George and Ellen Brown

George Whitfield Brown (IV)
November 2, 1874 – August 25, 1961

Ellen Lenore Acres
December 16, 1874 – February 6, 1970

This lovely couple are my great grandparents! They are my mother’s mother’s parents.

George Whitfield was the third definitely and probably fourth person in the family line to be named after the pre-revolutionary evangelist of the same name (You’ll see him most often listed as George Whitefield but Whitfield also occurs which I believe tells us how his name was actually been pronounced since so many of his contemporaries would’ve only ever heard his name said and not seen it written. My 4x great-grandfather George was born in 1760 and my 5x great-grandfather Thomas would’ve been alive during Whitefield’s prime evangelizing years.

Both George (I) and Thomas fought in the Revolution and while the family stories I heard were always pretty vague to the point where I had my doubts, digging into ancestry.com again more recently has uncovered much more substantial info. So, I feel very confident that I AM the descendant of Revolutionaries which: cool.

Great-Grandpa George was a schoolteacher and well respected in the town. He was too old for both World War I and World War II but came out of retirement for the latter to teach for the duration.

There is a separate story related to Ellen which is about her mother which I will share at another time.

Both George and Ellen lived good long lives and were well-loved by their grandchildren. I have been told many stories by my mother about her much adored grandparents.

RIP George and Ellen