I am so proud to have his blood running through my veins
Ruby M. Thomas - great-granddaughter of Charles Henry Brown
The first time she saw the large, old photograph of the stern, unsmiling man in a uniform, it frightened her. "His eyes seemed to follow me around the room. When I was 4 or 5 years old, I would often visit my grandfather, William Henry Brown, at his home in Nanjemoy, Maryland. It was an old very quiet house, often dark, and we could move about only with the help of kerosene lamps. There was no electricity. We called his house the ‘Home Place’ because it had been in the family for so many years. It was the house that my great-grandfather built. I was a curious child always walking through the house. I remember the kitchen had a wood stove. And in the living room over the fireplace hung this large picture of a man in a uniform. In the evening shadows by the light of an old lamp the picture looked spooky,” Ruby M. Thomas, recalled with a smile.
"I remember asking my grandfather who is he? I can still hear the pride in his voice as he told me the soldier in that picture is my father and your great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War. I often reflect back to his words and remember how proud he was of his father. The picture now hangs in my living room representing now six generations of Brown history. That soldier in the large portrait wearing a distinguished Civil War uniform was Charles Henry Brown, in the United States Colored Troops, First Regiment,” Thomas said.
Pictured on the on the right, Ruby Thomas with Picture of Charles Henry Brown. She is holding his framed discharge papers.
my grandfather, William Henry Brown, at his home in Nanjemoy, Maryland. It was an old very quiet house, often dark, and we could move about only with the help of kerosene lamps. There was no electricity. We called his house the ‘Home Place’ because it had been in the family for so many years. It was the house that my great-grandfather built. I was a curious child always walking through the house. I remember the kitchen had a wood stove. And in the living room over the fireplace hung this large picture of a man in a uniform. In the evening shadows by the light of an old lamp the picture looked spooky,” Ruby M. Thomas, recalled with a smile.
"I remember asking my grandfather who is he? I can still hear the pride in his voice as he told me the soldier in that picture is my father and your great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War. I often reflect back to his words and remember how proud he was of his father. The picture now hangs in my living room representing now six generations of Brown history. That soldier in the large portrait wearing a distinguished Civil War uniform was Charles Henry Brown, in the United States Colored Troops, First Regiment,” Thomas said.