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James E. BROWN was born April 28, 1894. He was
the seventh of thirteen children born to Jonas and Mary Wingate-Brown. James
received his formal education in Pensacola, Florida, but at an early age he left
school to help his father deliver ice and coal to the officers quarters on the
Pensacola Navy Air Base. Eventually James left home and went to New Orleans and
enlisted in the Coast Watch, later named the Coast Guard. He served for two
years and at the age of approximately twenty, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was transferred to the East Coast.
While stationed in New York, he met Beulah Lee Vaughn, who was born 1890, in Charleston, South Carolina. They fell in love and eventually married on Armistice day, November 6, 1918.
James
spent 24 years in the Navy. While in the service James traveled all over the world, but eventually he and Beulah were transferred to the West Coast, and stationed at North Island, Naval Station, in San Diego on the USS Langley, the first aircraft carrier. He also served on the USS Wheeling, Des Moines, USS Altair, and the USS Holland, to name a few.
Shortly after moving to San Diego they became members of
Bethel A.M.E church in 1921. James was the eldest active member of Bethel A.M.E. Church, at the time of his demise.
While stationed in San Diego, four children were born to this union. Juanita, James Jr., Arline, and Gaylord.
James retired from the navy in 1939 and bought property on
Imperial Avenue, where they built the first black owned grocery store in San
Diego, operated by the family for several years. Later he bought property in
Campo and Otay where he raised livestock to sell.
Beulah preceded him in death at the age of 94, on May 8, 1985. They
were married 67 years.
James Edward Brown, Sr.
departed from this life at his home of 80 years on Webster Avenue, early
Wednesday morning, May 30, 2001.
He and Beulah were the parents of four children.
His second and present wife is Genie Kemp.
James Brown, black entrepreneur
SAN DIEGO (AP) James
Mary Juanita Brown married Ernest H. Collier. Ernest was born in
the Philippine Islands. Ernest was honored as one of the original Buffalo
Soldiers at their annual reunion. They are the parents of four children.
James Edward Brown Jr married Trennie B. Wright. They are
parents of nine children.
married Tony Quainton. They have two children.
(8) James Edward Brown III
Gaylord Brown born June 16,1930. I attended Logan Elementary. Memorial
Jr High and San Diego High. I enlisted in the Army and after service to my country,
I was employed by the United States Post Office. After ten years with the Post
Office, I met and married Velma L. Watkins Pullens and her three sons on June 14,
1962. We are the parents of four children.
Airline
DeCosta Brown married Charlie Thompson. They are the parents of one child.
WWI vet, dead at 107
Edward Brown, one of the old-
est surviving veterans of
World War I and a pioneering
businessman in San Diego's
black community, died. Thurs-
day at the age of 107.
Brown died.. in his sleep at
his San Diego home; where he
had lived since 1920, according
to his son, James E. Brown
Jr. of East Point, GA, Brown
was among the oldest surviving
veterans of World War I and
Perhaps the oldest black veteran
of the war, according to his
family. The Department of Veteran
Affairs could not immediately
Confirm that.
Born in Pensacola, Fla., on
April 25, 1894,Brown was one
of 13 children and was the
grandson of freed slaves from
the West Indies, who had im-
agrated to the United States
in the early l800s, James
Brown Jr. said.
Seeking adventure as a
young man, he enlisted in the
Coast Watch, which later
evolved into the Coast Guard,
in 1912. During World War 1,
he served in the Navy and was
stationed in San Diego.
He served as a cook aboard
the USS Langley; the first U.S.
aircraft carrier. In the Navy he
satisfied his wanderlust, trav-
eling the Pacific, into Europe,
and to the North Pole, James
Brown Jr. said He also was the
first American black to go into
Russia, he said.
Upon retiring from the Navy
in 1936, Brown opened a con-
Cession at the Navy Commis-
sary, storing groceries for
Customers as they shopped
And delivering packages to
Their cars. In 1941, he
Opened Brown's Grocery, the
First black-owned grocery
Store in San Diego, James
Brown Jr. said.
He later opened a restaurant
and was a leader in the city's
AME church.
His many enterprises also
included opening the city's
first black mortuary and rais-
ing cattle and hogs' on a ranch
near the U.S.-Mexico border.
With feed scarce during
World War II, Brown won
contracts in several San Diego
neighborhoods, to pick up gar-
bage; Which he converted into
food for the livestock.
The enterprise enabled
Brown to help supply meat to
the community during the
years of war rationing.
"My dad used to try to help
people who had big families
and their stamps ran out,”
James Brown Jr. said.
Brown; stayed involved in
his family's businesses and
real-estate ventures throughout
his years.
"The greatest thing I learned
from my dad was business,”
James Brown Jr. said. "He
taught us all that we had, to
work.... You had to work for
what you want And by being
black, you were always working
under adverse conditions."
Brown also kept his love
of travel..1n 1982, he attended
the Brown family reunion in
Panama City, Fla, which at-
tracted 1,700 people. Last year,
he was among 700 at a family
reunion in Chicago..
Brown is survived by four
children: Juanita Collier: and
Gaylord Brown of San Diego;
Arlene Thompson of Albany,
and James Brown Jr.
He also leaves 18 grand
children, 27 great-grandchil-
dren and four great-great-
grandchildren.
His wife, Beulah Lee
Brown, died in 1985 at the age
of 94. after 66 years
riage.
Brown was to be buried next
to his wife at the Greenland
Cemetery.
for The Brown Family Connection.
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