This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of my aunts, Laura Silveretta Oranna Brown, who was born in January 1915. She was the 5th child born to Charles and Lucy Swank Brown, in Aurora NY or “York State” as the family always referred to it. In 1918 the family moved to Indiana county PA where Silveretta, or Sally as she was commonly called by family, spent most of her life, except when she worked for General Electric Company as a laborer in Erie for a period of time. She never married and resided on North 11th Street in Indiana PA in the house her parents bought during the 1940s.
Since this house was the old “homestead” it was the central gathering place for family, especially when relatives came from a distance to visit. Although we lived only an hour away, when we visited “the girls”—Sally and her sisters Susie and Pete—family in the area would often stop by to say hello. I have a number of memories associated with that house: playing with cousins in the yard; the grape vine out back; a live Christmas tree adorned with big lights and tinsel; aluminum cups in several colors; going to the downstairs bathroom and admiring the big loom in the basement.
I enjoyed visiting Aunt Sally and we attempted to pay her a visit at least a few times a year. She shared my interest in the family history and as I got more involved in researching the family, she would ask me what I knew about certain relatives and enjoyed hearing the results of my research on our ancestors. She corresponded with a number of her cousins and shared any news she received about their families. She also had gathered information on her nieces and nephews, and shared with me information about their marriages and children.
When I visited Aunt Sally I always had a question and would inquire what she knew about a certain family. Her response might start with the typical Brown answer of “I really don’t know much about that”, then proceed to add little bits of info as she tried to recollect what she had heard or remembered about the topic. Some of the recollections were vague, but she was always willing to help.
One memory Aunt Sally told me was going to see her paternal grandmother in the hospital when she was 8 years old; this was the only time she ever saw her. Her grandmother was declining in health and the family was called in. They traveled from Indian county PA to Lycoming county PA to see her grandmother before she died. Aunt Sally recalled that her grandmother was unconscious lying in the hospital bed, and the children quietly went in two at a time to see her. It must have left an impression on her to remember it. Another story she mentioned, though only a fragment, was somebody had shown her father where someone was buried, possibly in the woods or mountains, or maybe some burial ground. There was some significance to the family, but she didn’t know whose grave it was or much more about it. She remembered her father talking about it, and he had tried to find the location again, but without success.
Aunt Sally enjoyed working on arts and crafts and would make plastic canvas refrigerator magnets that could be used for holidays or certain times of years, such as flowers in a basket for spring, flags for patriotic holidays, like 4th of July, pumpkins for Halloween, etc. When I would visit she would usually give me several of the latest items she was working on, one each for me and my 2 siblings.
In 2005 at our annual family reunion, we celebrated Silveretta reaching 90 years of age; she died in the winter of 2006 a month after her 91st birthday. Although she has been gone now for almost 10 years, I still have my magnets. As the seasons change, I rotate them on the refrigerator and fondly remember Aunt Sally for her kindness, generosity, stories, and the influence that she played in my life and with our family research.
Relatively Speaking Blog 