Brown, Kathleen Elise (1877-1970)(2 of 2)
/Unidentified Photographer’s Portrait Photograph of Mary Kelley, Dr. Vincent De paul Brown, Emma Rochford Brown, and Kathleen Elise Brown
THE PHOTOGRAPHER/ PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO:
Photographer: unidentified
THE SITTERS:
Names: (from left to right) Mary Kelley, Dr. Vincent de Paul Brown (seated), Emma Rochford Brown, and Kathleen Elise Brown, (Kathleen Elise Brown was most often referred to as Elise Brown.)
Description: Kathleen Elise Brown is standing in profile on the right. In the center is her sister, Emma Rochford Brown, and on the left is Mary Kelley. Seated in front is Kathleen Elise and Emma’s brother, Dr. Vincent de Paul Brown. All three women wear magnificent examples of Edwardian picture hats. Kathleen Elise’s is a curved, thin, wide-brimmed hat embellished on its crown with a large satin ribbon bow in front and a dramatic arrangement of bird feathers in back. In contrast to her elaborate hat, Kathleen Elise wears a simple, long, fitted, light-colored jacket and matching skirt. With her right hand, Kathleen Elise grasps the back of the wicker chair her brother is sitting in, and her left hand is concealed within a large fur muff embellished with two taxidermied animal heads on the top front. The muff’s wristlet can be seen secured around the cuff of her left jacket sleeve.
Biographical Note: Kathleen Elise Brown was born in Petaluma on September 21, 1877, the eleventh child of Petaluma pioneers, Daniel Brown and Anna Ferguson Brown. She preferred her middle name so was always called Elise. Elise attended Brick Petaluma School and in 1895 at the age of 18 entered the College of Notre Dame in San Francisco as a boarder. In 1900 she and many family members took part in a two-week family and friends camping trip that she called “To the Geysers or Bust.” Her brother-in-law, Gil Hall, a local Petaluma attorney, organized the trip.
After the death of her father in 1902, Elise moved to San Francisco with her mother and other unmarried sisters and brother. Daniel Brown’s estate supported them comfortably for the rest of their lives. They were able to take extended trips around the United States and Europe and Asia. Elise lived the longest of her siblings and managed the estate until she died on October 9, 1970, at the age of 93. She was buried in Petaluma’s Calvary Cemetery in the Brown Family Plot with her parents and most of her siblings.
*This biographical note was written by Kathleen Elise Brown’s descendant, Kathleen O’Brien Balestrini.
Family Affiliation: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41913557/kathleen-elise-brown Search this archive and the Sonoma County Library photograph archive for additional portraits of the Brown family.
Bibliography: Primary Sources: Petaluma Argus-Courier: March 19, 1921, p.7; October 12, 1970, p. 12 (obit). Petaluma Daily Morning Courier: August 17, 1895, p. 1; January 8, 1909, p. 1; July 16, 1912, p. 4; November 21, 1912, p. 1. For additional information and artifacts pertaining to the Brown family, see the Kathleen O’Brien Balestrini Collection at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum.
THE PHOTOGRAPH:
Format / Size: Real photo postcard (RPPC)
Medium: Azo paper with 4 triangles
Description, front: The four persons depicted in this real photo postcard pose in front of a backdrop depicting voluminous, ornate drapery. Handwritten in cursive below the image are the names: “Mary Kelley”, “Dr. V. Brown”, “Emma Brown”, and “Elise Brown”.
Description, back: Handwritten in pencil is, “Pan Pacific Expo”, and “1915”.
Date: 1915
Condition: This postcard is in good condition.
Owner: From the collection of Kathleen O’Brien Balestrini, digital copy by permission.
Reproduction rights: The Petaluma Museum Association makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to the digitized images here reproduced. These images are intended for personal or research use only. Any other kind of use, including, but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the Association. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use.