Albert Robert Brown

Born: 12 April 1887

Died: 23 November 1918

Rank and Regiment: Private, United States Army

Resting Place: Fall City, King County, Washingston State, United States

Albert Brown was born in Runhall on 12 April 1887 and baptised there on 12 June 1887. He was the son of Henry Charles Brown and Anna (nee Stevenson). He joined Runhall School on 4 May 1891 – it appears from the Admission Register that his father used the name Harry. He left Runhall School on 11 October 1898 as the family left the village, and by the time of the 1901 Census they were living in Lincolnshire. Harry Brown died later in 1901, and Albert emigrated to the USA by way of Canada in 1908, arriving in Seattle on 22 November 1908.

His naturalisation papers record that he was 5 ft 6½ in tall, weighed 153 lb (10 st 13 lb) and had fair hair and blue eyes. He married Alma Natalia Nilsdottir (1886-1976) in Seattle in 1912 and became a naturalised American citizen in 1913. They had two children, a son Claude born in 1917 and a daughter Audrey born in 1913 who sadly died in 1918. More of Claude presently.

The USA declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917 and on 5 June 1917 Albert was drafted into the US Army.

He died on 23 November 1918 at “Fort McDowell” – as his death is registered in the state of California (state reference 46602) it is clear that this was not Fort McDowell, Arizona, but the transit station of that name which was on Angel Island, San Francisco during the Great War. We do not know the circumstances of Albert’s death. He is buried at Fall City, King County, Washington State; in early 1928 a War Veteran’s memorial stone was placed on his grave.

Albert’s widow Alma married William Wilder Stephenson in 1922 and Claude’s surname was changed from Brown to Stephenson. During World
War II Claude joined the US Marine Corp where he was a Platoon Sergeant. He was killed in action in Guam and awarded the Purple Heart.