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Carrie Brown : Murder In The East River Hotel
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#Post#: 5199--------------------------------------------------
Carrie & Charles' Children
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: August 17, 2025, 11:00 am
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Live and learn....
I had always been under the impression that Carrie's son was the
youngest of the children.
In fact, the newspapers always made a point of mentioning him as
the third of three children.
That's false.
I should have asked Mrs. Genealogy over here, because she knew
this for years!!!
An example of how the boy is always listed third:
Lynn ( Mass) Daily Item
April 27, 1891
************
HTML https://i.imgur.com/TRrYtJ7.png
The children, in order.
MARY ELLEN BROWN
The 1880 Massachusetts Census lists Ellen Allen ( oldest
daughter of Carrie Brown )
living on Hardy Street, Salem. Her occupation was listed as
seamstress.
Her husband, Frank P. Allen, on the same census, is listed as
living on Washington
Street in Salem, eight-tenths of a mile apart and separated.
They had a child, Harry P., born in April 1877. The child died
three
months later in July of 1877 of Inanition ( Exhaustion caused by
lack of nourishment)
Ellen's father and Carrie's late husband was born, according to
the 1880 census, in
Schleswig, Germany.
Like her mother, Ellen had a male child who died...apparently
her only child.
Like her mother, she and her husband separated.
Nina remembers an article....it may have been from
Massachusetts.....that remarked upon the similarities
between Carrie and her oldest daughter....and it was inferred
that Mary hit the bottle in a way her mother had.
If true, it didn't last long.
ALLEN, Mary Ellen ( nee Brown )
Oldest daughter of Carrie Brown
Responsible For Returning Carrie's Remains Back To Salem
Born February 11, 1854
Died February 9, 1902 ( 47 years, 11 mos., 29 days)
Place: Rhode Island Hospital ( Providence, Rhode Island)
Married: Frank P. Allen
Date of Marriage- November 7, 1875, in Salem, Mass.
Birthplace: Salem, Massachusetts
Buried: Harmony Grove Cemetery- Salem, Mass.
Sister- Annie de Anguera( nee Brown)
Father- Charles E.
Born in Germany
Mother- Ellen Caroline
Born in England
****************************************************************
CHARLES E. BROWN, JR.
Charles E, Jr. was the second child
He is listed as Charles L. on Find A Grave.
It is also L on the Death Certificate and on the grave.
However, on his birth certificate, he is listed as Charles E.
Born February 22, 1857
Died May 25, 1859. Cause is listed as 'lung'
*****************************************************************
ANNA BROWN
Annie Brown was the third child
Born: About 1861. Still looking for her birth cert. or baptismal
record.
Married May 7th, 1879, to Fernando de Anguera in Boston.
Died 1943
1920 US Census listed as being 58 and as Anna W. Brown
Carrie Brown was recalled as a very cruel mother ( Boston Globe,
Lynn Daily Item, both from
April 27, 1891. Charles took them back to Salem in 1863 when
Anna was approx. two years old.
The source of the statements...as in did her husband's family
state this, her former friends in
Salem come up with it, is unknown.
The papers also mentioned her returning to Salem to work for a
sea captain. I get the feeling that
her return to New York was possibly a result of her being
rejected by the caregivers of the two girls,
in her failed effort to touch base with the children. Just a bit
of speculation, of course.
#Post#: 5205--------------------------------------------------
Re: Carrie & Charles' Children
DIR By: Jose Oranto
Date: August 18, 2025, 12:20 am
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Thanks for this thread, How & Nina.
We hope little Charles's birth date will eventually turn up. It
would also be interesting to know his middle name, "E," and
Anna's middle name, "W." I've checked all the relatives buried
in the same plot, looking for anyone who might have started with
"E" or "W," but nothing comes up.
Thanks again for your splendid work.
#Post#: 5210--------------------------------------------------
Re: Carrie & Charles' Children
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: August 18, 2025, 4:42 am
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Jose:
Nina is working on figuring out what the initials stood for.
