Killed By Her Husband

Mrs. Oliver (Harris) Brown Dies From A Beating

She lived at Keansburg, Where Her Husband Was a Waterman-Brown Now in the County Jail-Four Children Left Motherless

Mrs. Oliver Brown, the wife of a waterman who lived at Keansburg, died last Thursday from the effects of a beating which her husband had given her about a week before. A charge was made against Brown for assault and battery a few days after he had beaten his wife, and he was sent to the county jail. It was while he was in jail that his wife died.

Brown is possessed of an ungovernable temper. The family lived in a small hut near the bay at Keansburg. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brown, three of whom are girls and one is a boy. The oldest is about thirteen years of age and the youngest is three years. Brown had come home in a bad temper and he kicked one of the girls. This made his wife angry and she told him not to kick the girl again. Brown kicked another of the children and he and his wife then got in a quarrel. Brown knocked his wife down and kicked her and trampled on her. Mrs. Brown was in delicate health and she was badly injured by the attack upon her. Four days later she gave premature birth to a child and her condition was such that her husband was arrested.

Dr. Roberts of Keyport attended Mrs. Brown shortly after she had been attacked by her husband. He found her suffering from peritonitis and pneumonia. A charge against Brown for assault and battery was made by Mrs. Brown’s father Wesley Harris, and his complaint was corroborated by the testimony of the injured woman, taken previous to her death.

Brown was not a drinking man but he had a violent and an ungovernable temper, and when in one of his fits of rage he was almost like an insane person.

Mrs. Brown was 34 years old. She carried a life insurance of $150 in the Prudential insurance company. The funeral was held on Sunday afternoon at the Keansburg Methodist church and the burial was at Green Grove cemetery.

Source: Red Bank Register, Wednesday, March 29, 1899

Some additional excellent resources for your research are:

• New Jersey Census, 1772-1890 - Ancestry.com

• Calendar of New Jersey Wills, 1670-1760 - Ancestry.com

• Interment.net - NJ ~ New Jersey Cemetery Transcriptions on the net.

• MyCinnamonToast.com ~ Keep up with FREE databases as they come online