Biographical Material

William Joseph “Joe” Brown was born on February 12, 1890, in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He was the son of Frank A. Brown, who worked for the Grand Forks Herald, and the grandson of William H. Brown, the first mayor of Grand Forks. Joe Brown attended the city's public schools and graduated from Central High School. He then went to work for the Herald, but was drafted into the United States Army in 1918, due to World War I. After basic training in the U.S., Joe was shipped to France where he worked as a clerk in two separate hospitals. After the war, he resumed employment for the Herald. He married Mabel Brenden on August 17, 1920. The couple had one son, Frank, and two daughters: Elsie Anne, and Barbara. In 1938, Brown was promoted to manager of the advertising department. Joe Brown died suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack at his home on February 15,1946. He is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Grand Forks. The Joe Brown correspondence consists of 87 letters, the bulk of which date from July 26, 1918, through May 28, 1919. The documents have been divided into three folders: the first folder dates from July through August 1918, when he was stationed in Camp Custer, Michigan, and Camp Merritt, New Jersey. The second folder dates from September 1918 through February 17, 1919, which includes his trip overseas, a brief stay in England, and his assignment to Hospital Camp #59 in Issoudan, France, where he worked as a medical clerk. The third folder dates from February 23, 1919, through May 28, 1919, and consists of his transfer to the Sixth Cavalry, Medical Detachment, Vendome, France. Brown returned to the United States on June 29, 1918, at Newport News, Virginia. Brown's letters were written to “Dad”, “Mother,” “Sis,” or Elsie, and his fiancée, Mabel. His letters alluded to the Spanish Flu which claimed millions of lives in the U.S.A. and worldwide; however, he almost never described seeing this illness in France or England. While he expressed concern for the folks back home he mentioned little about death, destruction, or the misery of war. His tone was pleasant and optimistic. Topics included such dynamics as good food, enjoyable trips while on leave to Paris or Versailles, and his becoming friends with a French family. He also expressed interest in North Dakota elections. The letters were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection by Barbara Brown Modisett, North Carolina, on March 23, 2004 (Acc.#2004-2707). Two books authored by Modisett, Letters Home: Joe Brown in World War I, and Colonel William H. Brown, 1832-1910: A Scrapbook were separated and placed in the North Dakota Book Collection. Letters Home was published in 1992, and consists of edited selections of Joe Brown’s World War I correspondence. Colonel William H. Brown was published in 2002 and consists of newspaper clippings, photographs, documents, and genealogical materials related to William H. Brown, Civil War veteran, and the first mayor of Grand Forks.