Thanks for the compliments, amigo.
There are no known descendants of Carrie Brown, both daughters
died without children that reached adulthood, the latest
daughter died in the 1940s. A son of Carrie's died as a child. I
know this because my GGG grandmother, Hannah Lassen, raised my
great-grandmother and Carrie's kids in the same household after
Charles E. Brown died in 1873 off the coast of Zanzibar.
Gary Thomas, descendant of the Lassen family.
#Post#: 5214--------------------------------------------------
Re: Carrie & Charles' Children
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: August 18, 2025, 5:38 am
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27 April 1891 Salem News account (2 parts)
The following was transcribed by Gary Thomas back in February
2010
Salem Evening News
Monday April 27, 1891
NOON EDITION
One o’clock
SALEM WOMAN
A Victim of Jack the Ripper
Married a Well Known Sea Captain,
Who Left Her Because of Her Vicious Habits
Was a Good Woman While in Salem
Baptized at the Central Baptist Church
Two Daughters Living, One of Them in This City
A local flavor has been imparted to the mysterious New York
tragedy by the discovery that the murdered woman was formerly a
resident here, provided of course that there is no mistake in
the identity. The following dispatch from New York was printed
in yesterday’s papers. While in one part it will be seen that
this story is contradicted. Following the story from New York
will be found an account given by the relatives of Mrs. Brown in
this city.
The New York dispatch says: “No crime committed in this city for
years has started the police department to such tremendous
activity as the horrible butchery of Carrie Brown, alias “Old
Shakespeare” by “Jack the Ripper” or his double at the East
River hotel.
Since noon Friday the fourteenth precinct has been fairly alive
with detectives and policeman in citizen’s clothes. They have
been dragging all the low dives and resorts on Cherry Hill and
its vicinity, in the hope of discovering some clue to the
escaped murderer.
Still at Large
“He is still at large and so far as can be learned from the
police authorities, no trace of him has yet been brought to
light.”
“Nearly all of the suspects who were arrested Friday night and
early Saturday morning had either been discharged or held as
witnesses.”
“Dr. William F. Jenkins, deputy coroner, went to Bellevue
Saturday morning, and made an autopsy on the body of the victim.
He found that the murderer probably first choked the woman, and
then (4 or 5 words unreadable in microfiche copy) mutilated it
with a knife. He found, however a cut on the right ear, from the
blood had flowed and “which is evidence that a struggle took
place between the murderer and his victim before the Ripper
accomplished his purpose.”
Carrie Brown Said to be Alive
“The police Saturday made the discovery that Carrie Brown, alias
Shakespeare, who last night was said to be the murdered woman,
was alive and well .
“Who the dead woman is cannot be learned, though it is learned
that for two years past she has been one of the great army of
outcasts who frequent the fourth ward.
The Autopsy
“The autopsy on the body of the dead woman was resumed Saturday
afternoon. The coroner was of opinion that the woman was being
strangled and slashed at the same time, and judging from the
hemorrhage there must have been life in the body at the time.
There were also evidences that the woman had died of
strangulation. There was also a slight congestion of the lungs.
The kidneys and the liver showed that the woman had led a
dissipated life.
“The two cuts on the back, forming the murderer’s cross, were
six inches long and one deep. Part of the intestines were
missing.
“Chief of Police Campbell sent out to all Brooklyn station
houses a description of the man. Chief Campbell telegraphed
Inspector Byrnes that he had arrested a suspect Saturday
morning. Inspector Byrnes immediately went to Brooklyn to
interview the man. He gave his name as Frederick Strube. He is a
German, 26 years of age, and said that he formerly worked as a
butcher.
“The skull and brain showed no marks of violence, and the
coroner decided that it would be difficult to decide precisely
as to the cause of death. The body will not be buried for a few
days. The inquest will be held next Thursday.
Lived in Salem, Mass.
