The Molly Brown House Museum 
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James Joseph "J.J." Brown was born September 27, 1855, in Waymart, Pennsylvania. ​J.J.'s father, James Brown, was an Irish immigrant farmer. His mother, Cecilia Palmer, was a schoolteacher. J.J.'s family moved to Pittston, Pennsylvania shortly after his birth. J.J.'s mother home-schooled him and later sent him to St. John's Academy.

 

He left home at the age of 23 lured by the riches in the West after working for seven years in the Pennsylvania coal mines. His first stop was a farm in Nebraska. From Nebraska he moved to the placer mines in the Dakotas. He spent two years in the Dakotas before moving to Colorado where he tried his luck in Georgetown, Aspen, and Ashcroft. He spent another two years in the Aspen and Ashcroft area before moving to Alma, Fairplay, Red Cliff, and, finally, Leadville. He studied geology, ore deposits, and mining techniques to become a better miner, and he invested in a few mines along the way.

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J.J. met Margaret Tobin in Leadville through his colleague, Daniel, her brother. They married on September 1, 1886, in Leadville's Catholic Annunciation Church. They first settled in a small, two-room log cabin in Leadville and shortly after bought a two-bedroom house at 320 East Ninth Street. The Browns had two children. Their first child Lawrence Palmer Brown, nicknamed Larry, was born on August 30, 1887, in his maternal grandparents four room cottage, near the Mississippi River in Hannibal, Missouri. Their second child, Catherine Ellen Brown, nicknamed Helen, was born on July 22, 1889, in her parents' new three-bedroom house at 322 West Seventh Street in Leadville, Colorado.

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Although J.J. was not rich when they married, he was ambitious, smart, and charismatic. He owned or co-owned mines in the Aspen area before moving to Leadville. He was foreman of the Louisville Mine at the time he and Margaret met. By 1887 he was superintendent of the Louisville Mine, and in 1888 he was superintendent of the Henriette & Maid Consolidated Mining Company, one of the most productive mines in the area. In 1892 he was brought in as a co-owner of the Little Johnny Mine after having worked on the mine as a contractor.

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It was also in 1892 that gold was first discovered in the Little Johnny mine. John Campion, J.J., Eben Smith and the other owners chose to keep the discovery a secret until they could buy the claims surrounding theirs, knowing that the vein of gold traveled sideways under the neighboring claims. When the find was announced in 1893 the grade of gold was shown to be so pure and the vein so wide that it was heralded as then the world's richest gold strike.

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By October 29, 1893, the Little Johnny was shipping 135 tons of gold ore per day. The Ibex Company and its owners, including the Browns, became extraordinarily wealthy. In 1894, the Browns moved to Denver, Colorado, buying a $30,000 modern home in Denver's wealthy Capitol Hill neighborhood. In 1897 they built a summer house, which they called Avoca Lodge, in southwest Denver near Bear Creek.

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J.J. and Margaret were members of the Denver Country Club, and J.J. enjoyed the exclusively male benefits of the Denver Athletic Club. They also loved theater and had their own box at the Broadway Theater.

J.J. was a generous and philanthropic man. In December of each year, he presented the boys at St. Vincent’s Orphan Asylum with Christmas gifts. Each boy received a suit coat, vest, trousers, undergarments, hat, and gloves – as well as something extra such as a pair of ice skates, a sled, or a yo-yo. He spent his life taking care of his family and extended family, supporting not only his wife and children, but also cousins, nephews, nieces, in-laws, etc. He paid for private Catholic school for nieces and nephews on both the Tobin and Brown sides of the family. In 1900, he was responsible for the welfare of 25 family members and paid staff.

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J.J. traveled extensively – to New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, California, and even Cuba and Mexico - to check up on his mining interests. He and Margaret also traveled internationally, including a long trip in 1902-03. After starting out in Europe, they continued on to India, China, and Japan. J.J. especially loved Japan and longed to return. 

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In 1909, after 23 years of marriage, J.J. and Margaret signed a separation agreement. The agreement gave Margaret a cash settlement and confirmed her possession of their Capitol Hill home. She also received $700 a month allowance to continue her travels and philanthropic activities. J.J. spent his time traveling between California and Arizona, where the warm climate helped him cope with his failing health. Although they never reconciled, J.J. always supported Margaret financially and Margaret spoke highly of him publicly. At the time of J.J.'s death, Margaret told newspapers, "I've never met a finer, bigger, more worthwhile man than J.J. Brown."

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On September 5, 1922, J.J. died after suffering a series of heart attacks at a hospital in Nassau, New York, not far from his daughter, Helen (Mrs. George Benziger). He died without a signed will, and it took five years of court battles between Margaret and her two children to settle the estate. J.J. left an estate valued at $238,000 (approximately $3.5 million in today's money). Margaret was to receive $20,000 in cash and securities, and the interest on a $100,000 trust fund set up in her name. $100,000 was divided equally between her two children. Her son Lawrence received a $50,000 trust fund, and her daughter Helen received a $50,000 trust fund. Both J.J. and Margaret are buried in the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, New York.