clara Brown rode into Colorado in the mid-nineteenth century and stole the hearts of many who called her “Aunt Clara” for her generosity and philanthropy. Though technically not a Georgetown resident, Clara first settled in Denver, then moved to the mining town of Central City twenty miles northeast of Georgetown. In time, she invested in real estate and mining properties in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties.

C Stephen H. Hart Research Center at History Colorado, Scan #10027902lara Brown, (aka “Aunt Clara”) invested in mining property in Georgetown in the 1860s and 1870s.
Used by Permission of the Stephen H. Hart Research Center at History Colorado, Scan #10027902

Born into slavery in 1800, Clara spent her early years in Virginia and was sold several times to the highest bidder. A Virginian tobacco farmer, Ambrose Smith, bought her, and she continued to work for him after he moved to Kentucky. At age eighteen, she married Richard, and they had four children. But when Smith died, her husband and four children were tragically sold off to different people across the country. Devastated, Clara vowed she would find them someday despite the odds of getting her freedom.

Clara’s last owner, hat maker George Brown sympathized with Clara's plight. In 1856, after working for him as a domestic for twenty years, he died and stipulated in his will that she must be freed and given money to begin a new life. Touched by his generosity, Clara began a search for her family. However, three years later, heartbroken and running out of cash, she gave up.

Clara convinced a group of gold prospectors, going west on a wagon train, to take her along as their cook. After a long arduous journey, she came to Colorado in 1859 and lived in Denver, working as a baker. She also helped two Methodist missionaries set up a non-denominational Sunday School. With the goal of finding her family ever-present, she followed the stream of people, heading to the mountains to make their fortunes in gold and silver. She didn’t care about the money, only the ability to reunite with her family.

Tailings from a Silver Mine Near Georgetown, Colorado: Donna's Gallery 2019

She settled in Central City where she set up a laundry, offered her services as a cook and midwife, and began saving money. By the time the Civil War ended and other blacks had been given their freedom, her income had grown enough so that she could support herself, give to local charities, take in sick and injured miners, as well as invest in mining properties and real estate. She also set up a nondenominational Sunday School and gave money and time to four churches, including St. James Methodist Church, where Clara was known to hold services in her home before the church was built and host missionary circuit riders.

Central City, Colorado Street Scene: ID 253110770 © Littleny | Dreamstime.com

Governor Pitkin sent Clara to Kansas in 1879 as an official representative to invite black Exodusters (former enslaved homesteaders) to move to Colorado. With a mining strike at hand and jobs needing to be filled, they had plenty of work. Clara donated her own money to help relocate them.

Clara finally heard credible news in 1882 that her daughter Eliza lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa. By then, her funds had been spent down or extorted by unethical men in real estate, and friends had to help her get to Iowa. Once there, she discovered that Eliza had been living there for some time, and mother and daughter finally reunited after more than half a century. Newspapers all over the country carried the story.

Clara brought her daughter back to Colorado where they lived until Clara’s death in 1885. To honor this extraordinary woman, the Central City Opera House debuted an opera in 2003 called Gabrielle’s Daughter. Her story of courage and passion continues to be played out on the stage today.

Central City, Colorado Opera House: ID 56740743 © Marek Uliasz | Dreamstime.com

None of us would want to live Clara Brown’s real-life story. As a Caucasian woman, I can’t begin to understand the dynamics of all that she experienced. Yet, something about her story inspires us, moves us to admire her, and makes us hope. Christian author Jerry Sittser calls this the “redemptive spirit” of her story.

Many people extoll Clara for having been the first successful African American business woman in Colorado. Others pay tribute to her angel-like qualities—her good works, caring for the sick, the poor, and the underserved. Most praise her for coming out of slavery to establish a life full of “passion and purpose” (see Clara Brown: Angel of the Rockies, August 26, 2016, Colorado Virtual Library). All of this is true.

Yet Clara Brown’s story is much more than what people say of her. It calls us to view our lives in the light of hers and discover what enabled her to move from enslavement to being truly free—not only free from slavery but free from the bonds of the petty and the shallow.

Imbued with faith in God and strength of character, she didn’t allow her circumstances to diminish her. She could have become bitter, blaming the world—even God—for allowing her husband and children to be cruelly removed from her. Indeed, she had every reason to hate her enslavers. Instead, she gained wisdom and strength and overcame her circumstances, transforming her into a woman of grace, humility, and generosity—loving people, giving of her time, and persevering in the face of a hopeless cause to find her children.

Clara Brown transcended the ways of her day and made a difference in the communities where she lived. Perhaps we’d never want to live her life, but I believe most of us—maybe even secretly deep down—want to emulate her spirit in a way that brings profound meaning to our own lives. Her example provides a roadmap for us to follow in our current-day trifling and chaotic world.

Weaving history and faith into stories of intrigue and redemption grew out of Donna's love of travel, history, and literature as a young adult while attending the United World College of the Atlantic--an international college in Wales, U.K. She enjoys developing plots that show how God's love abounds even in the profoundly difficult circumstances of our lives. Her stories reflect the hunger in all of us for love, belonging, and forgiveness.

Donna was a communications professional before writing full-time. Her short stories and articles have appeared in inspirational publications. She has two indie-published romantic suspense novels, Light Out of Darkness and Undaunted Valor, in her Waldensian Series. Her Gilded Age historical romance, A Song of Deliverance, will be released by Scrivenings Press in December 2024.

Donna and her husband of forty years participate in ministry at their local church in Colorado. They love spending time with their grandchildren and bike, kayak, and travel whenever possible.