“Detective Crowley has discovered a woman who knew the murdered
woman.
“Fifteen years ago there appeared in the fourth ward a
middle-aged woman who soon became known by the names of
“Shakespeare” and “Jeff Davis.
“She was well liked by her companions on account of liberality
when she had money, as well as for her superior intelligence.
Her maiden name was Montgomery, and in early life she married a
sea captain named Charles E. Brown . She lived with him in
Salem, Mass. for a number of years. Brown died and left her
quite an amount of money .
“Some time afterwards she came to New York and entered upon this
fast life. She left behind two daughters, Ellen and Annie, who
reside at present in Salem, Mass. This woman, when not on the
island, was in the fourth ward. Sometimes she became an inmate
of some institution where she could recuperate. Her board bills
were paid by a relative named Lassan , also a resident of Salem.
It has been learned that she has only recently been discharged
from the island.
“The statement of the inspector was typewritten, and at this
point he requested Capt. McLaughlin to stop reading.
“No explanation was made by either of the officials for not
continuing the reading of the remainder of the document, which
was very much longer. The inspector said that he had in his
possession a tintype of the deceased taken some few years ago.
In it she appeared neatly dressed, wearing a large white apron
and a mob cap, apparently the dress of a nurse.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reports from other papers in Mass. dispute the emboldened
statement that Charles died and left her quite an amount of
money, and that
Lassen paid her board bills.
More to come.....
#Post#: 5222--------------------------------------------------
Re: Carrie & Charles' Children
DIR By: Jose Oranto
Date: August 18, 2025, 9:37 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Howard Brown link ---
>
> Jose:
>
> Nina is working on figuring out what the initials stood for.
> Thanks for the compliments, amigo.
>
>
> There are no known descendants of Carrie Brown, both daughters
died without children that reached adulthood, the latest
daughter died in the 1940s. A son of Carrie's died as a child. I
know this because my GGG grandmother, Hannah Lassen, raised my
great-grandmother and Carrie's kids in the same household after
Charles E. Brown died in 1873 off the coast of Zanzibar.
>
> Gary Thomas, descendant of the Lassen family.
>
--- End Quote ---
Here we find a discrepancy, while Gary Thomas says that Brown
died sailing off the coast of Zanzibar (East Africa), the
Trenton Times New Jersey, 27 April 1891, places him on the Gold
Coast (West Africa).
#Post#: 5223--------------------------------------------------
Re: Carrie & Charles' Children
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: August 18, 2025, 10:37 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Jose:
Good eye. I noticed Zanzibar, too....but didn't think.
It was the Gold Coast.
#Post#: 5234--------------------------------------------------
Re: Carrie & Charles' Children
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: August 19, 2025, 6:56 am
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Line 25
Charles E. Brown, Jr.'s entry on a 1859 death register
HTML https://i.imgur.com/9CNK7df.jpg
#Post#: 6836--------------------------------------------------
Re: Carrie & Charles' Children
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: May 2, 2026, 4:31 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
The May 30th, 1859 Salem ( Mass ) Register posted a death notice
for
Carrie's & Charles' son.
He was born in February 1857 and died on May 25th, 1859.
Two years and three months.
His full name was Charles Lassen Brown.
#Post#: 6837--------------------------------------------------
Re: Carrie & Charles' Children
DIR By: Jose Oranto
Date: May 2, 2026, 4:43 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Howard Brown link ---
>
> The May 30th, 1859 Salem ( Mass ) Register posted a death
notice for
> Carrie's & Charles' son.
>
> He was born in February 1857 and died on May 25th, 1859.
> Two years and three months.
>
> His full name was Charles Lassen Brown.
>
--- End Quote ---
Good find, How (check the year of birth, there's a small typo).
Corrected mistake.- H.B.
#Post#: 6838--------------------------------------------------
Re: Carrie & Charles' Children
DIR By: HowBrown1953
Date: May 2, 2026, 5:02 pm
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Thanks, Jose!
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